Christmas Dog Treats: Easy Homemade Holiday Cookies

The best Christmas dog treats are simple: a few dog-safe ingredients, no chocolate, no raisins, no xylitol and no holiday spices like nutmeg. This easy cookie recipe uses plain pumpkin, xylitol-free peanut butter, eggs and flour, and it makes a sweet homemade gift for any dog on your list.

The holidays are the time of year when the kitchen fills up with foods that are great for people and risky for dogs. Cookie dough, fruitcake, chocolate and spiced desserts all end up within nose reach.

So if you want to include your dog in the season, the safest move is to bake something made just for them. I’m a trainer and nutrition coach, not a vet, so this recipe sticks to plain, widely used ingredients and keeps the portions small.

Why Make Christmas Dog Treats at Home

Store-bought holiday dog treats can be fine, but many come with long ingredient lists, added sugar, colors or icing. When you bake at home, you know exactly what’s in each bite.

Homemade treats are also a nice way to slow down during a busy season. Baking a batch takes about an hour, and most of that is oven time.

You also control the size, and small cookies make it much easier to keep treats in proportion.

What Makes a Holiday Dog Cookie Safe

A safe dog cookie isn’t a people cookie with less sugar. It’s a different recipe built around foods dogs commonly tolerate well.

Here are the principles I follow:

• Plain pumpkin, not pie filling. Canned pumpkin puree should list only pumpkin. Pie filling has sugar and spices like nutmeg.
• Xylitol-free peanut butter. Choose one with just peanuts and maybe salt, and read the label every time you buy.
• No sugar, icing or sprinkles. Dogs don’t need sweeteners, and decorations add risk without any benefit.
• Simple flour. Whole wheat flour works for most dogs. Oat flour is an easy swap if your dog doesn’t do well with wheat.
• Small, flat shapes. Thin cookies bake evenly and break into training-size pieces.

If your dog has a health condition, food allergies or a special diet, ask your vet before adding any new treat, even a simple one.

Toxic Holiday Foods to Keep Away from Dogs

Before the recipe, here’s the list that matters most this time of year. Keep these out of your dog cookies and well out of reach on counters, coffee tables and gift piles.

• Xylitol (birch sugar). Found in some peanut butters, sugar-free gum, candy and baked goods. It can cause a dangerous drop in blood sugar and liver damage in dogs.
• Chocolate and cocoa. Baking chocolate and cocoa powder are the most dangerous, but no chocolate is safe for dogs.
• Grapes, raisins and currants. These can cause kidney damage, which is why fruitcake, mince pies and raisin cookies are off the table.
• Macadamia nuts. They can cause weakness, wobbliness, vomiting and fever in dogs. Watch out for holiday cookie tins and nut mixes.
• Onion and garlic. Common in stuffing, gravy and savory party food, they can damage red blood cells.
• Nutmeg. A staple of eggnog, pumpkin pie and spiced baking, and not something to share with your dog.
• Raw cookie and bread dough. Yeast dough can expand in the stomach and produce alcohol, and raw dough often contains other risky ingredients.
• Alcohol and rich, fatty leftovers. Keep drinks, ham fat, gravy and cooked bones away from your dog.

The ASPCA keeps a full list of people foods to avoid feeding your pets. If your dog eats something on this list, note how much and call your vet or an animal poison control line right away.

Easy Christmas Dog Treats Recipe: Pumpkin Peanut Butter Cookies

This is my go-to style of homemade dog Christmas cookie: firm, crunchy, easy to cut into stars, trees or bones, and made with five ingredients.

Ingredients

Makes about 30 small cookies, depending on your cutter size.

• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or oat flour), plus a little for rolling
• 1/2 cup plain canned pumpkin puree (100 percent pumpkin)
• 1/4 cup xylitol-free natural peanut butter
• 2 large eggs
• 2 to 4 tablespoons water, as needed

Steps

1. Heat the oven. Preheat to 350°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix the wet ingredients. In a large bowl, stir together the pumpkin, peanut butter and eggs until smooth.
3. Add the flour. Stir in the flour a cup at a time until a stiff dough forms. Add water a tablespoon at a time only if the dough is too dry to hold together.
4. Roll it out. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough to about 1/4 inch thick.
5. Cut the shapes. Use small holiday cookie cutters like stars, trees or bones. Smaller is better for portion control.
6. Bake. Place the cookies on the sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until firm and lightly golden at the edges.
7. Dry them out. Turn off the oven and leave the cookies inside with the door cracked for about an hour. This makes them crunchier and helps them keep longer.
8. Cool completely. Let the cookies cool fully on a rack before storing or packing them as gifts.

