Homemade Frosty Paws-Inspired Dog Treats Recipe

DIY Frosty Paws: Cool Treats for Dogs

In today's Internet age, it's the rare "dog mom" who hasn't purchased, made, or at least heard about Frosty Paws for dogs. Those who haven't have been missing out, or, more perhaps accurately, their dogs have been missing out!

Frosty Paws are creamy, nutritious, healthy (but unfortunately somewhat expensive) frozen treats that dogs adore. Enjoyable year round, they're especially welcome in the summer months as they're the canine equivalent of ice cream. Homemade versions, which lack preservatives, are more healthy than store brands and cost less as well!

Basic Homemade Frosty Paws Recipe

Ingredients

• 32 oz. plain yogurt
• 1 mashed ripe banana
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons honey

Directions

Mix all of the ingredients with a blender or mixer and freeze in ice cube trays. Small paper cups and disposable egg cartons also make good molds.

When frozen, microwave for a few seconds, unmold, and place the treats in a plastic bag and store in the freezer. (Note: If you are using Styrofoam egg cartons or cups, rest the containers briefly in a partially filled pan of warm water to loosen contents. Unless the Styrofoam is labeled as microwave safe, it could melt.)

Optional: If you want to be fancy, bone and paw-shaped molds are available.

Variations

This is where the fun part begins! Using only the yogurt as a base, there are any number of ways to vary the original recipe. You're only limited by your imagination. Because these treats are frozen, their consistency is less important than when experimenting with baked goods. Below are a few variations my own dogs have heartily endorsed.

• Use fruit and flavored yogurt instead of plain. I've used vanilla, blueberry, and strawberry/banana with good success. Note: some dogs do have issues digesting yogurt, so make sure you know what they can handle by giving them small amounts at first and keeping an eye on them.
• Mix the yogurt with a packet of low sodium powdered chicken bouillon (Herb Ox has sodium-free chicken granules) and a cup of low-sodium chicken broth.
• One large jar of baby food is approximately equal to one banana. So instead of the banana, use the baby food of your choice. My dogs love meat baby food. Unfortunately, this only seems to come in small jars. Use three or four jars of the meat of your choice in place of the banana, peanut butter, and honey.
• Puree the yogurt in a blender with a can of mackerel or salmon.
• Scramble or boil several eggs, and puree them with the yogurt. You can use raw eggs but then enters the (small) risk of salmonella poisoning. (I occasionally use raw eggs, but I raise my own free-range chickens and can control their nests' cleanliness.) Raw egg whites destroy biotin, a necessary B vitamin. Raw egg yolks, however, are a rich source of biotin and offset the raw egg white. Do not feed raw egg whites by themselves as, over time, this practice could lead to a biotin deficiency.
• Puree the yogurt with raw chicken or beef liver. Raw liver purees with ease. Liver is rich, and a little goes a long way. Too much will give a dog diarrhea.

You get the idea...you truly are only limited by your imagination!

Broth-Based Treats

For dogs on a diet or who cannot eat dairy, instead of yogurt, defatted chicken broth may be used as a base. This is easy to make.

Simple Broth Base Recipe

1. Place a whole chicken in a big pot and cover with water to which you have added carrots, garlic, and low sodium bouillon.
2. Cover, bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until cooked for approximately one hour.
3. When done, remove the chicken, strain the broth, and refrigerate overnight. The fat will rise to the top and harden.
4. The next day, skim off the fat. What remains is your broth base.

The broth alone makes a nice doggie Popsicle, but jars of meat baby food, canned fish, cooked eggs, or diced, cooked chicken, are all great additions. Sometimes I hide a small cooked treat in the half-frozen broth when I use the broth alone.

Simple Frozen Dog Treat Recipe

Perhaps my dogs' favorite frozen treat is this:

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1. Save chicken carcasses in the freezer until you have several, and then put them into a pressure cooker with enough water to partially cover.
2. Cook at 15 or 20 pounds of pressure for an hour and a half. When cool, the bones are so soft that they "mush" when touched.
3. Transfer the contents of the pressure cooker to a blender or food processor and process until smooth.
4. Mix the bone puree with equal quantities of defatted chicken broth, place in molds, and freeze. My dogs love these. Yours will too!

