Homemade Dog Treats for Your Best Friend

Dear Galaxy,

We LOVE our furry four-legged friends. One of the items we used to buy on a regular basis was dog treats.

Our big white fluffy dog lives for his treats and walks. If we forget either one, he causes a ruckus making sure that we know about it until we rectify our negligence. He barks and paws at our glass front door and then watches our every move with sad eyes. It doesn't take long before he gets his way. However, his need for dog treats and my need to save money conflict. To cut costs and make the box of dog treats stretch, I would break the treats in half and even thirds. This didn't help, so I decided to make my own biscuits and found grand success. In fact, it was so simple, I was mad at myself for not doing it earlier.

When I tested the doggie treats out on my brother's dogs, they went nuts. They loved them! My niece did an experiment where she put down the commercial biscuit and then the homemade biscuit. At first, the dog recognized the commercial biscuit and immediately picked it up. When he saw the homemade biscuit, he spat out the commercial biscuit and went straight for the homemade one. For the duration of my stay, I became the "Pied Piper of Pups". They smelled the biscuits--they wanted the biscuits--they HAD TO HAVE the biscuits. I was never alone. 

Peanut Butter Dog Treats

Doggie Bone Cookie Cutters

I find it interesting that there is cookie cutters in the shape of doggie bones, and they are sold in three different sizes. There are other shapes that the dog might enjoy like paw prints, doghouses and fire hydrants. Check online for a complete collection of cookie cutters. As humans, we find the shape of the treats only appealing to us. We get excited when the cookies look cute and we have to resist the urge to decorate them with colored frosting and sprinkles. I can guarantee the dog doesn’t care what it looks like and he or she will woof it down within seconds. Still, we love our dogs so much we are willing to do anything for them.

Recipe for Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits

Here is our favorite recipe for doggie treats. There are a couple of reasons I like this recipe. First, the dog really loves them and second I am feeding him high quality ingredients. We all treat our pets as part of the family and you could actually feed these cookies to your kids if you really wanted, although they probably wouldn't like the taste of them.

Ingredients

·         Vegetable oil cooking spray

·         4-cups of whole-wheat flour. I imagine white flour will work, but we like to grind our own flour.

·         1-cup of oats

·         2-tablespoons of baking powder

·         2-cups of low sodium chicken broth (you could use bouillon cubes instead)

·         2-cups of peanut butter (crunchy or smooth)

·         ½-cup of parmesan cheese

Step by Step

1—Blend the flour, oats, baking powder in a mixer. Add the chicken broth, peanut butter and parmesan cheese to the dry ingredients and mix. It will form a ball around your beaters and have the consistency of cookie dough. 

2—Preheat the oven to 375° Fahrenheit. Spray a cookie sheet with the oil. Spread the biscuit mix into the pan in about a ½-inch layer. Use your cookie cutter or score the cookies into squares with a butter knife.

3—Slide it into the preheated oven and bake between 15 to 20-minutes. Check frequently. The biscuits should be light brown and slightly hardened. For a harder biscuit, bake longer.

4—If you want an actual dog bone shape, you can order a dog bone cookie cutter. If you go this route, flour your clean counter top and roll out the dough with a rolling pin as if you were rolling out sugar cookies. However, although this is cute and fun, it is also time consuming and I prefer to mass-produce our dog cookies since my dog really doesn't care how cute his treat looks.

Doggie Tips

1—Use a fork to add holes in the cookie for a gourmet look.

2—The dog biscuits will only last about a week before they start to grow mold. We keep ours in the refrigerator, which buys extra time. Try baking them longer so they are super hard. If any mold appears, simply bake in the oven at 325° F for 20 minutes.

3—The biscuits are completely safe for human consumption. If you find your toddler nibbling on them, never fear—you don't have to call Poison Control.

4—Baking these biscuits may become a safety hazard! If you have inside dogs, they will be at your feet throughout the whole process--be careful not to trip over them.

5— Doggie treats smell tasty, but really aren't. They lack sugar, which we all want in our cookies. Caution: you may find yourself baking peanut butter cookies alongside these tasty dog morsels.

6—If you want to win over your neighbor’s dog, when you go for a visit, bring a bag full of homemade gourmet dog biscuits. They will both love you for it.

Peace Peeps,

Broke Girl