Banana Carrot Dog Treats

I am up and about early this morning because I have two dog-sitting jobs today!  Can I even call that a job?  Because I would have done it for free :)  Anyway, I figured I should use this time to post another recipe from my picture-less backlog.  And how appropriate that my post is for dog treats?

I like to make homemade dog treats; I like that they aren't from China and packed with weird things. Plus I like to bake for the ones I love, and I love no one more than my girls (sorry everyone else).  I had some black bananas and had to make either some banana bread, or some banana carrot dog treats!  The dogs won out.

These treats are made with whole wheat flour and oatmeal, and flavored with banana, carrot, optional brown sugar, and parsley (which also helps with bad breath!).  Some coconut oil and an egg hold everything together.  They get baked, and then left in the oven for 20 minutes to harden like store-bought dog biscuits.  I made big ones and small ones so that Poppy, Ginny and Delilah would all have proper sizes.  They loved them!  Then again, Ginny eats poop so we can't exactly take her word for it!  :)

Recipe:

banana carrot dog treats
from Homemade Dog Treats Now

Ingredients:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup quick cook oatmeal
1 banana, mashed or pureed in a food processor
2 carrots, shredded
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar (optional; I left it in)
1 tablespoon chopped parsley
1 egg

Instructions:

1) Grease baking sheet and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and stir until well-combined.

3) Turn dough out onto a well-floured surface.  Press flat with your hands or use a rolling pin to roll dough to 1/4 to 1/2-inch thickness.  Cut out using cookie cutters.

4) Place cookies on baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes.  Pull out the cookies after baking for a softer treat, or crack oven door and leave the sheet in there for 20 minutes for treats to harden.  Store in an airtight container in a refrigerator, or freeze for up to 3 months.

Ernie's Treats: Peanut Butter and Bacon Dog Treats

This is the third of three posts in the Ernie's Treats category.

Our last extravagant dog biscuit flavor was peanut butter and bacon.  These are two of every dog's favorite flavors, so we knew they would be a big hit.  They have oats and whole wheat flour, so your dog can tell herself that they're healthy :)  The recipe calls for chopped up bacon, but I confess to using more of the bacon bits.  After all, the apple cheddar bacon treats called for them and didn't use the whole bottle.  I am slightly offended every time I open my spice cabinet and see a bottle that says "Bacon Flavored Bits."  Who knows what those things are made out of?!  I am desperate to use them and not desperate to eat them myself.  Luckily, the hounds don't mind, and these peanut buttery, bacon-y treats were devoured instantly.

In other doggie news, I dog-sat for Delilah (and bird-sat for Walter) this weekend.  It was really nice to be with Lila again; I do miss that bad dog, and she didn't steal any food (that I know of) or pee upstairs to steal Daisy's territory (at least I haven't found it yet).  I slept terribly because she insisted on sleeping between me and Mark, and she did fall into the koi pond once, but it's just so hard to be mad at her.

Recipe:

peanut butter and bacon dog treats
from Sally's Baking Addiction 

Ingredients:
1 cup natural creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup nonfat milk
1 large egg
1 cups flour, whole wheat or all-purpose
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup oats
2 - 3 strips bacon, chopped

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper of silicone baking mats.  Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, gently mix the peanut butter, milk, and egg together with a large spoon or spatula. Switch to a whisk to make sure no lumps remain.  Add the flour and baking powder.  You may need to turn the dough out onto the counter and use your hands to work in the flour because the dough is extremely thick and heavy.  Mix in the oats and chopped bacon.

3) Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to 1/4" thickness.  Cut into shapers using cookie cutters or a knife.  Arrange on the baking sheets.  Bake for 18 - 20 minutes, or until very lightly browned on the bottom.  Remove from the oven, and flip the treats to bake the other side for 10 - 12 more minutes,

4) Allow to cool completely before serving to your pup.  Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.  Treats freeze well, up to 2 months.

Ernie's Treats: Apple, Cheddar and Bacon Bits Dog Treats

This is the second of three posts in the Ernie's Treats category (we miss you, big dog!).  See the last post for more information.

This batch of homemade dog treats seemed to be the clear favorite among our pups - and why wouldn't it be?  Grated apples and cheddar cheese are great enough, but toss bacon bits in there?  You've got some happy hounds.  They're a little sweet, a little savory, with lots of texture and a great crunch.  Well, this is what I think Daisy told me as she devoured hers.  Either way, you should probably go bake up a batch of these for a dog that you love.