Note

Several comments expressed concern over possible additives to meat baby food being harmful to dogs, so I did a little research. Gerber is a national brand that sells four meat foods (Beef & Beef Gravy, Chicken & Chicken Gravy, Turkey & Gravy, and Ham & Gravy) in their 2'd Foods line, and they all have only three ingredients: meat, water, and cornstarch. This product should be on the shelf at your local grocery store!

© 2009 Brett Winn

Comments

Barb Polos on July 19, 2020:

Any one know if these are ok for a diabetic dog?i

Diana Liford on July 06, 2019:

Thank you so much for sharing your recipes...our little "Cheeewawa" is quite picky, but she loves peanut butter AND chicken so I think I'll try those two. I'll try to get back to you and let you know how it went ..

edithshannon on May 12, 2019:

Cakes for small fur babys

Roxanne H. on May 07, 2019:

I like your ideas for variations on the recipe. My only concern is adding garlic or onions to the chicken broth. Dogs should not have either one. Other than that it sounds good enough to eat!

Tammy on July 27, 2018:

Do you Any Puppys Frozer Treata and old Dog treats over Age of 8years old

Brett Winn (author) from US on September 27, 2016:

Cynthia ... you are so sweet! Thank you!

Cynthia Zirkwitz from Vancouver Island, Canada on August 01, 2016:

Brett Winn, I am sure these frozen treats are a big hit with any animal who is lucky enough to have a human prepare and serve them up! Thank you for the recipe-- I am passing this around in Social Medialand, knowing that there are piles of furbaby parents out there looking for more natural and inexpensive summer treats! ~Cynthia

Victoria B on July 10, 2015:

Great hub!

Allison on April 21, 2015:

Thank you so much for this great recipe! My dog LOVES them, and i am thrilled to be able to provide them so much more economically. I got 20 good-sized (about frosty paws size) treats out of this recipe for $4.00 US! Now that is QUITE an improvement - thank you again!

Nilesh on February 18, 2015:

hey there! checked out your wsiebte and am very interested in your assistance. We have a year old lab X greyhound (so we found out afterwards!) and all in all he is an amazing dog, we got him at 8 weeks and he has been around our daughter who had just turned 3 and is amazing with her she lays on him..pushes him is kind of in an aggressive stage right now and we try really hard to stress to her NOT to be like that lol but anyways he has never growled, snapped, bit or snarled at her..or anyone for that matter.. he is a very loving and affectionate, licky/kissy dog.however, we have a baby on the way, and my husband was just called into the military and will be going away for quite a while. Bentley(dog) seems to listen to my husband more than me they are BFFS. And Bentley has and always has had an issue with jumping up, and pawing at people lol not aggressively but its still super frustrating, and we are concerned with the baby on the way and such and just want to get him under control while hes still young.Let me know what you think and We'd love to meet!

Brett Winn (author) from US on December 07, 2014:

It is great when we can give them what they love without it costing a fortune! Thanks for telling me!

Danielle Durand from North Grosvenor Dale, Connecticut on December 06, 2014:

I have two Siberian huskies and they love the frozen treats. I made one with just melted peanut butter and vanilla yogurt. I will trying it with banana next. Frosty paws are about $5.00 for four. The one I made was $5.00 for two and a half dozen.

Joe from north miami FL on July 02, 2014:

Can't wait to feed this to my dog.

Evelia Veronica Rivera from Bridgeport, CT on March 24, 2014:

I will be trying this summer!

Brett Winn (author) from US on June 18, 2013:

What a fabulous idea!!! Thanks for sharing ... never know when someone else might need to do the same!

Chelsea on June 15, 2013:

This was such a great solution for giving our dog his medicine. He hates the milk thistle he needs to take for liver problems, so I broke open the capsules and poured a 12 day supply of his meds into the batter (I made half the batch). He loved the treats and was none the wiser! Thanks!

