Your Pup Will Go Bananas For these Banana Pill Treats
Hi, everyone. My name is Mandy and my goal is to support the Epi dog owner. My dog Ruby was diagnosed with epilepsy almost four years ago. I want to share my tips and tricks that I have learned along the way. Today I want to teach you how to make a banana pill treat. It's a soft pill treat that makes it easy to give your dog their meds. A bonus is you don’t need to turn on the oven. This is a no-bake dog treat. The ingredients that I'm using are simple and you may have some of them already in your kitchen. These are great staple items to have on hand to make many variations of the homemade pill treat.
What you will need is a medium size ripe banana. A ripe banana is easier to mash and will provide all the moisture needed so no additional liquid is required for this recipe. The next ingredient that I'm going to be using today is oat flour. I typically have been using the Bob’s Red Mill Oat Flour that is gluten free. Oat flour is a great flour to use in pill treats and I have many recipes for Ruby’s pill treats that call for oat flour. You will also need an unflavored beef gelatin. I’m using the NOW Real Food brand beef gelatin. The beef gelatin powder dissolves very easily and it helps create that consistency that helps create a nice dough to work with to create the pill treat shape. The NOW Real Food brand is a great option and is less expensive than the Great Lakes beef gelatin brand.
First, mash the ripe banana in a bowl with a fork. Once the banana is completely mashed, mix one tablespoon of beef gelatin to the mashed banana to let the gelatin start to dissolve. Finally, add in four tablespoons of oat flour. Mix all the ingredients together. The dough will be sticky so place the dough in the refrigerator for about thirty minutes. This will help the dough firm up so you are able to form the pill treat shape.
After thirty minutes the dough will have firmed up and is ready to create the pill treats. If you prefer, you can leave it as a dough ball and just pinch off what you need throughout the week. Just make sure it is in an airtight container in the refrigerator to prevent it from drying out. The dough will last up to a week in the fridge. This is a great option if your dog takes different size pills.
To create the pill treats shape, pinch off the amount of dough that is needed based on your dog's size and the size of the pill they take. Form a small dough ball by rolling it between the palms of your hands. Next, push your finger into the dough ball to create a hole for the pill. Carefully pull the dough ball off your finger and place into a container that will go into the refrigerator. When you are ready to use a banana pill treat simply put the pill in the hole you created and pinch the dough closed. Your dog will love taking their pills with the banana pill treats! Check out my video below to watch me make the banana dough and create the pill treat shape.
If you would like to see additional pill treat recipes that are healthy and inexpensive compared to the store-bought pill treats just click here for my Homemade Pill Treat book. This book also has a recipe hack that teaches you how to make the banana pill treat without having to mash an actual banana.