sweet potato carrot puppy treats {vegan}

I haven't made Anna puppy treats in forever- the spoiled pup she is receives a bark box once a month filled with toys and treats galore. However, I found myself with nothing to do on a lazy Tuesday afternoon with a wilted bunch of parsley - mostly dried half alive, it wasn't looking to good for the parsley. Knowing that it needed to be used right away I figured I'd treat Anna to some homemade goodness. These treats are incredibly easy to make with common pantry & fridge items that I am certain most of you always have on hand- they have the added benefit of being lower in calories and full of goodness for the pup in your life.

Parsley is amazing for your pups breath, flax seeds help with great skin & coat, oatmeal adds fiber, carrots are great for teeth and sweet potatoes are also another great source of fiber!

The dough for the treats comes together super quick with a little help from your food processor, a bit of all purpose flour is added to roll out the dough and to keep it from sticking.

These treats were also made with my little puppy niece Mallah in mind who needed to be put on a puppy diet...Mallah and my sister are living with my Mom at the present moment and Mallah has my Mom wrapped around her little paw-my Mom is totally treat trained and  falls for her sad little puppy looks every time.  The little heart treats are the perfect Mallah sized treats . 

Anna has that poor little puppy look perfected and I find it hard not too fall for it every time, at least I can feel a little less guilty when I fall victim to that irresistible sad puppy face knowing these homemade treats are amazingly good for her.

Come on,  how can you not give into the cuteness of that face!

Sweet Potato Carrot Puppy Treats
makes 10 large dog bone size treats & a dozen small heart shape treats
{any cookie cutter shape will work,}

2 3/4 cup Oatmeal {1/4 cup left unprocessed, 2 1/2 cups finely ground into flour}
4 small carrots, shredded

2 small sweet potatoes, shredded

1/3 cup ground flax seed 

1/2 cup finely chopped parsley
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup all purpose flour for rolling out the dough

assembly:
pre heat oven to 350*

Place oatmeal in the food processor fitted with an s blade and finely grind oatmeal into a coarse powder {flour like} transfer to a large mixing bowl. Switch the attachment to the shredding attachment and processor carrots and sweet potato {you can also shred by hand}- transfer to the mixing bowl and add flax, parsley, 1/4 cup whole oats & water. Mix with your hands until well combined. Change back to the s-blade of your food processor - in three batches process the mixture until it forms a dough, turn out each batch onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand a few time, continue until all three batches are processed and kneaded into one large dough ball.

Generously flour a rolling pin and work surface, roll dough out to desired thickness- we liked a 1/4". Cut shapes with your favorite cookie cutter and place onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Continue until all the dough has been used and cut into shapes.

Bake in a pre heated oven for 25-35 minutes or until bottoms are golden brown. Remove from oven and allow to fully cool prior to serving to your pup and storing. Treats will firm up when fully cooled. Store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks, if they last that long!

Enjoy!