The more friends dogs have, of both the human and canine variety, the more fun life is. Luckily all you and your pooch need to be popular is a bag of homemade dog treats. Why make them yourself? Because its easy, fun and you know what is in them. Plus when they are baking your dog will be in heaven!
My mini Schnauzer, Ricci, is a bit stuck-up. She prefers humans. So I go the extra mile to keep her socialised within her canine family. The photo above was taken at her fourth birthday party. Ricci (right) sits with Billie (white German Shepherd), Casper (Bordoodle) and Pearl (her mum) eagerly waiting for a slice of chicken carrot cake. This celebratory dog treat contains no sugar, has a low fat cream cheese frosting and is made for sharing!
Dog friendly chicken carrot cake
- 200ml sunflower oil
- 4 medium free-range eggs
- approx 300g grated carrot
- 225g spelt or wholemeal flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 150g chopped cooked chicken (This can be leftovers from Sunday dinner or the shop bought pre-cooked variety. It will be cooked again so it needs to be as moist as possible.)
- 250g low fat cream cheese
Line a deep 20cm cake tin or a 2lb loaf tin (I use loaf tin liners from the pound shop)
Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4
Method
1) Beat the eggs together with sunflower oil until frothy then stir in the grated carrot and the chicken.
2) Combine the baking powder with the flour before stirring it into the wet ingredients. Mix well.
3) Scrape the lot into the prepared tin and bake for approx 30 minutes until it feels firm to the touch and a cake tester comes out clean.
4) Allow to completely cool before spreading the top with cream cheese.
Approx 12 servings
Ricci was born in a pub, The Rosemary Branch which is currently home to Pearl, her real mum. It is very dog friendly and has a large jar of dog treats behind the bar. We were booked in for for Sunday lunch so I decided bake a bag of dog treats for the jar. Dogs are served their own little Sunday lunch alongside their owners and this would be my thank you. These little bone shaped biscuits are healthy and made in minutes.
Cheese and apple oat biscuits
- 300g rye, wholemeal, spelt or oat flour
- 100g porridge oats
- 150g mature Cheddar, grated
- One eating apple
- 2tbsp vegetable oil
Line three baking trays with baking parchment.
Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4
Method
1) Peel and slice the apple. Place in a pan along with 150ml of water and cook until it becomes a soft apple sauce. If it stays in lumps blitz it in a blender with the cooking water to make a pulp.
2) Combine the all the ingredients in a bowl with the apple sauce and mix well. Work it into a dough adding a little more water if necessary.
3) Roll out onto a well floured surface to about 5mm thick. Using bone shaped cutters (I have a set of three sizes) cut out biscuits and place onto the baking trays. The biscuits don’t expand much in cooking so you can fill the trays up.
4) Bake for around 15 minutes until golden – turn off the oven and leave them another five minutes to dry out even more.
5) Allow to fully cool before bagging some up for friends. Store the remaining dog treats in an airtight container.
Makes: a lot
Peanut butter & courgette oat biscuits
- 2 cups of rolled oats
- 1 cup of grated courgette squeezed to remove the excess juice
- 1/2 cup of unsweetened peanut butter
Line three baking trays with baking parchment.
Pre-heat the oven to 180C/350F/Gas 4
Method
1) Blitz the oats in a food processor until they resemble fine breadcrumbs.
2) Add the courgette and peanut butter and mix into a dough.
3) Turn the dough out onto a parchment sheet and if it feels too wet and sticky add some rolled oats to thicken it up. Flatten the dough and then roll out between two parchment sheets to a thickness of about 4mm.
4) Remove the top sheet and cut out your biscuit shapes (I like to use a bone shaped cutter). You may need to gently prize them off the parchment with a fish slice to place onto the baking trays.
5) Keep re-rolling the dough until it is all used up and the baking trays are full.
4) Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden – turn off the oven and leave them another five minutes to crisp up even more.
5) Allow to fully cool before bagging them up. Store in an airtight container.
You can use carrot instead of courgette in this recipe. You could also add bacon bits but avoid anything too processed or salty – don’t forget these are dog treats and not for humans. This is why my brother-in-law thought they tasted a bit bland when he raided my larder looking for a midnight snack!
If you want to see more dog treat bakes or just more cute photos you can check out my @growngals instagram account.
Avril x
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