Dog Christmas Cookie Recipes: Gingerbread Pups and Gingerbread Men

We love baking cookies for the holidays and one of our favorite cutout cookies are gingerbread men. They’re pretty easy to make and fun to decorate. For this Christmas cookie recipe for dogs, we’re revising the classic gingerbread men recipe and using it for inspiration to make dog cutout cookies.

Ginger is an anti-inflammatory ingredient that’s generally safe for your dog to eat and it might even help with digestive issues, circulation and arthritis. Mixing a small amount into a Christmas dog recipe is a great way to sneak it in without your dog noticing the strong flavor.

For this recipe, you’ll need a mixer, a rolling pin and cookie cutters in the shape of dogs for this dog treat recipe. (Sure, you can make some gingerbread ‘men’ too while you’re at it if you want to give you pup the opportunity to eat them up!)

You might even want to set aside a few baked dog Christmas cookies to gift a pet lover in your life. Make these gingerbread dog cutout cookies plain or decorate them with fun Wellness Old Mother Hubbard Winter Fun shapes.

Dog Christmas Cookies: Gingerbread Pups

Ingredients:

2 1/2 Cups of flour (white or whole wheat)

2 Tablespoons of white flour for the cutting board

1 Tablespoon ground ginger

2 Tablespoons of molasses

1/2 Cup of applesauce, unsweetened

1 Egg

6-8 Wellness Old Mother Hubbard Winter Fun Treats, finely chopped

Optional: whole treats & peanut butter for decorating  (make sure the peanut butter doesn’t contain xylitol, a dangerous ingredient for dogs)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper to prevent cookies from sticking and burning.

3. Combine the 2 1/2 cups of flour and spices in a bowl and mix. Set aside.

4. Mix together egg, molasses and applesauce until combined.

5. Add the dry mixture into the wet mixture slowly until the ingredients are mixed well, adding up to 1/4 cup more flour as you are mixing if the dough is too sticky. A hand or electric mixer will be helpful here!

6. Sprinkle some flour onto a flat surface—ideally a large wooden cutting board for rolling out the dough. Add flour to a rolling pin and start rolling out the gingerbread dough until it’s about ½-inch thick.

7. Use a cookie cutter to make dog (and bone!) shapes and slide a spatula under each cookie to add it to the cookie sheet.

8. Spread the dog cutouts on the paper-lined baking sheet and keep them about 2 inches apart. Sprinkle the crushed Winter Fun treats on the dogs’ heads, on some tails, or give them little collars for interest. You should have about one tray of cookies but feel free to bake them on two cookie sheets for extra room.

9. Bake for about 15 minutes, checking on the gingerbread cookies after 10 minutes to ensure they aren’t burning. If you want them flatter and crunchier, let them bake for 18 to 20 minutes. If you want them softer, take them out around 15 minutes if they look done.

10. Optional: If you want to further decorate the cookies with Wellness Old Mother Hubbard Winter Fun holiday shapes, use small dabs of peanut butter to stick them on!

Make sure to tag us in your Old Mother Hubbard pup bakery treats on Instagram! Bonus points if your dog is dressed up in a holiday outfit or headband!

Please note: Treats should be kept to 10% of your dog’s daily food intake to keep nutritional balance.