Binding Agents for Grain Free Dog Treats

by Lynda
(Wisconsin)

I am trying to convert my regular recipes for dog treats to grain free for one of my dogs.

I finally found potato flour and it is not working. The batter is at a consistency that will not hold together.

What can I add to make this hold together for me?

Lynda

Chef's Answer ~ That does sound frustrating. There are several things you can use as binding agents. Since there's little to no gluten, you sometimes have to add in something to make the dough "sticky".

Here are a list of possible binding agents:

Arrowroot Powder - Add 1/2 tsp per cup of replaced wheat flour. If there's a partial cup of flour, round up. Add an extra 1/2 tsp to the mixture. Whisk this ingredient into the flour before adding additional ingredients.

Eggs - These also make a great binder for recipes. Only add one whisked egg at a time.

Or, it could be as simple as not having enough moisture ratio to your dry ingredients. Simply adding milk, low sodium chicken broth or unsweetened applesauce to a batter can increase the moisture content enough to make the dough come together and then stay together. When trying one of the above mentioned additions, add them slowly, depending on the size of your batch, maybe even as small as a tablespoon at a time. Just keep track of what you add, so that if the dog treats come out the way you want, you can repeat it in the future.

I hope this will help. Happy Dog Treat Baking! :)