Homemade Dog Cookies - Beefy Green Spring "Nests"

Got a pooch that LOVES to crunch doggie biscuits? If your doggo is already watching your every move in the kitchen, why not cook something yummy just for them? With Easter around the corner, these Beefy Green “Nests” are a fun way to celebrate with curious canines, not to mention distract them from potentially toxic Easter candy. With just a few wholesome ingredients, these dog cookies make healthy Easter snacks!

Beefy Green “Nest” Ingredients:

2 cups of rolled oats (or oat flour)
1/2 cup of beef broth (or bone broth)
1/3 cup of freeze-dried 100% Beef Treats + more to top cookies as “eggs”
1/2 to 1 cup of chopped broccoli (fresh or frozen)
1 large egg
Pinch of sea salt
Optional: 2 Tbsp 100% Beef Food Topper

To make Beefy Green Dog Cookies:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet, or line it with parchment paper.
Steam the broccoli in the beef or bone broth until it is cooked through. Puree the mixture in a blender or food processor and set aside until warm/lukewarm (cool enough to not cook the egg when mixed with it).
Make the oat flour by grinding the rolled oats in a blender or food processor. For this recipe, we wanted a courser texture for the “nests.” Feel free to grind the oats to a fine consistency or use another type of flour (read Flour Power – a Guide to Different Types of Flours to learn more).

In a large bowl, combine all ingredients together into a paste. We added a few tablespoons of Beef Topper to the cookies for extra flavor. Add more treats in your cookies, if you like.
Lightly roll the paste in your hands to make 1-inch balls of dough. Place each ball on the baking sheet with about 1-2 inches of space in between, then lightly press each ball into a coin-shaped disc. Press 2 or 3 beef treats into the top of each “nest.”
Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops of the cookies are lightly browned and firm to the touch. Allow to cool completely before treating.

Recipe Variations

On our first try, we made these cookies with coconut flour instead of course oat flour. Doing so resulted in cookies that were quite crumbly. Because coconut flour is so absorbent, we also needed to increase the broth content and add an additional egg when making them.

That said, Poppy -our resident black Labrador / border collie mix- loved the coconut flour cookies! We tried again, and with success, using oat flour for doggies that like crunchier cookies. For even more crunch, reduce the veggie and broth content.

As for choice of veggies, we used cooked broccoli because Poppy loves it. If you have a picky pooch, feel free to substitute green beans or carrots. You could also use spinach for green color, but should limit the amount in the cookies (learn why in our blog: Human Foods Dogs Can & Can’t Eat).

If your dog doesn’t like veggies, omit them and instead use 1/4 applesauce and reduce the broth to 1/4 cup.

Related recipe: DIY Healthy Fall Flavors Dog Biscuits