Porter Snacks
I have a bone to pick!
When I posted a request for dog treat recipes last week, I was pretty shocked at the number of emails and comments I got with cool ideas! I didn’t realize that people were so into making their own dog treats!
Of course, after a trip to Petco, I can see why. Most dog treats are really basic ingredients, cut into interesting shapes, and sold for a million times the cost it takes to make them.
Plus, guess what? Dogs aren’t picky. They will pretty much happily eat anything you put in front of them including shoes, cat litter, and their own vomit.
Surprisingly, this made me more nervous. Because if Porter didn’t like my treats, that means they were, in fact, worse than vomit.
Peanut Butter Dog Treats
Yield: 24 dog biscuits
Prep Time:
Total Time:
Ingredients:
1/4 Cup peanut butter
1/2 Cup vegetable oil
1 Cup water
2 Eggs
2 Cups whole wheat flour (or all-purpose)
1 Cup oats
1 Cup cornmeal
Directions:
1) Mix peanut butter, water, and oil together. Then add in eggs and dry ingredients.
2) Stir until it forms a sturdy dough.
3) Roll dough out until it's 1/4 inch thick and cut it into various shapes. Feel free to re-roll it as many times as you want.
4) Bake biscuits at 400 degrees for 20 minutes.
5) Turn off oven, but let biscuits cool in the oven as it cools which will make them very hard.
6) Give one to the pooch when he or she is a good boy or girl.
From a comment on my post Friday!
Making the Dough
This is basically the easiest cookie dough you’ll ever make. I like that it has cornmeal in it though instead of just all flour, because dogs aren’t really supposed to be eating a lot of grain.
Some people are very intense on this and won’t feed their dogs any grain at all. My take on it is that if the dog is just eating grain one once in a while, it’s not going to hurt him. I guarantee you that most dogs eat weirder things throughout the day, so I’m not going to stress it if he consumed a tablespoon of flour.
The basics
Start by mixing the peanut butter, oil, and water until it’s well combined. Stir it well to make sure the peanut butter is mixed in.
Then stir in the egg, oats, cornmeal, and flour. You should have what is basically a very firm cookie dough. Instead of sugar and butter though, there’s just water in this dough so it’ll become very hard.
Looks like cookie dough!
Roll this out until it’s about 1/4 inch thick and cut it out into whatever shapes you want. I tried to find a dog bone cookie cutter, but couldn’t find one anywhere!
So I kind of just free-formed a few. Again, I don’t think Porter cares.
Pain in the butt!
You can re-roll this dough as many times as you want to get maximum usage.
The second time around I went with circles because it was easier.
Easier!
Baking the Biscuits
Bake these guys at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.
Then turn off the oven, but leave them in the oven as they cool. This will make them really hard which dogs love.
When they are cool, feel free to try one!
I took a bite just to see what the big deal was.
Not bad!
They were a bit on the bland side, but they were rock-hard which I figured Porter would like. They had a faint peanut butter taste, but mostly they tasted like a brick.
The real test was if the dog would eat them.
No problem there!
Happy dog!
He munched this thing into pieces in a few seconds and then spent the next few minutes licking up every possible crumb he could find.
Then he looked at me like, “Hey. You got any more of those buddy?”
He licked all those up. Don't worry.
This would be a totally fun project for kids to do. They could cut them out into various shapes and then feed them to the dogs!
The recipe is pretty foolproof.
Even if you do mess it up, your dog will probably eat it anyway and still love you unconditionally.
That’s what they do after all: Eat and love.
Carl Terrington - "I was just thinking the other day how the share bar on the side of the..."
Gerry @ Foodness Gracious - "I love hitting up the farmers markets for stuff. In fact I actually se..."
Nick - "Thanks for the comment Billy! Glad you like the pizza. :)..."
Anne - "In the Fall (late September/October) they start bringing in Hatch Chil..."
Billy - "Hey Jeff - So you used an all clad pot. Was it made of stainless steel..."
Pampering your dog is great, however dogs and all pets diets are no diff than their owners. Porter looks like really cutie and my own Golden has a BFF that's a Lab-D. My dog actually taught him how to swim. Be careful with the "Treats" they're not calorie free and especially making your own may seem like you're treating them extra special – if your dog is getting good nutrition from a good quality dog food – treats should be kept to a min. As far as what dogs will eat – I'm willing to bet that more than a handful of your readers have witnessed their pups eating poop – Yes I know that's disgusting but my dog is the bestest dog in the whole world………….just saying
My recent post DIY- Fat-Free Greek Style Yogurt
[Reply]
LOL @ "Because if Porter didn’t like my treats, that means they were, in fact, worse than vomit." I'm so glad Porter liked his treats :)
My recent post Burr Comb and Cute Bees
[Reply]
We think he's a labradoodle, but he might have some other stuff going on as well… He's cute though and super well-behaved which I like. :)
[Reply]
Umm can I tell you how happy I am that you posted a dog treat recipe?? My poor little man had to get a cast today and is in need of some TLC and definitely some new homemade treats. Niiice.
My recent post Red Lentil Curry
[Reply]
I have been thinking about making Tucker some treats. Those look like they would do the trick.
My recent post Get Sauced! – Homemade Ketchup
[Reply]
No pets myself but I love this idea for when I have little visitors over. There is nothing like a project that you bring home treats for the family best friend. What a great idea!
My recent post Sauced – Gates Bar-B-Q Shish Kebabs
[Reply]
Love the recipe Nick. Just be careful though, corn is hard for a dog to digest, and there coil be flatulence issues… I am talking from experience LOL
[Reply]
Nick replied: — May 26th, 2011 @ 9:23 pm
Haha… that might be true. ;)
[Reply]
Fun making dog biscuits. I started doing that about a year ago. My recipe is similar, but without eggs and cornmeal. In any event, I just take a bench knife to the dough and cut it into long strips, then cross cut them into thumbnail sized portions and bake. You don't even have to break them apart before baking. They will easily crack along the fault lines when they've cooled. The smaller pieces make fantastic training treats.
Because does the dog really care about the shapes? And the smaller pieces go a lot further and you can give many more reinforcements during a training session that way.
My recent post Healthy Kettle Corn You bet!
[Reply]
Nick replied: — May 26th, 2011 @ 9:23 pm
Yea… I can see how baking them a bit smaller is a good idea, especially in the puppy phase.
[Reply]
I know you are not speciesist so me and my cat Opal are hoping read about some home-baked cat goodies for Tipsy very soon! Though may not have to bake for her as Opal can usually be found trying to lick the cake batter bowl on baking days – little treasure!
[Reply]
Nick replied: — May 27th, 2011 @ 4:52 am
It's true Kim. I need to work on some Tipsy treats!
[Reply]
I made your dog treats today for my cockapoo and great dane mix…. they were easy to make, all i had was a heart shape cookie cutter,,,but after our walk they were begging for more… WE love treats!!!!! thanks for the recipe. shannon
[Reply]
I wonder how they would feel if you used chicken stock instead of water. I think when I make these, I might try that.
[Reply]
Nick replied: — January 9th, 2013 @ 8:00 am
I don’t see why not! The more flavor the better. :)
[Reply]
Thanks for this recipe! I used chicken stock instead of water. I also added parsley. My kids enjoyed making them and, unfortunately, eating them! I hope we have some left for the Puppy!
[Reply]