Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dog Treats

When the pumpkins came home Troy (the pup) started licking the outside and biting at the skin to open up the pumpkin to eat as much as he could get. I saved the pumpkin before he got inside, and roasted it a few days ago. So it was finally time to make something with my bounty of roasted pumpkin.

Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dog Treats
prep time: 15 mins
cook time: 30 mins
oven temp: 350 degrees
yield: 35 cookies (various sizes)

1 1/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup pumpkin
2 Tbsp peanut butter
1 Tbsp oil (you can use canola, vegetable, etc.)
1 tsp cinnamon

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Meanwhile measure out all of your ingredients and place them in a bowl. Mix until all of the ingredients are incorporated. It will form a stiff dough that you can then roll out and cut out your shapes. Don't forget to flour your board and rolling pin.

Place cut out treats (mine were fish, frogs and flowers) on a nonstick cookie sheet. Place in the oven for about 30 minutes. I like to flip them about half way through to make sure they are browned evenly on both sides. Let the treats cool a bit before handing out to the pups.

Store in an air tight container for a few weeks. I already know I'm wont last that long because Troy has been drooling over these treats since I made them. 

Apple Cinnamon Dog Treats

Today we were all out of dog treats...again. So instead of getting in the car, driving to the store and paying for dog cookies, I decided I would experiment with making a new recipe. And in about the same amount of time it would have taken me to pay for buying dog treats, I had them warm and fresh from the oven.

Apple Cinnamon Dog Treats
prep time: 10 minutes
cook time: 30 minutes
oven temp: 350 and 200 degrees
yield: 30 multi-size cookies

1/4 cup natural apple sauce
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp ground flax seeds
1/4 cup corn meal
1 cup all purpose flour

In a bowl mix apple sauce, cinnamon, peanut butter and butter together. I use the natural apple sauce for my pup because he doesn't need the added sugar that are usually in the original flavor. I also use regular peanut butter, but you can use chunky (if you know that your dog digests nuts well.)

Mix in the baking soda, flax seeds and corn meal. Slowly add in the flour. I usually add 1/4 cup at a time, to make sure the cookies get to the correct consistency. I also used another 1/8 cup of flour to flour the board and rolling pin for cutting out the dog cookies. You don't have to cut these out, but they make the cookies so much fun. Just remember to flatten down if you scoop the cookies, because of how they bake.

Roll out the dough and cut using fun cookie cutters. I used doberman, paw print, heart, moon, and shark cookie cutters. You can place these fairly close on the baking sheet, they hardly grow at all. Place them in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes, turning them over once. Bring the oven temperature down to 200 degrees, and bake for another 20 minutes. This step is meant to dehydrate the cookies to make them last longer.

 
Cool and enjoy with your pup. :) Troy loved them!

Peanut Butter Dog Treats

Ok it's been longer than I intended...but I'm back as of now. :)

A lot has happened since my last post. We now have a bigger family, a puppy who was born June 6th 2009. I'm actually his Mama, and I literally sometimes think I birthed him. We love him so much. Also big news Ben and I bought a house!! So we did all those open houses, paper work and moving, but we have settled in, and now that I have a new kitchen, all my own I've started up cooking and baking again.

Here is my first attempt at making Dog Treats. I forced Ben to try one to make sure they were safe, but I knew we had a winner when Troy (yes the puppy, ok not so much a puppy any more, but our 2 year old dog) started staring at me in the kitchen.

Peanut Butter Dog Treats

1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup peanut butter (smooth)
2 Tbsp ground flax seeds**
1 tsp baking powder
2 Tbsp chicken broth
1/4 cup milk (skim)
1/8 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl combine the flour, baking powder, flax seeds and Parmesan cheese. Then stir in the peanut butter, chicken broth and milk until mixture forms a ball. You want the consistency not to be sticky, it should be a firm ball, so add a little more flour if necessary.

Using a floured board roll out dough to an 1/8 of an inch thick. Use cookie cutters (I used circles, hearts and paw prints) to shape your dog treats. I would recommend this just because the dough is so firm this is the easiest and cutest way to make your cookies, however if you are short on time you can always just form balls. These treats will not spread at all so make sure you push those balls flat so they cook fully through. Place on your non-stick baking sheet. They can be grouped close together because they will not grow. Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown. If you would like each side browned evenly I would suggest flipping the cookies over about 1/2 way through the cooking time, however if you just don't care that much you can leave them for the full 20 minutes and they will not burn.

Let cookies cool on a cooling rack for 5 to 10 minutes before serving to your dogs. I was able to yield 35 cookies from this batch, however your numbers will vary depending on the size cookie cutters you use. Store in an air tight container. These should be good for a couple weeks, you can always freeze part of the dough or some of the cookies if you have a smaller dog. But my 80 lbs doberman will eat these up in a few weeks, if they last that long. :)

**Flax seeds are super healthy for both you and your dog. Those Omega 3s will help with a healthy shiny coat. However make sure you don't over feed your dog flax seeds as they can cause constipation. I wouldn't worry unless you plan on giving your dog like 20 of these cookies in one day.