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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 🙂
Tara S Lambeth
Sunday 31st of January 2021
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.
Liz
Monday 1st of February 2021
What great suggestions! I would love to be able to store them more long term in the pantry. thank you!
Caitlin Wickliffe
Monday 14th of December 2020
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.
Liz
Tuesday 15th of December 2020
I hope she likes them! My girls love banana too :)
Suga
Saturday 9th of May 2020
I can't cook, but maybe I can manage not to burn rabbit cookies! :D
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?
Liz
Monday 11th of May 2020
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
Erin Gervin
Friday 13th of March 2020
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!!
Liz
Sunday 15th of March 2020
Awesome! I hope they love them!
Poley
Thursday 16th of January 2020
Hi. What is best to grease the pan with? Are all fats equally safe?
Liz
Thursday 16th of January 2020
I used vegetable shortening - most vegetable based fats would be fine to use as a pan grease