Brett Winn (author) from US on June 01, 2013:

Jennifer, thanks for such a great comment! If you have trouble cooling your dog down in the summer, you might also try unsalted homemade chicken stock that's been defatted ... you can fill a Kong with it (you have to plug the little hole first) with the defatted broth and freeze it. I did not know about Kefir at the time I wrote this article, but Kefir is even better for dogs (and people) than yogurt and has many more varieties of beneficial bacteria. Loved your comment!

Jennifer on June 01, 2013:

I can't wait to make these! If it wasn't storming here I would be at the grocery store getting the ingredients! I will be picking them up after work tomorrow! I tried the ones from the local grocery store for the 1st time because my poor dog is always hot in the summer. I can't get her to drink water when she's hot. I put a gallon of water in the fridge for her, I have added ice, & she always has fresh water. I know she'd cool down faster if she'd drink. Anyways, I figured they'd be perfect for her. I take care of my mom's dog too, who is sensitive to different foods, so 4 were gobe quickly. My dog couldn't keep the cup still so we sat in the floor & she licked it clean. Afterwards I she laid on me & gave me tons of kisses. She really loved it so I wanted to start making them at home. Anything to make my baby happy! She shows me she is thankful anytime I do something for her & this is my way to thank her for being such a great dog. I can't believe the hate in some of these comments. It worries me that they have a dog in their care. You are doing something nice to help us & they have nothing better to do than be rude. It's unfortunate that some people don't have common sense to wash things before putting their dog's food in them, check labels before using the products since everything has different makers with different ingredients, to not use an entire bottle of garlic powder or onion powder, & so on. If you're going to own a pet, do your homework. Know what's dangerous for them & know the quantity on which it's dangerous. You don't rush your dog to the vet if it ate a chocolate morsel or had a bite of your pizza. Also, you don't feed it an entire onion or bowl of milk. This is why dog food companies that use horrible ingredients stay on the market. People don't educate themselves on their pets. I feed my dog a good brand. It's not the most expensive but it has similar ingredients. Since treats are given in moderation I am not as picky but definitely keep an eye on the ingredients. Some things are OK in small amounts but not as a meal. These ice cream treats are to be fed in moderation, not as a meal too so a small amount of some of these items are safe as long as the dog isn't allergic or sensitive to some ingredients. A vet recommend plain yogurt to my friend for a dog with an upset stomach. She told me this after I was having trouble with my dog getting sick. I was hesitant at first but finally gave in because I needed to try something else. It worked great! I don't know why it did but since then her stomach hasn't been as sensitive as it used to be. It go's to show that it's good to do your own homework not listen to hearsay.

Brett Winn (author) from US on May 01, 2013:

They do need to stay frozen, but you can un-mold them and bag them up in the freezer!

TreatsByTalia on May 01, 2013:

Do they need to stay frozen or can you bag them up and keep them in the fridge?

Brett Winn (author) from US on April 03, 2013:

I have another great treat recipe that uses cat food "flour" lol.

bob winter on April 01, 2013:

My baby girl loves these but i use dog food in sted

Brett Winn (author) from US on January 05, 2013:

You are welcome! Thanks for stopping by!

Lisa S on January 04, 2013:

Never mind the dogs.....my boys would love these! thanks!!!

Brett Winn (author) from US on November 26, 2012:

Great idea! I've got a non stick mini muffin pan that would probably work well. Thanks!

Jenna on November 25, 2012:

Freeze them in Muffin Tins! I did the first batch in ice cube trays, but my dog picked them up and chomped them in one bite! I did the second batch in muffin tins so she couldn't pick them up, and it worked like a charm!

Kadaver on October 23, 2012:

Hi, I don't know if anyone else mentioned this but if you use the egg carton to freeze the "popsicles" you should wash it first. As you mentioned raw eggs may contain salmonella which may also be on the outside of their shells and could be transferred to the carton. Great recipe, thanks!

Brett Winn (author) from US on October 20, 2012:

You are so welcome! Thanks for stopping by!

Lindsey on October 20, 2012:

My pup is going to love this. She loves licking my yogurt bowl and she loves peanut butter. Cannot go wrong with this! Thanks for posting!

joni m on September 02, 2012: