Baking holiday treats for the dog

baking for dogs means delicious treats
Once again, it is one of my favorite dog time of the year — baking holiday treats for dogs!

I love baking for dogs for so, so many reasons

Why do baking for dogs?

First, it’s for the dogs. And for the most part, they like food, so they aren’t too terribly picky, unlike Aunt Shirley, who is a real fusspot when it comes to the type of cheese used for the mac and cheese and the vinegar used in the salad dressing and the origins of the apples used in the pie.

Nope, chances are the dog is going to enjoy as is. The amount of baking powder doesn’t have to be exact; the cookie shapes not precise. The dog will just love them –and we love them just a little bit more for their non-judgey ways.

Second, you know what’s in your treats. How many times this year have you read about dog treats or dog food being recalled? When you bake for your dog, you choose what goes in the grocery cart. Organic honey? Sure.  Applesauce with no extra sugar? Check.

This year, I decided to experiment in baking with carob – which is like a cousin to chocolate. Chocolate is super dangerous to dogs but carob is free of theobromine and caffeine so it won’t harm your canine pal. Carob is also low in fat and high in fiber making it a healthy alternative to chocolate, according to our friends at the ASPCA (which runs a great poison hotline for canines).

baking for dogs means delicious treats
Baking for humans, too

Homemade dog treats also can be a great way to show appreciation to the humans around you. Most of my peeps have enough stuff. They don’t want more stuff. So that leaves experiences and consumables as gift-giving choices. But so many people are now on specific eating plans (paleo, keto, low-carb, high-fat, high-sugar (just kidding — the last one is my diet this time of year as I flit from dessert to dessert!). But your family/friends/colleagues/neighbors have a dog, chances are the dog isn’t on a diet so much – at least someone in the house can enjoy a little baked goodie.

baked goods for dog

And for personal reasons

And lastly, it’s for sentimental reasons. Once your get past the tricky math of tripling and quadrupling the recipe, baking can be pretty mindless. The repetition of kneading the dough and cutting out cookies allows me time to think about the dogs who I am baking for and the dogs who left us in 2018.

This was a difficult year for many of us who had to say good-bye to our cherished friends. Amid the flour measuring and cookie cooling,  I reminisced about those dogs and thought about the new dogs who have entered our lives in 2018 — remembering the beloved and gratitude for new  – isn’t that a big part of the holidays?

And without further Hallmark-like thoughts, here are the recipes I used for this season’s doggie treats:

Enjoy! And happy, happy baking and gift-giving!

Cookie recipes for the dog

peter and pickle love christmas cookies
Christmas is only days away but surely, you have done the shopping, wrapping and delivering? Well, let’s pretend that you have. It’s going to be relatively chilly in Phoenix the next couple days — why not hunker down and bake some cookie treats for your best friend, the dog?

I love baking for the dog and her pals. They are a non-judgmental, hungry, even greedy group of gourmets who like everything that gets put in front of them, foodwise.

christmas cookies for dogs

Dog cookies galore

In the morning, I walk into the kitchen, where there are tubs of dog cookies and I’m not tempted by any of these ‘treats”. I give these cookies away at cookie exchanges and everyone is happy to walk away with a box of goodies that won’t affect their waistline. I also give away the cookies to neighbors and colleagues and it’s a great way to start up a conversation. Something along the lines of “You have dogs? I have dogs. Now, can you get me that report before I expire from old age? Happy holidays!”

But the biggest thing of all: baking for the dog gets me into the holiday spirit of giving. Not the type of giving that happens because you feel compelled to go out and buy a gift but the better kind of giving: the simple act of doing something out of love in your heart and knowing that it will bring a smile to another person (or creature). The joy that comes from that really lightens my heart, especially in these darker times.

Dog-cookie recipes

And without further woo-woo ado, here are this year’s dog cookie recipes. I made them all and I cheerfully comment on all of them:

  • Alexander’s Peanut Butter Dog Biscuit Treats: the first I ever baked and I still love them. This year, I used small heart-shaped cookie cutters on these and they turned out very sweet!
  • Calvin’s Christmas Cookies: Very festive — somehow it always reminds me of the Flinstones. Just absolutely push down those cranberries and pumpkin seeds into the dough or they will plop out once baking is done.
  • Homemade Dog Treats — I thought the peanut-butter/bacon glaze for the treats would be the bomb but then I had doubts about frying that much bacon to get the bacon fat for the glaze. And I thought about how bacon fat isn’t good for the dog, so I opted for the coconut oil option. Freeze the treats to get the glaze to really stick. Next year, I think I am just going to smear some peanut butter on the cookie and forgo the glaze.

And that’s the joy of making cookies for dogs!

Happy holidays everyone!

 

Baking for Beagles (and other canines)

One of our favorite holiday traditions is baking – baking for the dogs, of course.

Baking for dogs is one of the most stressless things you will do during the holiday because dogs, well, they are just so good natured, and non-disciminating when it comes to food.

Why bake treats for dogs?

So many advantages to baking for dogs: No being-in-the-kitchen extra weight gain for you – unless you can’t keep your hands off the peanut butter and bacon num-nums. Also, it’s nice to know exactly what is going into your dog’s food. And if you have leftover ingredients, you could bake extra goodie for some shelter dogs.

Dog-treat holiday recipes

Here’s a list of holiday dog treats to get you baking in the kitchen:

calvins-christmas-cookie-dog-treat

baking-human

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  • For the bacon fiends: This comes from The Kitchn, one of my favorite sites. This bacon-treat recipe uses bacon fat to drive your dogs wild and make your hosue smell good.
  • Pumpkin anyone? We like pumpkin in our house. For dogs, pumpkin is a delicious, nutritious treat that provides a great way to sneak fiber into diets. Check out a peanut-butter and pumpkin version.
  • baking-chanukahdogtreats

    For friends who observe Hanukkah – Use blue and white icing instead of green and red, suggests dogtreaticing.com. They have some other nifty ideas for this holiday.

  • Minimalists: We are definitely trying this one this weekend. It only has five ingredients and one of them is beef broth. The dog will love this one!
  • Store bought: Not in the mood to bake? That’s OK, the dog will forgive you. Here’s some of our favorite local dog-treat folks:

Bone apetit everyone!