"Ridiculously Easy Peanut Butter Dog Treats"

I love my dog...but really...people do this? Home make dog treats? Me living in my little bubble of a world had no idea. I always just went to the store and picked up a bag of expensive healthy dog treats along with an extra large bag of expensive healthy dog food. Mind you, we have a crazy, fun-loving 120 pound German shepherd who eats 10 cups of food a day and loves his treats to go with it! That's a lot of food! And a lot of money! I get the idea of it. Less ingredients = better for pup.

Jacks - 12 weeks old

Jacks - 2 years old

As I was looking through Pinterest the other day for a new dinner recipe to try I stumbled instead upon the pin "Ridiculously Easy Peanut Butter Dog Treats," which boasts only 4 ingredients.  With a name like that how could I not try it? It basically guaranteed that I wouldn't screw it up! 

So while trying to entertain my 7 month old son Bentley in his high chair and making sure that Jacks isn't giving Bentley too many loving kisses I began to make Jacks' dog treats. 

The recipe is as follows:

 - 2 cups whole wheat flour

 - 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

 - 1/3 cup smooth peanut butter

 - 1 cup skim milk or 1 cup hot water (not boiling)

 - 1 egg (optional addition for a shiny dog coat)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line your cookie sheet with aluminum foil. In a large mixing bowl combine flour and baking powder. Then add milk (or hot water) and peanut butter. Mix ingredients together (add egg if going this route). If the dough is too dry, add a little more milk or water. If the dough is too wet add additional flour until it is not too wet.

Roll out dough and use desired cookie cutters to create the perfect size treat for your critter.

Place on cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 20 minutes.

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So here is MY take on this pin.

I wanted my treats to last as long as possible so I decided to stick with using water instead of milk and opting not to add the egg. I found that once my batter was mixed it was extremely sticky so I did add about another 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour to the batter to get it to the correct consistency. I of course used additional flour when rolling out the dough too. So it seems like the flour amount is extremely variable based on what you decide to use for your ingredients (makes sense!). Even with going with water instead of milk and not adding the egg the treats lasted for about 2 weeks in a sealed container before they became moldy. While I'm sure Jacks would have eaten them mold and all, he is a bit of a bottomless pit, I ended up throwing about 5 treats away. It does mention in the original pin that these treats can be frozen and thawed when ready for consumption. Maybe I'll try that next time to cut down on waste.

Rolled and cut cookies

These treats were Jacks' Christmas present this year so I went with a few fun Christmasy shapes. Any cookie cutter will work but I found that a smaller cutter even for a big dog is better. Jacks had a hard time biting the cookie into pieces even though these are a soft baked treat. When he was able to get the cookie into the size pieces he wanted, it made a huge mess on my floor. 

Overall though they passed the ultimate test: Jacks LOVED them. He definitely preferred them over his store-bought treats. And let me tell you these smell so good you will be tempted to try one! They also were definitely cheaper to make than the $15 bag of treats we get from the store!

They did not take too long to make. Even with a 7 month old to entertain and a dog to keep track of around the baby it probably took about 20 minutes to get these into the oven. Of course once I got them into the oven Bentley decided he was hungry so the dishes got forgotten. 

Finished product! MMMHHMM GOOD!

***DO NOT WAIT TO CLEAN UP AFTER!*** 

I fed Bentley, got him down for his nap and came back to clean up only to find glue stuck to my mixing bowl and counter top. Oops! Will definitely do that different next time. It took a full day of many hot water soaks to finally get the bowl clean!

Overall I'd say this pin was a success with a few minor setbacks! Let hope my next Pinterest Interest endeavor goes this smoothly!

My Pin!

Original post and recipe can be found at

http://simplificlife.blogspot.com/2013/11/ridiculously-easy-peanut-butter-dog.html?m=1