Valentine's Pets: DIY Natural Frozen Dog Treats

In honor of Valentine's Day and our favorite four-legged family member, we pulled out the heart-shaped ice tray again this year to whip up some super simple and natural frozen treats. Peanut butter and Greek yogurt are some of Basil's favorite goodies, so we came up with this fun twist on the frosty paws recipe we like to make for him. What's great about these treats is how simple they are to make and store. They require minimal and completely natural ingredients, can be made in large batches to store in a freezer bag.

For those unfamiliar, a frozen dog treat might sound a little odd. We've found that Basil loves cold treats and when frozen, they take a little longer for our big guy to enjoy. Our doggie daycare actually tipped us off to their age old trick of putting a peanut butter stuffed kong toy in the freezer to make it last twice as long.

You'll need plain organic Greek yogurt, natural peanut butter, a heart shaped ice tray (really any ice tray will do, we got ours from Ikea) and a spoon. Also — can anyone tell me exactly how Basil knows every time we're getting ready to make something especially for him? It's like his spidey canine senses kick in and he beelines for the kitchen:

Spoon a small amount of peanut butter into the base of the ice tray. You can heat up the peanut butter first to make it easier (and not so messy) to spoon in. The more you add, the thicker the top layer on the treats will appear. You can play around with different amounts to get varying final results:

Next up, dollop heaping spoonfuls of the yogurt to cover the peanut butter in each mold:

Press yogurt down into the molds using the back of your spoon to make sure they're packed. This will help seal the peanut butter and yogurt together in the final treat. You can even gently "drop" the tray a few times in order to encourage further settling. If you have excess yogurt in any of the molds, gently scoop away until level with mold and pop into the freezer for at least 4 hours:

Once frozen, remove tray and pop out individual frozen treats — voila!

I love how the peanut butter layer adds some dimension and depth without looking perfect.

Somebody couldn't wait to give them a try:

He definitely felt the love and has been enjoying these bite sized treats. You could easily change things up by layering in more of your pup's favorite ingredients, like the crushed up dog treats or even oatmeal.

And for anyone wondering — while we made these for use as pet treats, they could easily make for a protein-packed people snack. Sweeten them up by tossing a few in a bowl with drizzled honey:

Yeah, we tried them! Have you been making any special heart-shaped or Valentine's themed treats for your four-legged friends this time of year?

Discover More:

Pomegranate Valentine's Ice Cubes | Homemade Frosty Paws | All Dog Treat Recipes