Low Purine Peanut Butter Banana Training Treat Recipe (for Dogs)
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Is your pup on a low purine diet? You’ve come to the right place! Our Dalmatian has the SLC2A9 gene mutation, meaning she is predisposed to high uric acid build up which can lead to urate stones. To prevent this, monitoring her diet is key! It sounds so simple, but determining which food and treats are safe for our purine sensitive pups requires a lot of research, cross referencing ingredients, and often a steeper than normal price point.
I set out to make healthy low purine dog treats of my own. Backed by my own best efforts to research the topic and approved by little Brandy (our Dalmatian) herself, I can’t wait to continue to share the low purine dog snacks I create. My first successful creation is the Peanut Butter Banana Training Treats. Soft enough to break apart for training sessions, these treats are packed with low purine healthy alternatives that will have your pups begging for more!
In this post, I’ll break down the rational for each ingredient I chose, along with the cost breakdown, nutritional breakdown and recipe so you can make them for your furry friends!
Why these ingredients?
Each one of the ingredients for this recipe were carefully chosen based on their purine content and safety for dog consumption. I scanned the ingredients of many well-known dog treats, searched the web for dog treat recipes, and did additional research to find low purine alternatives to ultimately create this recipe. Here’s what I found out about each ingredient.
Chickpea Flour
I’ll be honest… This one I stumbled on a little bit by accident. But I’m happy I did. I had originally planned to use Rice or Almond flour for this recipe, but the Almond flour was out of stock and the only Rice flour option had xylitol in it (which is highly toxic to dogs). The options I was left with were Oat flour (moderately high purine content) and white flour (which has virtually no nutritional value). I wasn’t happy with my options in the baking isle. So, I considered if there were any floury bases I could make - and that’s when I remembered seeing chickpea flour on an ingredient list on a bag of treats. I searched up how to make it (just grind up dried chickpeas in a blender) and grabbed a few bags of dried chickpeas a few isles down.
While many legumes are high in purines, Chickpeas are actually a low purine option, that when ground up into flour offers a healthy substitute for white flour. Also called garbanzo beans, chickpeas have a purine content of 19 mg of purines per 1/2 cup [1] roughly 27mg/100g. Just one cup of chickpea flour has 9.9g of dietary fiber and 21g of protein [2], with less carbs and calories than white flour.
Egg
Aside from eggs acting as a great binder to hold the treats together after baking - Eggs are a great low purine source of protein. Eggs contain 0.0mg/100g of purines [3] and adds another 6.3 grams of protein.
Bananas
Other than tasting good, bananas are also a great source of vitamin B6, potassium, and fiber. Bananas have roughly 3mg/100g [3] of purines and are classified as a low purine food.
Peanut Butter
Getting a straight answer on the purine levels in peanut butter turned out to be more challenging than I thought. However, every source I came across listed it as either very low, or low to moderate levels of purines. WebMD even listed peanut butter as a low purine diet food [4]. According to Gout and You’s websites purine calculator tool, peanuts have about 49mg/100g of total purines [5]. Since I tried to use the peanut butter with the least number of additives I could find, I’m comfortable using this metric for peanuts as an estimate for purine content in peanut butter.
Be careful to read the ingredients list when you are buying peanut butter for this recipe, or for your dogs in general. Avoid any products with xylitol (since it is toxic to dogs) and look for a natural unsweetened peanut butter with low sodium content. If you need a recommendation, I love this peanut butter (link to Amazon) made specifically for dogs!
Coconut Oil
Coconut oil has negligible purines and is loaded with MCT’s (considered to be "good fats”). According to the American Kennel Club, there is some evidence to suggest that coconut oil in moderation may help aid digestion, improve brain function, and possibly even assist with weight loss in dogs [6]. It also contains lauric acid can help to reduce inflammation. The main reason I added coconut oil is for its potential benefits to reduce itchy sky and promote a healthy coat - since one of my pups is prone to skin rashes. Although keep in mind that there seem to be differing opinions within the veterinary community regarding the effectiveness of coconut oil to address the above concerns. A possible substitute for this ingredient would be a dog safe fish oil (such as the one linked HERE from Chewy - not sponsored). Using some kind of oil in small quantities helps to keep the treats from sticking to the pan.
