So I tried my hand at homemade dog treats and found I’m pretty good at it 😉 Or, maybe it’s just that my four-legged family is much easier to please than the two-leggers! Either way, making your own dog treats is fun to do with your pups, cuts down on costs and helps clear out some leftovers from the fridge.

The recipes I used were from Allrecipes.com. Just type “dog treats” into their search bar on the main page and you will discover hundreds of choices. They have an entire section dedicated to dog food and dog treats! So far, my girls have tried the Peanut Butter and Banana Dog Biscuits and the Doggy Meatloaf with Vegetables. Of course, I tend to blend my own variations but the recipes are a great place to start.

For example, with the Doggy Meatloaf we added some peas and brown rice that were hanging around the fridge. These weren’t listed on the ingredients, but became tasty additions. We all get those leftovers in the fridge that tend to hang around until they’re no longer edible. Usually, they consist of good food that is just not enough for an actual serving. So we let it sit until it needs thrown out. Incorporating these into recipes, such as the meatloaf, will better utilize the food you buy. No more throwing food away!

Contrary to popular belief, we can share most “human food” with our pups. Especially fresh, good and wholesome stuff, such as meats, veggies and some fruits. Making your own dog treats, you can add or subtract any ingredients, and best of all you know exactly what your pup is consuming. And, if your pups get as many snacks as mine, the money you spend will be greatly reduced!

Who doesn’t like peanut butter?

Here is the recipe I found at Allrecipes.com for the Peanut Butter and Banana Dog Biscuits, as well as my own variations 🙂

Ingredients

• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup peanut butter
• 1/2 cup mashed banana
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup wheat germ
• 1 egg white, lightly beaten, for brushing

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Lightly grease a baking sheet.
2. Stir together the egg, peanut butter, banana, and honey in a medium bowl; blend thoroughly. Stir in the flour and wheat germ; mix well. Turn dough out onto a floured board and roll to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes with a cookie cutter, place on prepared baking sheet, and brush tops with egg white.
3. Bake biscuits in preheated oven until dried and golden brown, about 30 minutes, depending on size. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack.

Although the instructions state the collective time from start to finish is around 55 minutes, it took a bit longer for us. In my house my kids always helped with baking. So, now that my two-legged kids are grown, my four-legged kids help!

When we made these last night, we added dried cranberries, coconut water and did not “brush” with egg whites. Since the two pups in our house are treat-crazy, we doubled the recipe. That landed us around 2 pounds of cookies! Some of the cookies we took out before they were crisp, some we let them crisp. This made a variety of chewy and crunchy for our pups to enjoy. We also used unbleached all-purpose flour in place of whole wheat.

Feel free to be creative and toy around with fruits and veggies, whether dried, frozen or fresh. We used bananas that were so over-ripe they would have been thrown out, but the dried cranberries were recently purchased. Have fun with the recipes, and your pups!!

Please send us your (you pups’) favorite recipes, with a photo of you both enjoying the time together! And remember…

Everything

you do with your dogs,

every day,

can be a fun learning experience for them!

Not just for Dogs…

A word of warning here!!

Please be aware of the fact that these treats can be delightful to even the two-leggers in your home! My husband learned that the Peanut Butter Banana Biscuits are quite tasty, to Hanani’s dismay 😮

Enjoy!!