Baking Peanut Butter and Bacon Treats for Our Dog Molly

This is Molly Sampling Her First Peanut Butter Bacon Treat.

Molly had a terrible seizure on Wednesday at the Vets office and I am spoiling her.  So much so I am making her special treats.  These are an adaptation of an adaptation I previously made her called Peanut Butter Treats.  I used things I have on hand and that I know she likes! In fact there is nothing in these a person could not eat!

Dog Bone Cutters of Course.

Ingredients for Peanut Butter and Bacon Treats:

1 C. + 2 T. water
1 rounded teaspoon of chicken stock granules
1/4 C. peanut butter
2 T. bacon drippings
1 1/2 T. honey
1/4 C. strawberry jam
1 t. kosher salt
3 1/4 C. all purpose flour
1/2 C. cornmeal
1/3 C. whole wheat flour + more for rolling out
2 T. cold mashed potatoes
1/4 C. dry milk powder
2 t. yeast

Add all of the ingredients to a large mixer bowl and blend with paddle attachment on lowest speed.  Scrape off the paddle and the sides of the bowl and attach the dough hook.  Machine knead the dough for 15 minutes. Add additional whole wheat flour or droplets of water as needed until the dough forms a smooth and elastic ball and DOES NOT CLING TO THE SIDES OF THE BOWL.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with parchment or sil-pat baking mats.

Ready to Go into the Oven.

Lightly flour the board and rolling pin with whole wheat flour and roll the dough to just over 1/4" thick.  Cut into desired shapes.  Bake both pans at the same time on racks near the center of the oven rotating and switching them half way through the baking time.  Bake 50-60 minutes.  Then LEAVE THE PANS IN THE OVEN AND TURN OFF THE HEAT.  LEAVE THE TREATS IN THE CLOSED OVEN FOR AN ADDITIONAL 2-4 HOURS.   

Molly Will Share with Elsa the German Shepard When She Comes To Play.

Remove from the oven an cool completely.  Store in an air tight container.  Yield depends on the size cutters you are choosing.  I yielded one very happy dog.

"Molly Muffins" Dog Snacks for Our Girl

This made 3 1/2 dozen treats.

Every once in a while I get busy and make Molly's treats as I often shudder when remembering the recalls of pet foods.  And yes, I bought some of the "bad" stuff in my ignorance.  Not sure I am much smarter now but I have learned a few things.  No chocolate and no raisins come to mind.  But I still hold if it can easily be pronounced it is less a danger whether it is what we or our pets are eating!

Molly posing for  a picture today.

There are several doggie treats I have made and shared.  This is a new one and is easily made in mini muffin tins with no rolling and cutting.  I thought these smelled great baking and Molly liked them just fine.  I warned her if she didn't I would send them to Oreo so you know she loved them!!

If you don't want to roll and cut these are just the ticket for treats in a snap!

The most difficult part of this little project was getting her to pose for a coupe of snaps!  She was just like a kid.  No cooperation, just wiggles!  But we worked it out, now everybody is happy!

Ingredients for Molly* Muffins Dog Snacks:

1 1/3 C. apple juice
1 large egg
2 T. vegetable oil
2 T. brown sugar
1/2 C. chopped apple
1/2 t. salt
1 1/4 C. whole wheat flour
1 1/4 C. all purpose flour
1/2 C. uncooked oats
1/2 t. baking soda
2 T. orange zest or dried peel
1 t. cinnamon
2 t. instant or rapid rise yeast

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.   Grease well mini muffin pans or use baking spray then set aside.

Place all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.   Fill each mini muffin cup 3/4 full of the prepared batter.

Bake 28-30 minutes.  Remove from the oven and cool.  Store in an airtight container.

Look at her go, chomp chomp!  I get a kick out of watching her when I make her the treats!  Gotta love this!

Note: * This recipe was adapted from Gourmet Dog Biscuits by Sondra Macdonald.

We've Gone to the Dogs!

Oreo is of course the black and white dog and Molly is called orange and white.

Last week Molly our Brittany had a house guest, Oreo, a Brittany/Beagle mix and our son Mike's family pet.  Their family had gone to Florida and Oreo spent her week vacationing with Molly who loves to run in our fenced yard with her. 

Oreo is getting up there in years as our son Chris got a Rhodesian Ridge Back,  we got Susie, our boxer and Mike got Oreo all the same year and Oreo is the only one left living.  So I am sentimental about her,  and so glad she had such a good week.

Grandpa did have to rig up lattice over the fish pond as Oreo wanted to swim with the fishes at least 3 times a day!!  I think she was a black lab in another life!

I found it surprising that both dogs went bonkers for a treat I made them.  So much so that I ended up making a second batch Friday evening to have enough to send home a "dogie bag"  (ha  ha) with Oreo on Sunday.

