By Elena Selthun So, if you’re stuck at home and you have a dog, or know someone with a dog...or just want to make really unique cookies, I highly recommend trying your hand at making homemade dog treats. Not only does it make you feel more like a functioning human to create something from scratch, it’s also immensely satisfying to bring simple joy to your dog’s life, and as someone with a weirdly picky husky puppy, I can guarantee that these treats will do that. There are lots of easy dog treat recipes available, but I used this recipe from Damn Delicious: https://damndelicious.net/2015/01/07/homemade-peanut-butter-dog-treats/ It’s a pretty straightforward recipe, and includes lots of beautiful pictures of the process. Fair warning, the process was slightly less beautiful for me, but the result was worth it. (Note: These biscuits are technically perfectly edible for humans, and I did try them, and my conclusion is that they’re just okay. They taste exactly like how dog treats should probably taste to people, so I guess that’s a success.) If you do decide to try making these dog treats, hopefully my experience can prove helpful to you! Before even starting the recipe, I recommend having a dog cheerleader at the ready. My two-ish year old husky Freya loves to watch people cook or bake (and she’s surprisingly polite in the kitchen). However, when trying to get her opinion on which cookie cutter she preferred, she was not very helpful. These treats use eggs, pumpkin, peanut butter, and A Lot Of Flour. Freya loves peanut butter more than she loves us, pretty sure. You can add other things to this dough or substitute pumpkin with banana if you want. The goal of this experiment was to 1) escape existential dread and 2) make treats that actually fit in her Kong toy (her current treats absolutely do not) so I made a little stencil of a dog bone and cut out the treats from the dough using a small knife with the stencil as a guide. Then began the adventure of actually making the dough from scratch. This recipe calls for a stand mixer (which I don’t have) with a paddle attachment (nope). I decided to use an electric hand mixer. If you’re in a similar predicament, I will say it’s possible to do this, but if you have a stand mixer...do yourself a solid and just do that. This is biscuit dough so it’s very dry, and I recommend adding the flour only a little bit at a time and making it with 1/2 cup less flour or very carefully adding a bit of water to your dough as you’re kneading it out. In the end, the semi-harrowing process was worth it – this recipe makes tons of treats, and although it says to make them ¼ inch thick, I found you can adjust that depending on your pup’s preference. You can also decide how crunchy you want them to be based on bake time (the longer they’re in the oven, the more satisfying the crunch). I cooked them until they were golden brown, not a big change in color, but noticeably flaky. Once they were out, they had to cool for a while, but someone was very excited to try them. Thankfully, the treats were a success with Freya and her dog friends, who thankfully do not have to stay six feet apart (I don’t think they could handle that!) unlike us humans. Baking is something a lot of people have turned to in this increasingly surreal time, and I think that’s because it’s both creative and hopefully rewarding to make something from pretty much nothing! Dog treats are especially rewarding because, let’s be honest, even if you mess it up a little bit, your dog will probably still love it. Especially if you use them as inspiration!
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January 2024
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