Recipe:

apple, cheddar and bacon bits dog treats
from The Cottage Market

Ingredients:
3 cups flour (all-purpose or whole whoa, or a mixture)
1 large egg
2 tablespoons softened butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces grated cheddar
1 large apple, peeled and grated
2 tablespoons dried parsley
3 tablespoons bacon bits
1 cup milk

Instructions:

1) Place the egg, butter and olive oil into a mixer bowl and whip together.  Add the milk and mix.

2) Slowly add the flours, then add the grated apple, cheese, parsley, and bacon bits.  The dough should be smooth and pliable.  If it is too dry, add a little water or milk; if it is too sticky, add a bit more flour.

3) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Sprinkle some flour on the counter so the dough doesn't stick; roll out half of the dough to 1/4 inch thick.  If you'd like, sprinkle a little bit more cheese, bacon bits and parsley on top and give it a few rolls so everything sticks.  Cut out your shapes.

4) Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.  Put treats on the tray and bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until golden and browned on the bottom.  Allow to cool.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.  You can also freeze them for up to 6 months.

Ernie's Treats: Mint and Parsley dog treats

About a month ago, my sweet, caring, biggest-hearted-human-on-earth cousin Maggie got terrible news about her beautiful golden retriever.  Before I get to the sad stuff, let met tell you first about Ernie.

Picture the biggest goofball of a dog you can imagine, and that was Ern.  Ernie: the dog who was diagnosed with canine ADHD, who was happy even when he was at the vet, who loved walks on the beach.  He would literally "smile" when you walked in to their house, and would frantically try to please you by bringing you a present.  These presents ranged from socks to mittens to sometimes mouthfuls of your own shirt.  All of this would occur while he squeaked with excitement.

This was a dog that loved life, loved everyone, and loved everything (maybe except for going outside; he was pretty content to relax inside).  This was a dog who was best friends with a tiny chihuahua; he would let her take naps on his tail.  He  never get annoyed with all the other crazy animals Maggie brought home for him to meet, whether it was a deer fawn, a goat, a sheep, or a rat.

Ernie was a love, and his family loved him very much.  This made it so much harder when they found out that even though Ernie was a young pup, they didn't have much longer with him.  I don't have to get into the details, because I was more interested in sharing the healthy Ernie with you.  I am also interested in sharing what Maggie and I decided to do with some of the precious time we had left with him: we decided to bake him some homemade dog treats.

Dog treat dough galore!

It sounds simple, but we made a day of it, and it was a beautiful day.  We decided to bake three different types of dog treats to feed our own dogs, but also to sell at our town benefit.  All four of our hounds -  Daisy, Delilah, Ernie and Ruby Sue - were going to be our taste testers, but Ernie was our mascot.   Maggie printed up tags with a gorgeous picture of Ernie on the front, and wrote "Ernie's Treats" on them.  We then baked up a storm here at my house for a whole afternoon, packaged them up, and had Mark take a basket of them to the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Town Benefit, which is an awesome little thing our town does to raise money that is used to help each other out in times of need.  Our dog treats were sold in the bake sale area, and were nearly sold out by the time I went to the fair to see how they were doing!  It made Maggie and I happy to know we were feeding lots of dogs some treats made with love, and that Ernie was living on in these happy hounds.

Ernie passed away a couple weeks ago.  It was hard and sad and awful.  His family will always miss him - even though their new pup Arlo definitely has a little Ernie in him, and has helped dull the pain a little bit.  I will be sharing the three Ernie's Treats recipes over the next three dog posts, starting with these easy mint and parsley treats (we called them Breath Savers!).  I hope you try some new dog treats out for a dog that you love.  Just think of Ernie when you make them <3

Recipe:

mint and parsley dog treats
from Live in Art

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup water
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup oats
2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Mix oil and water.  Slowly add flour, and then all other ingredients.

3) Roll dough out on a flat surface to desired thickness.  Cut out with cookie cutters.  Reroll extra dough and continue cutting cookies until dough is gone.

4) Place on cookie sheet; bake for 35 minutes.  Treats can be frozen, or can last for about 1 month in an airtight container.