Baking for Your Dog

Waiting patiently for cookie.

Cookie?  What cookie?  I see no cookie here.

Almost time for cookie...

I GOT COOKIE!!!

I love my dog, and I love to give her treats.  I try to be careful about the type of treats I purchase, and usually go for the more nutritious and high quality stuff.  But, high quality = high price.  So, I decided to try my hand at making dog treats.  As you can see, they are a success.  Baking for your pets is easy, pretty inexpensive, and you get to control exactly what goes into the finished product.  Here are a couple of my favorite dog treat recipes.

Apple Cinnamon Puppy Cookies (pictured above)

1 large apple

1/4 cup honey

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup oatmeal

1 1/2 cups wheat flour

Pre-heat oven to 350.  Peel, core, and mince apple (use a food processor or chopper if you have one).  In a large bowl, combine apple, honey, water, cinnamon, and oatmeal.  Gradually blend in wheat flour to form a stiff dough.  

Flour your hands, take a rounded teaspoon of dough, and roll it into a ball.  Flatten the ball to form a small patty.  Place patties on an un-greased cookie sheet, and bake for 20 minutes.   Flip each cookie over, reduce oven temperature to 325, and bake for another 20 minutes.  Allow to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.

Cheese Dog Biscuits

1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

3 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 1/2 cups flour

1/2 cup powdered milk

2 tsp salt

1/2 cup water

Pre heat oven to 350.  Mix cheeses with oil.  Add flour, powdered milk, and salt, and stir until well blended.  Add water, and mix until a stiff by pliable dough forms.

Roll out your dough to 1/4" thick.  Cut into desired shapes with a cookie cutter.  Place on a baking sheet that has been lightly sprayed with cooking spray.  Bake for approximately 15 to 20 minutes on each side, until golden brown.  Cool on racks, and store in an airtight container.

Tips:

-Adjust the size of your treats according to the size of your dog.

-Neither of these recipes contain any sort of rising agent (baking soda, baking powder, etc).  Because the cookies do not expand, you can crowd them pretty close together on your baking sheets.  You're basically just drying them out in your oven.

Happy Baking!