Pilly Putty
Cultivated Care • Heartland Botanicals
Makes: About 45 pockets, each the size of a commercial capsule-size pill pocket. A soft, foldable putty that seals around a capsule or tablet. Halve everything for a smaller batch or double it for a larger one.
↓ Printable card (PDF) ↓ Full recipe (PDF)
Step 1 — Make the dough (10 min + 20 resting on counter)
Dry — the shelf-stable mix:
| Ingredient | How much | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Oat flour, certified gluten-free | 1½ cups (150 g) | Plain oat flour is often cross-contaminated with wheat |
| Tapioca starch | 3 Tbsp (25 g) | This is what makes it stretch and seal |
| Citric acid powder | ¼ tsp | Slows mold. More turns it sour |
| Your flavor base, table below | ¼ to ½ cup | Dry ones go in the mix; baby food or peanut butter goes in wet |
Wet:
| Ingredient | How much | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Unflavored gelatin (optional) | 1 Tbsp, or 1½ envelopes (10 g) | Bloom it in the warm water, never in the jar. Holds the seam shut. Without it, 1 Tbsp less water |
| Pumpkin puree | ¼ cup | Plain canned pumpkin, not pie filling |
| Vegetable glycerin, food grade | 3 Tbsp | The ingredient that keeps them soft |
| Water, warm | 2 Tbsp | Filtered or RO. Add a little at a time; stop before it gets sticky |
Flavor base — choose one, or blend two:
| Base | How much per batch | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Freeze-dried liver powder | ¼ cup | Strongest smell, highest acceptance, costs the most |
| Defatted peanut flour | ⅓ cup | Roasted peanut aroma, about 50% protein, inexpensive |
| Nutritional yeast | ½ cup | Savory and mild, costs the least |
| Sardine or bonito powder | ¼ cup | Very strong — good for dogs off poultry and beef |
| Stage 1 baby food, single-ingredient meat | One 2.5 oz jar, in place of the pumpkin | Chicken, turkey, beef or lamb without cooking. Fridge only, 5 days. Stay in Stage 1; skip the ham |
| Creamy peanut butter | 3 Tbsp with ¼ cup pumpkin, or 6 Tbsp alone | Check the jar for xylitol, also listed as birch sugar. Use 2 Tbsp glycerin and 2 Tbsp water |
How to do it:
- Toast the oat flour. Dry stainless skillet, medium-low, 4–5 minutes, stirring, until it smells nutty. Cool it completely.
- Bloom the gelatin, if you’re using it and making dough today. Sprinkle it over the warm water, wait 3 minutes, stir until dissolved. It may set up stiff in that little water. If it does, stir the glycerin into it while it’s still warm and it loosens.
- Whisk the dry together: cooled flour, tapioca starch, flavor base, citric acid. Break up any lumps now.
- Stop here if you want the shelf-stable mix. The dry blend keeps for months in an airtight container.
- Stir the wet together: pumpkin, glycerin, and the gelatin water.
- Mix to a dough. Pour wet into dry, work it with a spoon and then your hands. You’re aiming for soft modeling clay — dense, holds a thumbprint, doesn’t stick to your palms. Adjust a teaspoon at a time: too sticky, add flour; too crumbly, add water.
- Rest it 20 minutes, covered, on the counter. Don’t skip this step, or they will be crumbly and fall apart.
Step 2 — Shape them
Shaping is optional. The putty works as a treat exactly as it is — pinch off a piece and hand it over.
- Roll the dough into a log about ¾ inch thick and cut it every inch.
- Each piece is about a heaping teaspoon — it rolls into a ball a little smaller than a grape.
- Press a hole most of the way through with the round end of a chopstick or the back of a wooden spoon handle. Don’t push through the bottom.
Step 3 — Storing it (shelf life & what to watch for)
| What you made | Where | How long |
|---|---|---|
| No baby food | Airtight, counter or fridge | About 2 weeks |
| Baby food | Airtight, fridge only | 5 days |
| Dry mix | Airtight | Cupboard 3 months · fridge 6 months · freezer 1 year |
Label the container with the flavor base, the date you made it and the discard-by date.
If you store the dry mix in the fridge or freezer, let it come back to room temperature before you open it. A cold jar opened in a warm kitchen pulls condensation straight into the mix. Moisture will ruin it.
Freeze the dry mix, not the putty. Made-up putty is hydrated starch and gelatin, and both of those weep when they thaw.
Throw it away if you notice any of these:
- Smell: Sour, musty, or rancid. Fresh putty smells like whatever flavor base you used.
- Look: Fuzzy mold, any spotting, or moisture beading on the surface.
- Texture: A slick or tacky film, or pockets that have gone slimy.
Serving and nutrition
| Makes | About 45 pockets |
| Serving | 1 pocket, one per pill |
| Per pocket, pumpkin version | 21 calories · 3.5% fat · 11.7% protein |
| Your dog | Pockets a day |
|---|---|
| 15 lbs | 1 |
| 30 lbs | 1 |
| 45 lbs | 2 |
| 60 lbs | 3 |
Cultivated Care • Heartland Botanicals • For personal/home use only • Not evaluated by the FDA • Not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.