A new dog treat recipe

Bella doing her pirate imitation, "Arrrrrrr"

I found another dog treat recipe that sounds like it will be very popular with my pooches. It's all natural ingredients and hey, in a pinch, looks like it would taste like a savory cracker.

Dog Treats
by allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
1 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup margarine
1 cup boiling water
3/4 cup cornmeal
2 teaspoons white sugar
2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules
1/2 cup milk
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1 egg, beaten
3 cups whole wheat flour

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). In a large bowl, combine rolled oats, margarine, and boiling water. Let stand 10 minutes. Grease cookie sheets.
Thoroughly stir in cornmeal, sugar, bouillon, milk, Cheddar cheese, and egg. Mix in flour, 1 cup at a time, until a stiff dough has formed.
Knead dough on a lightly floured surface, mixing in additional flour as necessary until dough is smooth and no longer sticky. Roll or pat out dough to 1/2" thickness. Cut with cookie cutter (I prefer bone shaped), and place 1 inch apart onto the prepared cookie sheets.
Bake 35 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Cool before serving. Store in a loosely covered container

Dog Treat Recipe #2

Due to popular demand, I've got another dog treat recipe.  Ummm, the demand might be from the four hounds currently hogging my electric blanket.

Boo Boo doing his best pathetic puggle imitation.

Doggy Treats

2 cups flour--again, it called for whole wheat, but I use regular flour

1 cup cornmeal

1 tbl salt---I often leave this out.  If I don't use salt in my cooking, then my dogs don't need it either

1/3 cup oil

1 egg

1 cup water or broth

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare the cookie sheet by greasing or using parchment paper.  I use a silicon pad normally---no sticking and nothing wasted.  Combine the dry ingredients and add the wet ingredients.  You may have to add a bit more flour if the dough is too sticky.  Once the dough is combined, roll about a teaspoon worth of dough into a ball and place on the cookie sheet, about 1/2 inch apart.  Flatten the balls.  You can use a fork to mush them peanut butter cookie style or I sometimes use a glass that has a design on the bottom if I plan on giving them away.  Pop them in the oven for about 20-25 minutes or until slightly browned.  Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.  

Homemade Dog Treats

image from www.browneyed.baker.com

I'm not the type of dog owner who makes their dogs' food and I don't watch every little thing that goes into their mouths (that would be a full time job anyway), but I do make my own dog treats.  Why?  Well honestly, I did it at first because it was a novelty.  Then the dogs really got into Mama's cookies and when I got lazy and bought store bought dog biscuits, well they didn't snub them but they sure didn't wolf them down the way they did with the homemade ones.  I don't claim to be a math wiz, but most of the ingredients were already lying around or were in the pantry, so other than some time and a bit of effort, it really didn't hurt me to whip up a batch.  I shared my recipe with another friend who is a dog lover and suddenly I started getting requests for my "dog cookies."   I thought I'd just share the tried and true recipe.

Mama's Dog Cookies

2 cups of flour---the original recipe called for whole wheat, but all purpose is what I had on hand and it goes over very well

1/2 cup of oatmeal---instant or whole oatmeal, it doesn't seem to make a difference

1 egg

1 beef bouilion cube, crushed---again, the original recipe called for bouillon granules, but I had cubes

1/2 cup hot liquid--I use water, but I've also used leftover soup or broth

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Dissolve the bouillon in the hot water (or whichever liquid you decide to use).  Grease a cookie sheet.  Add remaining ingredients and mix until a stiff dough forms.  Knead the dough until smooth.  Roll out the dough to about 1/2 inch thick and cut with a cookie cutter....or I just usually make squares with a knife.  Place on the cookie sheet about 1/2 inch apart.  They will slightly poof as they cook.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Cool before storing or feeding to your hounds...if they let you.  Mine like to tackle the first batch and bay at the counter until I can pull them off and toss them across the room like a linebacker.  They will store for about a month.  You can keep them in the fridge or even freeze them for a longer shelf-life.