These are so easy to make kids could make them.  The dough is very easy to work and roll.  the second batch I didn't even drag out the cutters but cut them in logs and pinched them in the center to liik like little bow ties.  Here is the link if you want to try them.    thehiddenpantry.blogspot.com/2011/05/peanut-butter-bones-for-molly.html

I must say I like to make my own treats for our pets just as well as our food from scratch as then at least I know what is in in and I can pronounce everything I add.  It HAS to be better for all concerned!  Probably cheaper too in the long run plus nowhere as much packaging used.

Oreo likes to sleep behind Brian's recliner and keeps an eye on the front door.  Nobody is going to sneak up in this neighborhood full of dog lovers and dog owners!

At any rate we enjoyed Oreo and hope she can star again another time.

Spoiling Molly Rotten with Dehydrated Chicken Strips

Dehydrated Chicken Strips.

Molly is still a pup at about 16 months and keeps us on our toes.  Thankfully one of my wonderful readers has posted some very informative comments under some of the dog treat recipes I have posted.  She also mentioned in an email (We have been conversing.) that she wanted to attempt to dehydrate some chicken for her dogs using her oven.

We have to keep her BUSY chewing on things we choose.

Idea!! I have an electric dehydrator sitting in the bottom of the closet and have been buying dried chicken and duck strips in one pound bags for Molly.  Perhaps I should look for a sale on chicken breasts and dry my own??

Molly loves all of the treats I make her.

So I did.  Step one was to place the boneless skinless chicken breasts in the freezer to get them firmed up for easier slicing.  I probably left them there for 60-90 minutes.  They were not frozen hard but the were quite firm.  Next I placed the half breasts on a clean cutting board and sliced them making long thin strips about 1/4 to 3/8" thick.

Ready to start the process.

Place the chicken strips on the trays or on a rack over a pan if you are using your oven in a manner that does not crowd them.  When I looked up chicken in the direction book that came with the dehydrator it said to turn it on high and that it would take between 12 and 24 hours.  This batch was perfectly done in 14 hours.

If you are using a conventional oven I suggest a temperature of 325 degrees and I would just check it ever hour or so. 

Molly's window on the world.

It looks to me that my yield is maybe a third of what the fresh chicken weighed so I am not certain I save any money this time but you can be sure I will certainly be watching for good sales on chicken as this was easy as pie!!

Molly is a happy dog.

Bacon DOG Biscuits

Bacon Biscuits for my Dog!!

Yes, Molly is already spoiled rotten. Yes, she can be a pain but we are going to work it out. I had a girl to girl talk with her and let her know she will be a much happier if she just quits EATING MY FURNITURE AND PEEING on the floor!!!!! Yes, I know it's a puppy thing.....yes I know I sound old and crotchety....well maybe I am?????

I have explained I will be putting her in a crate very soon if she does not get with the program. So far so good. No undo chewing and only one accident in the last 24 hours for which I shook a newspaper at her and told her "bad dog". I think she got it as she slipped away very meekly.

Well anyway, I made her a new batch of treats. Here is how they go:

1 1/2 C. boiling water plus 2 beef bouillon cubes dissolved*
2 T. bacon fat
2 T. brown sugar
1 egg
3/4 t. salt
1 C. whole wheat flour
2 1/2 C. all purpose flour
3/4 C. cornmeal
3/4 C. uncooked oats
3/4 C. oat bran
3 T. brewers yeast
2 T. parsley flakes
2 t. rapid or instant yeast
5 strips bacon, cooked crisp and finely crumbled

* Be sure there is not onion powder in the bouillon cubes as it is harmful to you dog.  Use homemade broth or canned if necessary and check the ingredients.  Thanks to "Dogmom" for sharing this warning.  It has  verified by our vet and is valuable information.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Place all of the ingredients in a large stand mixer bowl or in a bread machine in the order listed. I usually stir it up well with a wooden spoon to get everything moistened. Then I process in the mixer bowl with a dough hook for 15 minutes. You may just use the dough cycle of the bread machine.

Roll the dough on a lightly floured board and cut into desired shapes. Place on a nonstick baking sheet. Bake for 45-55 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave the treats in the oven for 2-4 hours. When completely cooled store in an airtight container. 

MOLLY LOVES 'em as did MY SUZIE GIRL before her.

Cheese and Yogurt Dog Treats

Yes, another batch of homemade dog treats for the other spoiled person here!! HA, HA!!

Katie is here for today and we just finished whipping them up and I can tell they will be a hit with both Molly and Oreo.

Here is how she made them:

1 C. plain yogurt
1/2 C. grated cheddar cheese
2 T. olive oil
2 T. honey
3/4 t. salt
1/2 C. oat bran
3/4 C. whole wheat flour
1 C. all purpose flour
1/2 C. farina cereal
1/2 C. cornmeal
2 1/2 T. brewer's yeast
2 T. parsley
2 T. instant yeast

Place all ingredients in a large mixer bowl and combine with a wooden spoon. Switch to a dough hook and process until a stiff dough is formed. Add additional liquid or flour as needed. 

