Short answer: mix one mashed sweet potato, 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce, and 1/4 cup low-sodium broth into 2 cups whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup rolled oats, roll the dough 1/4 inch thick, cut it, and bake at 350°F for 20-25 minutes. Cool completely, then keep them in the fridge or freezer. That's it — five ingredients, about 35 minutes, and no preservatives you can't pronounce.
I'm Preston Smith, co-founder of Bully Sticks Central. We sell chews, not cookies, so let me be straight with you: soft homemade treats are worth making, and they solve a real problem for dogs who can't handle a hard chew. Here's how to do it right.
Why make soft dog treats instead of buying them?
Two reasons. First, control — you know every ingredient, which matters if your dog has a sensitivity you're still tracking down. Second, texture. Senior dogs, puppies still getting their adult teeth, and dogs recovering from dental work often can't manage anything firm. A soft, bendable treat lets them still get a reward.
The trade-off is shelf life. Homemade treats have no preservatives, so they mold. That's the price of clean ingredients, and it's why storage matters more than the recipe does.
The recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 cups whole wheat flour (oat or chickpea flour works if your dog does better without wheat)
- 1/2 cup rolled oats
- 1 cooked, mashed sweet potato
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth or water
Steps:
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
- Whisk the flour and oats together in a large bowl.
- In a second bowl, combine the sweet potato, applesauce, and broth. Mash out every lump — lumps become hard spots.
- Add the wet mix to the dry a little at a time, stirring until a dough forms. Too dry? Add broth a tablespoon at a time.
- Roll to about 1/4 inch on a floured surface.
- Cut into shapes or just slice squares.
- Bake 20-25 minutes, until the edges barely start to brown. Pull them early if you want them softer — the longer they bake, the crisper they get.
- Cool completely before your dog gets one.
Which ingredients are off-limits?
Skip xylitol (also labeled birch sugar), chocolate, raisins, grapes, onions, garlic, macadamia nuts, and anything with added salt or sugar. Xylitol is the one that catches people out — it hides in peanut butter, so read the jar before you add a scoop. The ASPCA's people-foods list is the reference we point customers to. If you want a peanut butter version, our guide to peanut butter treats for dogs covers the safe way to do it.
How long do homemade soft dog treats last?
Cool them completely first — sealing a warm treat traps steam and grows mold in days. After that: about a week in an airtight container in the fridge, or three months in the freezer. Glass jars work best. Thaw a frozen treat a few minutes before handing it over.
If they look or smell off, throw them out. There's nothing in this recipe keeping them safe past their time.
How many treats a day is too many?
The standard guidance from the AKC is the 10% rule: treats should stay under 10% of your dog's daily calories. For a 30-pound dog that's roughly 70-90 calories — a couple of small biscuits, not a handful.
Soft treats don't replace a chew
This is the part I care about most. A baked biscuit is gone in four seconds. It doesn't scrape teeth, and it doesn't give your dog the twenty or thirty minutes of work that actually settles them down. Treats reward. Chews occupy.
That's the gap our products fill. Our chews are 100% natural, single-ingredient, 100% real meat — no rawhide, no binders, fully digestible, and ethically sourced from grass-fed American and Argentinean farms. Everything we sell is 100% high-quality guaranteed. If you want the reasoning behind that, read our breakdown of why single-ingredient chews matter.
And if you landed here because your dog can't handle something hard, look at beef trachea. It's soft enough for seniors and dogs with worn teeth, but it's still real meat and still gives them something to work on. Bake the biscuits for training. Hand them a trachea when you need thirty quiet minutes.
Bottom line
Soft homemade treats are cheap, fast, and clean, and they're the right call for a dog whose teeth aren't what they were. Just cool them fully, refrigerate them, keep them under 10% of daily calories, and don't ask a biscuit to do a chew's job.
This post was last updated at July 24, 2026 00:49
