Healthy Homemade Dog Treats
Does this look like strawberry pie.... no it does not. I suffered photo failure. Somebody (me perhaps) forgot to take the pictures of the strawberries. So the doggie biscuits jumped ahead. And we get to do another strawberry pie out of this opps... ohhhhh darn.
This is a recipe for a healthier low calorie dog bone with peanut butter and pumpkin. Our golden Jake has had issues. The last two years have not been kind to Jake. First he was hit with a hereditary eye disease that lead to complete blindness in-spite of two major eye surgeries. A blown ACL with major surgery for that (a special thanks to the MSU vet school) and now a partial ACL on the other knee. So with the lack of exercise and people feeling sorry for him (us), he has gained an extra 25 pounds. I guess we are lucky he is not diabetic.
So now we count doggie calories. His big Milkbones were 120 calories each. These are 30 calories and he loves them. I took an Allrecipes recipe for Peanut Butter and Pumpkin Dog Treats. I increased the pumpkin and got rid of whole eggs in favor of egg whites just to decrease the calories.
Rating: 5 Paws way up
Notes: I decrease the cooking time slightly to keep them softer for his senior teeth. The original recipe called for 40 minutes but many dog bone recipes call for 15-20 minutes and I did 30. These are firm but can be broken by hand. Since it is a dry dough, I'm very happy I started in the stand mixer. It earned it's keep on this recipe.
Add 1/2 of a 14 oz can of pumpkin to 4 egg white, 1/4 cup water, 3 T peanut butter, 1/2 t salt and 1/2 t cinnamon. Turn on the mixer and combine until well mixed. I used the dough hook and it took a couple of minutes. Now slowly add 3 cups of whole wheat flour with the mixer on 2. You will need to add a little more water to get all the flour incorporated. For me it was another 1/4 cup. Again this is a very dry dough.
Place the dough on a cutting surface, cut into 4 equal pieces. Roll into logs of 1 inch diameter. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces. I got 61 bones.
Prep 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper and distribute the biscuits evenly. Bake for 30 minutes for semi hard.
Ingredients
- 1/2 14 oz can pumpkin
- 3 T peanut butter
- 4 egg whites or 2 whole eggs
- 1/2 t salt
- 1/2 t cinnamon
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup water
- 3 cups whole wheat flour
Instructions
1) Preheat oven to 350 convection.2) Add 1/2 of a 14 oz can of pumpkin to 4 egg white, 1/4 cup water, 3 T peanut butter, 1/2 t salt and 1/2 t cinnamon. Turn on the mixer and combine until well mixed. 3) Now slowly add 3 cups of whole wheat flour with the mixer on 2. You will need to add a little more water to get all the flour incorporated. For me it was another 1/4 cup. This is a very dry dough.4) Place the dough on a cutting surface, cut into 4 equal pieces. Roll into logs of 1 inch diameter. Cut into 1/2 inch pieces. I got 61 bones.5) Prep 2 large cookie sheets with parchment paper and distribute the biscuits evenly. Bake for 30 minutes for semi hard.
Details
Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Yield: 60 bonesUpdated
May 7 2012
DrDanLabels: Dog, Dog Treats
11 Comments:
Those are pretty big for low calorie. I'm glad Jake likes them!
Low calorie sounds great and all but I would love to see a recipe that uses things that are good for dogs. Wheat is a Bad filler item used in almost all dog foods that is not good for dogs.
This comment has been removed by the author.
I think you're in a highly questionable area with this comment that many would disagree with.
The discussions I find are just statements and not referenced. In other words, personal opinion and not fact. My physician training says that if it is not referenced to a peer reviewed journal it is likely BS.
Readers can do what they want. My dog likes them and appears have no adverse effects.
This is the end of this discussion on this blog.
I have also seen White rice flour used in some specialty snacks. Is that a good alternative?
I have also seen white flour used in some specialty dog snacks instead of wheat flour.
I think the rice or soy flour should either be ok but I have never used rice but I'm sure the soy should be ok.
I use a gluten-free flour....although my vet said that for years dogs have been eating wheat products.
Do they go bad after a certain amount of time?
Absolutely they will. Just like other baked products. They are not loaded with the chemicals of commercial dog treats that are ok for years. I would suggest refrigerate what you can't use in 3-4 days. And they should freeze well.
Ingredients are so very important to look at when picking out a dog food. The number one ingredient needs to be a protein. Avoid foods with by-products, artificial colors, and no-name meats. If a food says meat instead of chicken, for example, that meat could be absolutely anything. You really need to know what you are feeding your kids.
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