- Published on
Treat your pup to some home made goodies this Thanksgiving. Of course, you’ll be very busy roasting turkey and toasting the marshmallows on the sweet potato casserole, but these are really easy and with some cool cookie cutters, a fun project to keep the little ones busy.
When finely grating a fresh apple, it can turn in color and look more like apple sauce. This is fine and will not affect the final results. I used a Gala apple.
MAKE OAT FLOUR
Make your own oat flour by placing 2 cups of organic rolled oats in a food processor and pulse until ground. Small bits left in the flour are fine as dogs don’t mind it. For a finer flour, add 1 cup of rolled oats to a blender. Process in small batches for better results.
DOG BREATH
If you need to freshen your dog’s breath, split the dough in half before rolling and add 1 tablespoon of fresh mint leaves and 2 tablespoons of fresh parsley leaves to one of the halves. I think mint can be overpowering and I would only feed my dog 1 – 2 treats each week. I’m lucky, being that Zu eats a raw food diet, he doesn’t have bad breath.
- Published on
One of my favorite things to make for Zu are these dog treats. He loves my Peanut Butter and Oat recipe a LOT but I had to limit them to control his weight. He’s a large bone, 125 lb. German Shepherd so keeping him as trim as possible is a must for his joints.
In this recipe, the ingredients are very basic…sweet potatoes, carrots, oat flour and egg. All organic. I used to buy oat flour but the price was up and down so much and sometimes I couldn’t find it in the stores at all. So, I started making my own in a food processor. Process 1-2 cups at a time until powdery, then sift to separate any larger left over pieces. It has really taken the stress off of searching for it when I get a large order. I prefer to use oat flour in all of my dog recipes because it seems to be a flour that causes the least allergic reactions. Zu is allergic to barley flour and it’s in almost everything out there. He also doesn’t do so well on whole wheat flour.
With Zu, I keep things simple. Like many German Shepherds, he has a sensitive digestive system. He really loves the crunch in these treats, too, so give it a try and see what your pups think.
- Published on
These are Zu’s favorite treats! He loves peanut butter and fortunately, neither of us have a peanut allergy. They are super easy to make, very basic recipe...oat flour, rolled oats, peanut butter and water.
As I’ve mentioned in a previous post, I make my own oat flour. The price of organic oat flour fluctuates and there have been times when I couldn’t find it on the shelves at all. I use a food processor and process about two cups at a time. For the dog treats, I leave the bigger bits in the flour. If I were making cookies for friends and family, I would sift it so the dough is smoother.
I separate the ingredients in the bowl just like in the photo above. I pour the 1 cup of hot water over the rolled oats and peanut butter. The oats will soak up the moisture and the peanut butter will melt a bit. Instead of a mixer, I use a Tovolo Dough Wisk. I really love this kitchen tool. It’s so easy to combine the ingredients and super easy to clean. The oats and oat flour should soak up the water completely but if it’s too dry, add a little more hot water. If too wet, add more flour. The final step before the oven is to egg wash the treats. Scramble a raw egg in a bowl and brush on to each cookie.
I separate the ingredients in the bowl just like in the photo above. I pour the 1 cup of hot water over the rolled oats and peanut butter. The oats will soak up the moisture and the peanut butter will melt a bit. Instead of a mixer, I use a Tovolo Dough Wisk. I really love this kitchen tool. It’s so easy to combine the ingredients and super easy to clean. The oats and oat flour should soak up the water completely but if it’s too dry, add a little more hot water. If too wet, add more flour. The final step before the oven is to egg wash the treats. Scramble a raw egg in a bowl and brush on to each cookie.
After baking for 40 minutes, I like to turn off the oven and let them cool inside for an hour. It makes them very crunchy. This step is not necessary but Zu seems to like that super crunch.