Banana Pumpkin Dog Treats
Most of the writers at Once a Month Mom love the once a month cooking method to provide healthy, balanced meals to their families. As the current Diet menu writer, I do not fit the typical image you might picture for a Once a Month Mom — I have no children. Once a Month Mom isn’t just for moms! I keep myself busy with a full-time career, maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle and spending as much time as possible volunteering to help rescue and shelter animals. The once a month cooking method allows me to keep healthy meals in the freezer to have on hand when time is short.
Our household currently includes three rescue dogs. They each came with their own laundry list of various behavioral 
issues, multiple past owners or mystery illnesses. Taking just a little extra time and patience, they all became wonderful companions and settled easily into our household. High energy dogs are a particular favorite of mine and I love unearthing the true personality of a dog by simply providing them with some much needed regular, vigorous exercise. Currently, I accomplish this by coordinating a volunteer program to pair runners with shelter dogs, Miles and Mutts.
Although my only children are of the furry variety that doesn’t mean I have to leave them out of providing balanced treats. These dog treats combine some of their favorite flavors — peanut butter, pumpkin and banana. For me, one of the best parts of this recipe is it’s very simple and easy to mix together, throw on a pan and bake. There’s no rolling of dough or cutting shapes. Although I love baking treats like of this variety for special occasions, such as this Once A Month Mom Peanut Butter Dog Treats recipe, these treats are easy enough to make a batch any day.
Banana Pumpkin Dog Treats
Author/Source:
Abbi @ Onceamonthmom.com
Ingredients:
- 4 cups rolled oats
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 eggs
- 0.25 cup vegetable oil
- 0.25 cup molasses
- 0.25 cup natural peanut butter
- 15 ounces canned pure pumpkin
- 4 medium bananas, mashed
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray an 11 x 15″ rimmed baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine the rolled oats and whole wheat flour. In a separate medium sized bowl, mash the bananas, mix in the eggs, oil, molasses, pumpkin and banana. When combined, add to try ingredients and mix thoroughly. Spread onto the prepared baking sheet, pressing down to pack together. Bake for 40-45 minutes until edges begin to brown and center is firm but spongy. Remove from the oven, cut into desired size squares. 
Freezing Directions:
Freeze in a single layers in containers or gallon size freezer bags.
Servings: about 40 2″ square treats.
**conversion chart image provided by Erik Spiekermann
These look great! I have been looking for a home-made treat that was easy. I have a white Aussy, rescue dog, who has been blind and deaf from birth. She will love the new smells and tastes. Thanks.
That’s wonderful! I hope she enjoys. I particularly like how easy these are as well, the dogs don’t seem to mind what they look like!
I know you wouldn’t post something with ingredients harmful to dogs… But just so I make sure to get the right stuff – does it matter what brand/type of peanut butter I get? And same with pumpkin – I assume it’s regular puréed pumpkin and not the canned pumpkin you use for pumpkin pie, right? I would love to make these for my two pups!!
You are correct in the pumpkin, regular pumpkin, not the pie mix. For the peanut butter, I use the natural peanut butter that is just peanuts so it doesn’t have sugar but a small amount of any kind should be fine.
Do you thaw a few at a time? How long do they last at room temperature?
Yes, due to the high moisture content, you only want to thaw a few at a time. They will only last a couple of days before they get moldy at room temperature.
Can you tell me about the brown dog in your photos? He looks just like my guy that I rescued!
I volunteer at a few shelters and had taken her to an adoption event. Eight months later she still didn’t have a home and we decided to try adding her to the family. She was an owner surrender who had been adopted as a puppy from another shelter and had a variety of illnesses and incredibly high energy which kept her in the shelter for so long. She just needed someone with some patience and understanding of her needs. She is a guessing game as far as what all breeds she might contain.