The holidays are upon is and if you’re anything like me you might be baking a bunch of holiday treats for friends and family. No doubt you’d like to include your furry family members too, and no, I don’t mean Uncle Frank. The problem with holiday treats is all that sugar and some of the holiday flavors ( nutmeg) are just no good for our fluffy four legged friends. So, I decided to share a couple of my dog’s holiday favorites this year. First and foremost our a Creekside Doodles favorite, the pumpkin and peanut butter dog cookies.
What You’ll Need
The great thing about these treats is that they are made from things you probably already have in your pantry! The ingredients are as follows
Flour – I prefer whole wheat flour for this recipe but you an substitute all purpose flour or even oat or rice flour
Peanut Butter – all natural is the way to go because it has less sugar BUT i used Skippy in this recipe. Just be sure it does NOT contain xylitol/birch sugar! Xylitol is toxic to dogs.
Eggs – if you’re getting store bought eggs be sure to grab large ones.
Pumpkin Puree – be sure it’s just pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling. They’re usually right next to each other on the shelf and it’s easy to mix them up. We don’t want the extra flavorings and sugar though.
Steps To Take
Mix all the ingredients together to form a dough. This is where my KitchenAid stand mixer came in super handy. The dough should be very thick and dry. You’ll need to add water about 1 tablespoon at a time until it is workable and you can knead it. Then you’ll roll it out to about 1/2 inch thickness and use your favorite cookie cutters ( we used a bone shape) to cut out the cookies. If you don’t have cookie cutters you can use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut shapes. I promise your dog does not care what shape they are, only that they taste great!
Tips and Tricks
- First, Always consult your vet about what’s best for your dog. I like whole wheat flour for this recipe but for dogs with a wheat allergy, rice flour or oat flour can work too.
- Treats should be stored in an airtight container or zip seal bag to preserve freshness. They can also be made ahead in bigger batches and frozen if you prefer..
Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dog Cookie Recipe
2 1/2 C Flour
2 eggs
1/2 C pumpkin puree
2Tbsp peanut butter
1/2 tsp salt ( optional)
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix pumpkin, eggs and peanut butter until smooth.
3. Add flour, salt and cinnamon to form a dough.
4 Roll out to 1/2 inch thickness. It’s easiest to put the dought between to pieces of parchment paper to roll it out. This prevents it sticking to the counter or the rolling pin.
5. Cut out your cookies and place on a parchment lined baking sheet
6 Bake for about 35 minutes or until they are hard.
7 Cool completely and let your furry friends enjoy!