Anyone else remember stained glass Jell-o jigglers from childhood? Here’s my dogified version made with yummy yogurt, healthy gelatin, and colourful add-ins to create pretty pastels for Easter. Because I simply can’t resist doing these crazy things. Haha! The dogs totally don’t care about the colours, but they do love gummies. Here’s the recipe and DIY details for making stained glass gelatin gummy dog treats.
Getting Creative with Colour
Pretty? Tasty? Pretty Tasty!
Contrary to what many people believe, dogs are not colour blind. They just see colours (and more) quite differently than people. Check out our post on dog vision vs. human vision for details and side-by-side photo examples. They don’t really care about colourful or pretty treats, though. They care about delicious scents and flavours. But we humans can have a little fun, too!
Stained Glass Gummies
Like our pastel pupsicle dog treats, these stained glass gelatin treats use different colourful dog treat add-ins and tints in a milky white base to create a variety of pastel shades for Easter. The colours are prepared with the same gummy base, divided for separate colouring and setting. It’s an easy way to make multi-coloured or flavoured small batch gummy treats.
The colours are then chopped and covered in a white gummy base before setting again until fully firm for slicing to reveal their colours. This creates the pretty stained glass effect. You can switch it up with other colours for different holidays, events, etc. You can swap the creamy white yogurt for a clear gelatin base if you’d like the colours to be transparent. And yes, the same techniques can be used to make stained glass gelatin desserts for people too. You’ll want to adjust your recipe for people palettes instead of pups, though.
Shortcuts
There is absolutely nothing difficult or fancy about creating these treats, just some extra time for doubling the the prep stages and setting of the gelatin mixtures. If you’d rather a single simpler step (or prefer moulded shapes), you can skip the stained glass in favour for pastel Easter gummies. You can use the coloured “glass” gummy mixtures to create a mix-and-match batch of pastel gummies. Easy peasy.
Stained Glass Gelatin Gummy Dog Treat Recipe
Colourful Set-and-Slice Stained Glass Yogurt Gelatin Gummies
Unlike most of our gummy treat recipes that can be made with either a mould or in a pan as set-and-slice treats, these gummies really need to be sliced to show their colours in their full glory. Cutting through the set gelatin creates the stained glass effect on the exposed edges.
Treat Ingredients:
Colourful “Glass” Pieces:
- 3/4 cup cool stock, water, or alternative dog-friendly liquid.
- 3 tbsp quality powdered gelatin
- 1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
- Colours and tints
I normally like using a dog-friendly stock in treats, but I used plain water for the liquid here. Yogurt and gelatin are yummy on their own, especially with the tasty tints added in. My homemade stock is usually light yellow, so using plain water helps ensure that the gelatin is whiter and tints truer. See our post on using natural food colourings for dog treats for ideas on colouring. The pictured treats were made with turmeric powder, beetroot powder, and spirulina powder. My ongoing efforts at creating a natural blue-ish shade are still a work in progress, and I used a drop of blue colouring to perk up my blue. Just skip in favour of the other pastels it if you’d like to keep things all natural.
White Surround:
- 3/4 cup cool water (or alternative dog-friendly liquid)
- 3 tbsp quality powdered gelatin
- 1/4 cup plain low-fat yogurt
Making the Treats:
Preparing the base for the glass:
- Measure the water into a small pan.
- Sprinkle the surface with gelatin powder.
- Wait and let sit for approximately five minutes or longer for the gelatin powder to bloom / gel.
- Gently stir the mixture over low heat until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Take care not to shortcut with high temperatures or overheat. Heat can reduce the setting strength of gelatin.
- Remove from heat.
- Measure your yogurt into a suitable container for mixing.
- Check that your liquid temperature is below 50C (120F) to protect your probiotic content (allow to cool a little if needed), then slowly combine the prepared gelatin with the yogurt. Stir as you incrementally dilute the yogurt to avoid lumping or clumping. Once fully combined, mix thoroughly.
Colouring the glass:
- Divide the base into small containers. You can save yourself a few extra dishes by mining in the same containers as you will use for setting.
- Mix in your different colourings and tints. See our archives for more details on making multi-coloured/flavoured small batch gummy treats if needed.
- Once happy with your tinted mixes, refrigerate and allow the coloured gelatin mixtures to set firm enough to cut.
Layered and pieced gummies stick together better when they haven’t had time to fully harden. Although you will get the best results with semi-set glass (set enough to cut, but not fully firm), because these are pieces and not full layers, it’s ok if you need to leave the glass a little longer than a usual quick succession for layered treats.
Preparing the white surround:
- When ready to prepare the white gelatin for the surround, repeat the same prep as for the white base created for tinting. See above for detailed steps.
Move on to prepping the glass pieces while you allow the mixture to cool a bit further (but still warm enough to be liquid). This is important, as hot gelatin may melt your glass pieces. When I first tried stained glass some time ago, I didn’t let the covering liquid cool enough and ended up with a muddled rainbow swirl. Rather cool, really, but not the intention!
Preparing the glass pieces:
- While you are waiting for your white surround to cool, prepare the coloured glass pieces by cutting up your set coloured gelatin into pieces. Smallish pieces will allow a larger variety and distribution of colour, but don’t go too tiny. Cutting through the pieces is what gives these treats their looks.
- Place in a suitable container and make sure the different colours are mixed about. Since the stained glass effect looks niftiest along cuts, I’m using a small deep container. My finished gummies will be sliced half as thick as that depth, so there will be more visible cut glass in the finished treats.
Finishing the treats:
- Pour the white gelatin surround mixture into the container over the cut coloured glass pieces.
- Gently tap or swirl if/as needed to make sure that there are no air pockets trapped between the coloured pieces and that the coloured pieces are all covered into the white surround. R
- Refrigerate to set thoroughly before slicing into bite-sized treats. Refrigerate the cut treats for storage, and enjoy in moderation.
Gummy Dog Treat Making Tips and Tricks
- See our pet chef post on making and storing homemade gelatin gummy dog treats for additional information about gummy treats.
- These treats should be kept refrigerated and can be frozen for longer storage, although freezing can affect consistency.
Recipe and Ingredient Tips and Tricks
- In my experience, 3 tbsp of gelatin powder per cup of liquid makes firm gummies. If you prefer, you can use more gelatin for added supplementation or less for a jigglier jelly treat with lower gelatin content. Individual gelatin powders may be a little stronger / weaker. Find a ratio that works for your preferences and, of course, your dog.
- Go natural or take care when shopping to avoid artificial sweeteners in ingredients like yogurt for your dogs. Xylitol (also identified as sweetener E967) is particularly dangerous for dogs.
- If your dog is sensitive to dairy, you could use an alternative ingredient to create the pastel colours and/or turn your base white. Or you could opt for a clearer base and more vibrant colours instead.
Hungry for more tasty treats? There are all sorts of homemade dog treat ideas in our blog archives. You can use the category and tag labels to find other recipes that might be of interest or use our internal search tools to find something specific. Remember, treats (bought or homemade) are for spoiling your pup in moderation. We share ideas from treats that we’ve made ourselves for our pets, but different animals have different preferences (likes/dislikes), just like people. Some pets may have special dietary requirements and/or food allergies/intolerances. If you are ever in doubt or have questions about what’s suitable for your pet, have a chat with your trusted vet.
