Dog'gone Yummy Treats

If you are not a dog-lover, dog-owner, etc, feel free to ignore this post. I'm going to be sharing with you a few of my favorite treats to make my pups. 

I've been making two different biscuits and one chew treat for the past couple of months. Because of these homemade, nutritious treats, we have all but eliminated any other treat they get. We have organic chicken treats they get at the vet and once a day and other rawhides for emergencies, but otherwise they get these. They love them all. 

AllRecipes.com and DogTreatKitchen.com have a lot of great ideas if you're looking for other, great, nutritious treat ideas for your best friend.

I'm going to start with the family favorite, Peanut Butter and Banana Dog Treats. Here we go.

 

You'll need: 

• 1 egg (or 2 tablespoons of unsweetened applesauce, which is what I use)
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup mashed banana
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten, for brushing

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F and lightly grease a cookie sheet.

Combine eggs/applesauce, honey, mashed bananas and peanut butter in mixing bowl. Slowly add in whole wheat flour and wheat germ. Stir mixture. It will get thick and hard to stir. I use additional applesauce or water to soften it up a bit. You can use whatever you prefer.

At this point you can roll out the dough (to about 1/4" thick) and use a cookie cutter to cut out shapes, or you can roll a teaspoon amount of dough into a ball and place on the sheet. You choice. I normally just roll them as it is faster and the pups don't care if they are in shapes or not.

 Before baking, lightly brush egg whites over the top of the biscuits to eliminate cracking.

Finally, bake biscuits in preheated oven until dried and golden brown, which is usually about 30 minutes, but depends on size.  

Feel free to double or triple the recipe. Your pups will love you for them!

The other treat I typically make are Peanut Butter and Pumpkin Treats. 

Here's What You Need:

• 2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 eggs (or 4 tablespoons of unsweetened applesauce)
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Whisk together the flour, eggs, pumpkin, peanut butter, salt, and cinnamon in a bowl. Add water as needed to help make the dough workable, but the dough should be dry and stiff (NOTE: When you use the applesauce in place of the egg, it typically is the perfect amount of workable stiffness). Roll the dough into a 1/2-inch-thick roll. Cut into 1/2-inch pieces.
3. Bake in preheated oven until hard, which runs about 40 minutes.

The last recipe is for Sweet Potato Chews. The boys scarf these down, as in they didn't last overnight in my house. Next time I'll double or triple the batch as it only says to slice up one sweet potato in the recipe. 

All you need is one sweet potato, cleaned and sliced lengthwise (see step #3).

1. Preheat oven to 250° F
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
3. Cut off one side of the sweet potato lengthwise, as close to the edge as possible. Cutting the side of the potato first allows you to then turn the potato onto this flat surface that you have just created. Having a stable area to rest the potato will make it easier to cut the potato into slices. Don't discard that first piece, it comes out just as yummy as the rest!
4. Cut the rest of the potato into 1/3" slices, no smaller than 1/4".
5. Place them on the prepared baking sheet.
6. Bake for 3 hours, turning half way through.
7. Cool completely on a wire rack.

To store, keep them in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. You can freeze them for up to 4 months. This is a great treat to make ahead and save for a rainy day!

I never thought I liked to bake, but since I've become vegan and become more conscious about what I'm putting into my dogs, I've realized that I love it. I am slowly turning into my mother! Please share any great recipes with me!

Happy Baking.