Low Purine Peanut Butter & Banana Training Treats
This recipe makes about 600 mini training treats
What you’ll need:
1 cup chickpea flour
1 cup water
1 egg
2 peeled bananas (Overripe bananas are easiest to mix)
1/2 cup of dog-safe peanut butter
1 tbsp of melted coconut oil
Make sure you have:
a medium sized mixing bowl
whisk
small squares silicone baking mold (This one on Amazon - size small - is exactly like the one I used)
spatula
baking sheet
Baking instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix chickpea flour, egg, and water in a medium sized mixing bowl. Melt coconut oil in the microwave until it is completely liquid (make sure it is not hot to touch) and add the melted coconut oil to the mixture. Mix until smooth. Add bananas and peanut butter, and mix, making sure to mush up the bananas as you mix. the ending consistency should be similar to pancake batter.
Place your silicone treat mold on a baking sheet. Add batter to the mold. Use the spatula to make sure the batter is dispersed evenly and does not overflow. Bake for 15 minutes on top rack. When you remove it from the oven, let it sit for 3-5 minutes to cool before removing the treats. Let cool completely and keep uneaten treats in the refrigerator. For long term storage, store in the freezer.
Nutritional Facts
Serving Size = 15 pieces
Total Calories 38 calories (<3 calories per piece)
Total fat 2.3g
Cholesterol 4.7mg
Sodium 11.3mg
Carbs 3.6g (Dietary Fiber 0.8g)
Protein 1.5g
The Purine Breakdown
Depending on the source, a food is considered a low purine food if its purine concentration is 50-100mg per 100g. When made strictly by this recipe, the estimated purine concentration is about 17mg/100g! Which means these treats qualify as a low purine for your purine sensitive pups!
The Cost Breakdown
Every Item I used in this recipe I bought from Walmart so I don’t think you’ll be surprised to find out that these treats are very affordable to make. For your reference, I currently live in SC where the cost of living is fairly low so the costs may vary. Here’s the cost breakdown:
$1.46 for 1 bag of chickpeas (made a little over 1 cup of chickpea flour - more than enough for this recipe)
$5.98 for a jar of coconut oil (14 oz)
$3.47 for a jar of natural peanut butter (13 oz)
$4.12 for a carton of 12 eggs
$1.12 for a bunch of 5 bananas
Since I needed to buy all of these items from the store, it cost me $16.15 to make over 600 training treats (about $0.03 per treat). That being said, I certainly had plenty of left over ingredients. Actually, if I wanted to make a whole other batch, all I would need is one more bag of chickpeas to make enough chickpea flour to bake up another batch of 600 treats. If you plan to make several batches with these ingredients, the cost per batch based on solely the ingredients I used is about $3.63 (1 bag of chickpeas = $1.46, 1 tbsp of coconut oil = $5.98/28tbsp, 1/2 cup of peanut butter = $3.47/3, 1 egg = $4.12/12, and 2 bananas = ($1.12/5)x2) or <1 cent per treat!
To Wrap Things Up
When your pup has the SLC2A9 gene mutation, it is so important to consider the purine intake in their diet. That’s something most of us agree on. However, it can be challenging to sift through the conflicting information online and find healthy treats without feeling like you're compromising on some of the ingredients. By creating them myself, I don’t have to compromise, and I hope by sharing my recipes with you, neither will you!
References:
[1] Bruso, J. (2023, August 14). Beans and Gout: Which Beans Are Good for a Low Purine Diet? Weekand. Retrieved January 19, 2025, from https://www.weekand.com/healthy-living/article/kind-beans-good-low-purine-diet
[2] USDA Database. Chickpea Flour (besan) 1 Cup. Nutritionix. Retrieved January 19, 2025, from https://www.nutritionix.com/i/usda/chickpea-flour-besan-1-cup
[3] Kaneko, K., Aoyagi, Y., Fukuuchi, T., Inazawa, K., & Yamaoka, N. (2014). Total Purine and Purine Base Content of Common Foodstuffs for Facilitating Nutritional Therapy for Gout and Hyperuricemia. J Stage, 37(5), 709-721. https://doi.org/10.1248/bpb.b13-00967
[4] Sheikh, Z., MD (2024, July 7). What is the Gout Diet. WebMD. Retrieved January 20, 2025, from https://www.webmd.com/arthritis/gout-diet-curb-flares
[5] Koulouris, S. Purine Calculator. Gout and You. Retrieved January 20, 2025, from https://goutandyou.com/purine-calculator/
[6] Maharaj, N. (2024, January 16). Coconut Oil for Dogs: Is it Really Good for Them? American Kennel Club. Retrieved January 20, 2025, from https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/health/coconut-oil-dogs/