Homemade Rabbit Cookies
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Want to bake up some tasty treats for your favorite bunny? Commercial treats can have lots of icky preservatives and artificial coloring. I guarantee your rabbits don’t care what color their treat is (the coloring is just for our benefit) they just want something tasty!
The base of these cookies is your rabbit’s normal feed pellets & Timothy hay so a cookie or two each day will not upset their digestive system. It also cuts down on the amount of natural sugars in this treat. To make these cookies a special treat for your bunny we will mix in some healthy fruits that bunnies love! Bananas are some of my rabbit’s favorite treats and are a good source of potassium. Pumpkin is a good source of vitamin A. You could use fresh or canned pumpkin or even jarred baby food (with no added sugar). If you don’t have pumpkin on hand, you substitute pureed carrots. Papaya is full of antioxidants that can help with skin & fur health but also aids in digestion. We offer papaya tablets to our long-haired rabbits regularly to help ward off wool block. Oregano aids digestion and parsley is high in vitamin A – but you could use any fresh herbs that your rabbit enjoys. Some safe herbs for rabbits include oregano, parsley, basil, dill, cilantro, caraway, rosemary, sage, tarragon, lavender, peppermint, lemon balm, & comfrey.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup ground rabbit pellets
1/4 cup Timothy hay
1/4 cup mashed banana
1/4 cup canned pumpkin (you could also use pureed carrots)
1/4 cup papaya
a few sprigs of fresh oregano & fresh parsley
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Put the rabbit pellets & Timothy hay in your food processor. Pulse a few times. Add the banana, pumpkin, papaya, oregano, & parsley and blend until mostly smooth.
The hay is probably still going to be sticking out unless you chopped it down pretty small. The rabbits won’t mind at all if they look a little messy. If you are looking to make a prettier cookie you could pre-cut the hay with scissors before adding it to the food processor.
Lightly grease a baking pan. Scoop mix by the tablespoon onto the pan and slightly flatten. They won’t look like something you want to eat – that is completely normal!
Bake for 30 minutes at 325 degrees.
Leave the cookies on the pan and put the pan on top of a wire rack to cool. The cookies will be soft when cooled
Store unused treats in the refrigerator and use them within a month. Keep in mind these are treats and limit your rabbit to 1-2 cookies a day 🙂
Hello, I was wondering if I could use your recipe when I make a YouTube video of cook rabbit treats with me! I will put your link in the description. Is that okay?
That would be great 🙂 thanks!
Is there something I could substitute for papaya?
You could try peaches or nectarines as a substitute
Can this be used for guiena pigs?
I’ve never kept guinea pigs, but they should be fine. I don’t believe any of these ingredients are bad for guinea pigs
Can dogs eat these cookies? Also
Can bunnies eat these or wait til
They are older? We have holland lips. Can they eat Cheerios?
There is nothing in the cookies that would be harmful for a dog – the fruits & veggies are all healthy for dogs. Dogs shouldn’t have a lot of hay, like when they eat grass in the yard, too much can make them vomit. But your bunnies will be fine with them. Rabbits can eat cheerios – I would stick with only the plain ones so there is no added sugar, and they should really just be an occasional treat.
Hi. What is best to grease the pan with? Are all fats equally safe?
I used vegetable shortening – most vegetable based fats would be fine to use as a pan grease
This recipe is EXACTLY what I’ve been looking for! My daughter‘s 4-H group (the Thumpers!!) is gearing up for a slew of bake sale/fundraising events, and the goal was for each family to do a batch of “people treats”, as well as one for rabbits. Nothing I’ve tried out has been met with much bunny enthusiasm (though, admittedly, our rabbits ARE both spoiled and picky), and there are only about two weeks left before I’m supposed to deliver. I like that your treats are easy enough for my 10 year old to handle (though I’ll probably do the food processor part for her), that these store for a decent amount of time, and that the cookies will be soft. I’m actually thinking about offering some to our sheep, too! Thank you so much!!
Awesome! I hope they love them!
I can’t cook, but maybe I can manage not to burn rabbit cookies! 😀
Would it work if I use a silicone baking tray to make shaped cookies? And is the banana replaceable with other fruits? Let’s say like if I had apples or something?
You can do it! You would want to replace it with another fruit with a creamier texture like bananas, they help hold the cookie batter together
I just finished a batch of these treats for my mini rex. I have been looking for a good homemade treat that tastes like banana, which is her favorite.
I hope she likes them! My girls love banana too 🙂
Thanks for the recipe! I’ve been buying Science Selective treats which are expensive! I decided to try making my own since we’ve had to tighten the budget belt. I made a really big batch and put it in the Vitamix so it was ground very fine. I then baked them on parchment paper according to your directions. But when they were done I switched the oven to covection @170 deg for several hours. I wanted remove the moisture so I could store them outside the fridge. So far the rabbits love them and we’ll see if removing the moisture extends the shelf life. I also added some dried herbs and flowers to make them more palatable.
What great suggestions! I would love to be able to store them more long term in the pantry. thank you!