Hi Everyone,
Can you keep a secret? I really must confess something to you. Something that’s kind of embarrassing. I ate dog balls. There I said it! I ate dog balls! Not the kind of dog balls your thinking of!! Dirty!! See I always make recipes for me, my family, my friends and you, but I rarely make anything for my bad babies! So this past Sunday, I debated on what recipe to share with you today and I just didn’t feel like making anything for me and I thought I’ll make my babies some healthy balls that I know they will love!!
My dogs have a slight obsession with peanut butter. I don’t know where they get that from? Don’t look at me! 🙂 But my girl Samantha has a major obsession with pumpkin. As I said in past posts, she is a good girl, never steals, begs or does anything bad when it comes to food. But one day I made pumpkin muffins for her and Sampson and ever since then she has become crazy! Everytime I open a can of pumpkin she is right there! She bark, begs and pleads for pumpkin. I made pumpkin muffins a few months ago and I left her alone, and when I came back she ate them all. All of them!!! She has never done that ever!! She is just pumpkin obsessed. I guess kind of like her Mom???? Here is my girl Samantha!
So with my dogs two obsessions, I decided to whip together a quick and easy peanut butter and pumpkin balls. The balls taste fantastic. Yes I ate one, plus batter! So embarrassing, but I had to test them!! When you bite into a ball, you get a hint of peanut butter, than cinnamon and your left with a wonderful pumpkin taste. I never realized that pumpkin and peanut butter go so well together. I will be making a creation with this combo soon, I just must!!!
I used all natural ingredients, so I know my dogs will be getting a healthy treat!! To make the balls I used organic peanut butter, organic pumpkin, local honey and gluten free oats and just a pinch of cinnamon. You know my dogs just love the cinnamon. Everything here is completely healthy and safe for your dog.
I tried to get a picture of my dogs when I gave them there little treats, but my boy was horrible. He kept barking and wouldn’t let me take a picture of him. I see people post pictures of there dogs all of the time, but my dogs get to excited when the camera points to them. They don’t mind me taking photos of food, but not photos of them. I guess they are camera shy?
- ½ cup peanut butter, natural organic
- 1 cup pumpkin, organic (not pie filling)
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 3 tbsp. honey (I used local)
- 2½ cups oats (I used Gluten Free)
- Add parchment paper to a baking sheet; set aside.
- In a bowl, add peanut butter, pumpkin, cinnamon and honey; mix until incorporated. Add the oats; mix well. If the consistency seems to wet, add a pinch more oats.
- Grab a chunk of the batter and roll into balls and place on prepared baking sheet. Do the same until no more batter remains. NOTE: I rolled my balls into the size of a golf ball, maybe a little bigger.
- Place the baking sheet in the fridge to let the balls harder a bit, then store in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 weeks or place in the freezer for up to 3 months.
I know today’s recipe isn’t for you, but really it can be! If these were totally for me, I’d add a pinch of vanilla and maple syrup to it, other than that I would leave it as is. These are pretty tasty, so don’t feel bad if you eat dog balls! I don’t! Just don’t tell anyone you did! 😉
Have a great day!!
Toodles,
Jennifer
P.S. Here is a picture of my BAD by Sammy. See he was barking at me and was getting way to excited!!
You crack me up! I love this and I think I need to make some for Sir Pugsley! Plus you want to discuss bad boy? He was lusting after my grilled cheese sandwich I made for dinner last night. And when I saw lusting I mean sitting on top of me trying to grab a bite. So I seriously could have used one of your balls to distract him. 🙂
I love your pups name! So cute!!! I know what you mean about eating with the dogs near buy! We had to buy a tall kitchen table so there noses wouldn’t be in our food.
I don’t have a dog, but I will probably make these for myself! I shall call them pb balls! Hehe They sound amazing!
lol! make them for yourself, you will love them!! Peanut Butter and Pumpkin go great together!
If my SousPug could have peanut butter, he’d be barking at me like mad for these 🙂
Ahhhh, he can’t have PB! That’s sad!
My dog would love these!!
You should make them for them! 🙂
OMG! My boy, Manny, thanks you in advance. He LOVES peanut butter too! Make some peanut butter pumpkin biscuits for him too. Speaking of which, I need bake some for him soon 🙂
You have to love our furry friends and there love for peanut butter! 🙂 My dogs go bonkers over it!!
I’ve pinned this so that I can make some for my lil Abby. She’d go nuts over these! Lol…balls. So juvenile but I laugh whenever I read/write/say the word!
I know, it’s funny when you say balls! So goofy and immature and I wouldn’t have it any other way! lol
These are fabulous! My dogs LOVE these and they are great to hide pills in! No more pricey pill pockets with unknown ingredients! Thank you for the recipe!
Ha ha! I am so happy your dogs love them. Great idea for hiding the pups pills in them. I think I’ll d o that next time.
My dogs(Shelties) LOVE these. Thx!!
I am so glad! Thank you for telling me. 🙂
Thanks, I think my baby boy will LOVE these!!
Both my pups LOVE pumpkin they get it for a bedtime snack! They also like peanut butter so this combo is perfect and so easy. I am so going to try these balls and even let them try it to 🙂 It will be a perfect bedtime snack for them. Thank you for sharing your recipe!
Ahhh, that is so sweet that you give your pups a bedtime snack. I hope your pups love the pb pumpkin dog balls. 🙂
Just made them today and they are in LOVE!! I tried dog balls too and liked it! Lol 😆
I am so happy they love the balls. I tried them too and didn’t think they tasted to bad. lol Thank you for letting me know they turned out for you.