Storage

Store the cookies in an airtight container at room temperature for up to about one week. Because they contain pumpkin and egg, they keep longer in the fridge, about two weeks.

For longer storage, freeze them in a zip-top bag for up to three months and thaw a few at a time. If you see any mold or the cookies smell off, throw the batch out.

Homemade Dog Xmas Cookies Without the Extras

It’s tempting to make dog cookies look as festive as the ones on your own plate. Skip the people-style decorating.

Icing, sprinkles, colored sugar and candy pieces add sugar or dyes and sometimes xylitol. The cookie shape does the decorating for you.

If you want a little extra, a thin smear of plain, unsweetened yogurt on a cookie right before serving is a common choice. Do it fresh and keep it occasional, since yogurt doesn’t hold up in a gift bag and not every dog handles dairy well.

Coach Luke's Pick

Lifestyle

Organic Coffee

Organic mushroom coffee with six adaptogens — clean, steady focus without the 10am crash.

Clean EnergyNo Jitters

Read My Honest Review →

✓ 90-Day Guarantee · Member Pricing

My honest review — contains affiliate links. I may earn a commission at no cost to you.

How Many Treats Can Your Dog Have

The rule of thumb used by the American Kennel Club is that treats should make up no more than 10 percent of your dog’s daily calories. The other 90 percent should come from a complete, balanced dog food.

The holidays make this harder, because everyone wants to give the dog something. Here’s a simple way to keep it in check.

Every dog’s calorie needs are different, so treat these as starting points, not rules. If your dog is overweight or on a weight-loss plan, ask your vet how treats fit in.

Feeding Tips for New Treats

1. Start small. Give one small piece the first day and watch for an upset stomach over the next day or so.
2. Supervise chewing. Some dogs gulp. Break cookies into pieces for fast eaters and small dogs.
3. Watch for allergies. Itching, vomiting or diarrhea after a new food is a reason to stop and talk with your vet.
4. Keep the routine steady. Holiday visits and travel already stress some dogs. Keep meals and walks at their usual times.
5. Tell your guests. Ask visitors not to feed your dog from the table, and keep plates and cookie tins off low surfaces.

Those holiday walks are worth protecting too. A steady daily walk helps you both handle the season’s extra food and stress, and it’s one of the easiest habits I know for keeping your own energy and sleep on track.

Homemade Dog Treats as a Christmas Gift

Homemade dog treats make a thoughtful gift for friends, neighbors, dog walkers and anyone with a dog in the family.

How to Pack a Homemade Dog Treats Gift

1. Use food-safe packaging. Kraft paper bags, cellophane bags or small tins with a liner all work well.
2. Pack only fully cooled, dry cookies. Warm cookies trap moisture and spoil faster.
3. Add an ingredient label. List every ingredient so the owner can check for allergies or special diets.
4. Add a storage note. Something like: keep sealed, refrigerate after a week, freeze for longer.
5. Mark them clearly as dog treats. This keeps them from being mixed up with people cookies, and the reverse.

Building a Simple Dog Treat Gift Set

For a gift set, pair a small bag of cookies with a useful extra, like a new leash, a sturdy toy sized for the dog or a collapsible water bowl for winter walks. A handwritten card with a favorite walking route is a nice touch.

Avoid adding rawhide, cooked bones or anything the owner hasn’t approved.

Your This-Week Plan

Pick a quiet evening and bake one batch. Set aside a dozen cookies for your own dog in a labeled container, and pack the rest into small gift bags with an ingredient tag.

Then do a quick kitchen check. Move chocolate, nut tins, raisin-filled treats and sugar-free gum up high, and remind everyone in the house which foods are off limits for the dog. For more ideas on staying active with your dog all year, see my Dogs and Active Living guide.

Quick Questions

The Bottom Line

Good Christmas dog treats keep it simple: plain pumpkin, xylitol-free peanut butter, eggs and flour, baked into small cookies with no icing or holiday spices. Keep treats to about 10 percent of daily calories and keep the toxic holiday foods out of reach.

Bake a batch for your dog, pack a few as gifts with an ingredient label, and enjoy the season together.

This article is for general education and isn’t medical or veterinary advice. If your dog has food allergies, a sensitive stomach, diabetes, pancreatitis, kidney or liver problems, or follows a special diet, check with your vet before giving any new treat.

If your dog eats chocolate, xylitol, grapes or raisins, macadamia nuts, onion, garlic, nutmeg or raw dough, or shows vomiting, weakness, wobbling, seizures or collapse, call your vet or an animal poison control line right away. If you have a food allergy yourself, take care handling peanut butter and flour. This article is not a substitute for professional care.