I never turn down puppy kisses. Never. No matter how bad their breath is. There is nothing more pure than your favorite canine running up to you with joy and licking your face happily. However, bad breath does kind of dampen the experience a bit.
Recently, my dad and I were admiring his beautiful rescued English Bulldog, who I call “sissy” since she’s basically my little sister. Her name is actually Chubb, after a football player who got his start with the Georgia Bulldogs. We refer to ourselves as “The Chubb Chubb Fan Club.” Out of the four dogs my family has, she is by far the best behaved. All of the pups are wonderful, but there is just something about Chubb Chubb.
However, there was one thing we weren’t admiring about her: her breath. If both my dad and I think she has bad breath, then she really does. We tend to think she can do no wrong, so this was a big deal. I decided to look at some breath freshening dog treats, but they were quite pricey. My next idea was to make some instead, so I got to work doing some research.
I discovered dogs can have fresh mint and fresh parsley, and I even found some treat recipes including both, but none that really stood out to me. I decided to go it on my own and do a variation on sissy’s favorites, which are peanut butter applesauce.
As long as you know the basic ingredients of treats, and you have a feel for the texture, your only concern is making sure your ingredients are completely safe for dogs. Dog treats are more forgiving than people treats. Safety is number one, after that, they’re pretty simple.
Wash…. 
and dry
In many of the recipes I saw, the mint and parsley were finely chopped. I wasn’t a fan of this so I got a different idea based on a method that I tend to like best- blending everything together! I love the even texture and color it gives. Both ways will work, so do whatever you think your pup will like best.
The green dough smelled really good and it was so fun to work with. I was actually bummed when the green color baked out. I love colorful treats, but many natural flavors change or bake out in the oven. It’s the price to pay for keeping things natural and it’s worth it, I just wish there were dog safe natural sprinkles!
I love love love using my molds! My husband gifted me with BPA free, food grade silicone molds for Valentine’s Day and I don’t know how I did it without them. You can definitely roll the dough out and cut out shapes, but this is so simple and the treats look so professional. I have bones and paws and I keep looking for more fun shapes for pup treats. I am even considering taking some homemade dog treats to a local bake sale.
The best part about these treats? They actually worked! Not only did all four of the pups love them, we also got to enjoy our puppy kisses without the offensive odor. Nice one for us!
Doggie Breath Mint Recipe
- 2 c. oats (measure before blending)
- 1 egg
- 1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 c. natural peanut butter
- fresh mint (.75 oz package from the produce cooler)
- fresh parsley (.75 oz. package from the produce cooler)
- 3/4 c. whole wheat flour
In a medium sized colander, gently wash the mint and parsley leaves in cold water. Don’t turn the water on full blast when you rinse the leaves, they are delicate enough that they bruise easily. Shake off as much excess water as possible.
Lay the leaves out to dry on a paper towel.
Place the oats in a blender or food processor and blend until they resemble flour. A few chunks is completely fine. Place the oat flour in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
Place all the wet ingredients (egg, applesauce, and peanut butter) in a blender. Pick the leaves from the stems of the mint and parsley and place the leaves in the blender with the rest of the wet ingredients. Blend it all for about a minute until it resembles a green smoothie.
Pour the green mixture over the oat flour and add in half the whole wheat flour. Mix thoroughly, adding more flour if the dough is too sticky. Depending on the size of the egg and the amount of leaves you get from the fresh herbs, you may need more or less flour.
Preheat the oven to 325 while you get the treats ready to bake.
Once the dough is holding together nicely without being too sticky, you can either roll it out and cut it into shapes like sugar cookies, or you can press it into silicone baking molds.
If you use molds, bake them for 35-40 minutes. If you do the cut out version, which ends up much thinner, about 1/4 in. thickness, bake about half the time.
The molds I used take about 1 tsp. of dough and this recipe made 72 treats.
Store the treats in the fridge for two weeks, or the freezer for up to four months.
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