Just made these, and they were super easy!!
I am so glad. These are one my dogs favorite treats.
Just a quick note:I added a carob chip on top to each rolled ball. (And, yes, I couldn’t resist trying it and understand why you ate them-ha,ha!) Our pup loves them. Thanks so much!
Susan
Love the idea of the carob chip. So glad the pups love them. Such a nice easy treat to make. Thank you for letting me know.
I just finished making these! Thanks for the no bake recipe.
You are so welcome. I love simple, easy no bake recipes and so do my dogs! 🙂
Gonna make these for my fur nephew for Thanksgiving, I’m sure he will love them!!
Ha ha, I love that you call him your fur nephew. So cute! I hope he enjoys them. I think I will make them for my babies today.
You GottA love those Pugs!!!! My Bobbie and Callie love every kind of food. There is nothing they won’t eat😎😎
I don’t have organic, can I use regular pb and pumpkin and regular oatmeal?
That should be fine. Hope your Pup enjoys the balls. 🙂
These sound awesome! Do you think it would work if I replaced the oats with almond flour?
It should be ok. I just checked if dogs can have Almond Flour. They said this: Almond Flour: This flour contains protein, healthy fats, and vitamins B complex and E, as well as trace minerals (e.g. manganese, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, and selenium). When baking with almond flour, you can use similar quantities to regular flour in your recipe.
My dog loves these. I add 1 tsp. Turmeric, but don’t add the honey. This summer it has been so hot, so I froze them in bone and paw feet silicone molds.
That is an awesome idea. I like the idea that you used turmeric. So glad your dog loves them. Thank you for letting me know. 🙂
This was amazing!! Our little Yoshi is obsessed with these, we add one or two to every meal, the pumpkin helps regulate his stomach. I hide them under his kibble but he finds it and gobbles it down before the rest and looks up for more.
PS-I made a batch of these while I was at my inlaws and my mother in law tried one and she loved them so much she kept a bunch for herself HAHA.
That is just wonderful! I am so happy Yoshi loves them. My dogs go crazy for them too. That is so funny about your Mother in Law. Glad she enjoyed them too. lol Thank you for letting me know that these were a hit for your Pup and MIL. 🙂
One thing I do differently: I actually toast the oats a bit before mixing it in. I do that in half batches in the microwave (it’ll probably be better on stove, but microwave is faster). The “roasted” oats add a richer flavor and smells amazing!!
Great idea. I never thought of that. Thank you for sharing.
love no bake treats, my oven doesn’t work.
Any other no bake treats feel free to email me🐕☺🐕 my dog Zoie will love these. Thanks 😀
Thanks Rita! I will try to come up with more. So much easier when you don’t need to bake.
My dogs love these!!! They were laying on me whining for them!
Hi Christa! Ha ha, I love that! My dogs are so obsessed with pumpkin.
Thank you my dog loves the one I buy I think she will like these.
Hi Sue, I hope she enjoys them. Let me know how they turn out.
Love these, and so does our Coton, Leo! He’s a picky pup who won’t take pills. We crush them and mix it all up with the pb and punkin, and he devours them!😊 So easy to make and great when it’s time for that Heartworm pill!
I made these for my dogs as well as a christmas gift for my family’s dogs and they were a great hit. I of course tasted them and they taste as good as they look. Thanks for a great recipe.
I have.made these a couple of times.. I use turmeric as a natural inflammation fighter.. I use it on myself as well.. it works when you have puppies that are getting up in age this really helps. But it also helps digestive issues as well.. if you catch your puppy with either hard or soft stool.. it works.. it will tame any pups tummy woes.
My son’s Coon hound DayZ loves these! I have changed the recipe slightly & doubled it. Added about 6 tablespoons of coconut oil & 2 cups of unsweetened shredded coconut (all organic)
It’s her morning treat from grandma
I drive a small transport for several dog rescues, and giving the kids kibble after they got off the bus was usually met with disdain. I needed something I could give them that would get gobbled down. Then I found your recipe. Today, a Belgian Malinios named Charlotte, a chug named Gabby, a chiweenie named Lina, and a minature senior poodle named Tiffany, got to be my test tasters. They LOVED them. Gabby would’ve gobbled everything, but I regulated her intake. Big plus, NO runny poops! Hurrah! These will now be a staple on my runs. Rescue kids thank you!
Oh my gosh, you do such a wonderful thing. What a rewarding job. I love animals so much, especially dogs. So glad the dogs enjoyed them. My dogs go crazy over anything with pumpkin. Thank you for sharing your story with me.
I love your post. I made these for my dog and he loved them. I tasted them too, they really are good. I’ll be making these again.
Made this but didnt have pumkin so i used sweet potatoes and it was stull yummy even for me lol
Omgness my whole family love these They didn’t realize I had made them for the dogs lol .
Can these be given frozen, or do they need to be thawed. If they need to be thawed, what is the suggested time of thawing?
Hi Catherine, You can give frozen if you would like. They don’t take long to thaw out, and they won’t freeze into hard rocks because of the fat from the peanut butter. I have given them to my dogs frozen. Hope they enjoy!
How long do these last?
Hi Candy, I would say a bout a week in the fridge and 3 months in the freezer.
My dogs loved them, thank you. Natural ingredients, good for them, and just a few ingredients. that was the biggest thing that I liked.
I used a pumpkin after Halloween local honey( my neighbor raises bees), I always have peanut butter around I love peanut butter too, my dogs Kila and Luna loved them so we gave them to all their friends and they loved him too, they told me. Did you get the pictures I sent?