Day Five: Dog Treat Cookies
On the fifth day of Christmas Cookie recipes, my doggie gave to me… a big wet kiss in return for the homemade dog cookie!
This year when The Annual Cookie Bake Extravaganza yielded 11 different kinds of cookies to share with friends and family, I decided their dogs needed a treat too. How can you forget woman’s best friend during the holiday season? I looked through several doggie treat recipes and finally landed on this household favorite. Feedback from pet parents was unanimous that their dogs LOVED these homemade Carrot Apple Oatmeal Flax dog treats :
This recipe comes from the Better Food for Dogs cookbook by David Bastin, Jennifer Ashton, and Dr. Grant Nixon, D.V.M. Their recipe is easy to make and combines nutritious ingredients that will have your dog licking his lips for more.
Carrot Apple Oatmeal Flax Cookies Recipe with my notes:
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup quick-cooking rolled oats
2 TBS flaxseeds
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup water
1/2 cup chopped carrot
1/4 cup finely chopped cored apple
2 TBS blackstrap molasses
2 TBS canola oil
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix flour, oats, flaxseed and cinnamon in a bowl. Blend water, carrot, apple, molasses, oil, egg and vanilla in a food processor until smooth. Add to dry ingredients and mix well.
- Using hands, knead dough until it holds together (mine was quite dry, that’s okay).
- Roll dough out on lightly floured surface. Since my dough was dry, I didn’t flour the surface and there was no sticking. Rolled out dough should be approximately 1/8″ thick. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut dough into bite-size rectangles or squares (I used cookie cutters). Place 1/2 inch apart on cookie sheet. They recommend poking holes on the dough’s surface using a fork but I missed this step and my treats didn’t puff up.
- Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes or until firm. Let the treats cool completely. I stopped here and stored the treats because my dog does not like overly hard treats. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees and back for 30 minutes longer until hard. Transfer to a wire rack and cool completely. Store in a tightly sealed container for up to 30 days.
Delight the dogs in your life year round with these tasty bites!