Roll out onto a lightly floured board to a 1/4" thickness and cut into desired shapes. Re roll the dough until it is all used. Place treats on a nonstick baking sheet. We use baking stones. 

Bake in a preheated 325 degree F. oven for 40-50 minutes. Leave them in the oven turned off for 2-4 hours. Store in an airtight container.

When the taste test was done nary a crumb was left. It was administered to Molly who was only too happy to comply.

This recipe was adapted from the reading of many, most of them from, Gourmet Dog Biscuits From Your Bread Machine, by Sondra Macdonald.

I prefer not to use my bread machine as I have an extra heavy duty stand mixer.

Peanut Butter Bones for Molly

Molly the Brittany pup tries a Peanut Butter Bone.

Puppy's just chew and chew and eat and eat. I don't believe they chew because they are hungry....they just chew because the do!!!! So 2 huge raw hide bones a rubber squeaky toy, a cloth squeaky squirrel, an area rug, and a couple of electrical cords (not plugged in) later. Not to mention a batch of dog treats last week....We are into this 8 days now and we needed another bag of goodies.

 

We did share last week equally with Oreo and Daisy who reported they loved their treats!!

So, I hear a lot of pups like peanut butter so we gave these a whirl.

1 C. plus 2 T. chicken broth
1/4 C. peanut butter
2 T. canola oil
1 1/2 T. honey
1/4 C. strawberry jam or jelly
1 t. salt
3 1/4 C. all purpose flour
1/2 C. cornmeal
1/3 C. whole wheat flour
2 T. potato flakes
1/4 C. dry milk powder

2 t. yeast

Add all of the ingredients in the order given and stir together with a large wooden spoon until everything is moistened using the largest mixer stand bowl. Then scrape off the spoon and attach the dough hook and process for 15 minutes. Check the dough and add additional drops of water or teaspoons of whole wheat flour as needed to form a smooth elastic ball that does NOT cling to the sides of the bowl.

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F. Use silpat mats, parchment paper or nonstick baking sheets.

Lightly flour the work surface and roll the dough to just slightly over 1/4 " thick. Cut in shapes of your choice and place on the prepared pans. 

Molly loved these

Bake for 40-50 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the treats in the oven for 2-4 hours before storing in an air tight container. Note: I baked 2 pans at once so I switched racks and turned the pans half way through the baking time.

*Adapted from, Gourmet Dog Biscuits From your Bread Machine by Sondra Macdonald. 

NOTE:  On 2/10/12 I changed the recipe and omitted the 1/4 C. raisins called for because a reader "Dogmom" brought to my attention raisins are not good for your dog.  I have verified this with our vet.  Thanks to Dogmom for sharing her information.

Molly's Cheese Biscuits (Doggie Treats)

Cheese Dog Biscuits for Molly and friends.

We have had several dogs who have become afflicted with cancer. Most recently Suzie who passed away on 3/30. She suffered with a tumor on her shoulder. She had surgery in an effort to catch it when it was first discovered but it came back and she lived almost 3 more years.

Before that we had beagles, Babe and Belle and Belle had cancer. At any rate since our new dog Molly is a house dog and drinks water that is the same as we do, through a reverse osmosis system I think I will make her treats to limit the chemical exposure. Maybe she will fare better and it isn't much trouble to make up a healthy batch of treats. 

We are going to share these with Daisy the Boxer next door and with Oreo the Brittany Beagle mix down the street. They are all my favorite dogs!!

*Molly's Cheesy Biscuit Treats:

1/4 C. chicken broth
1 C. plain nonfat yogurt
2 T. canola oil
2 T. barley malt syrup
1 t. kosher salt
3/4 C. whole wheat flour
1 1/4 C. all purpose flour
1/3 C. grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 C. grated cheddar cheese
2/3 C. cornmeal
1/2 C. uncooked old fashioned oats
1/3 C. uncooked farina cereal
5 T. dried parsley flakes
2 t. yeast

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Heat a small amount of water to boiling, meanwhile place 1 t. chicken stock base or a bouillon cube in a cup. Add 1/4 C boiling water and stir to dissolve. Or, if you have the correct amount of broth on hand simply heat to a boil. 

Stir together the broth, yogurt, oil, syrup and yeast in the mixer bowl of a stand mixer and install the dough hook. Add the remaining ingredients and machine knead until it comes together in a firm round ball. Add flour or liquid if necessary. 

Roll the dough out to a thickness of 1/4" on a work surface dusted with cornmeal. Cut the treats with a cookie cutter of your choice. Place the treats on a baking stone if you have one or a nonstick cookie sheet. 

Bake for 45-50 minutes. Turn off the oven and leave the treats in the oven for 1-3 hours. Cool completely on wire racks. Store in airtight container. Treat you puppy to these wonderful treats that are wholesome enough for human consumption. (But they really are for the dog!!)

*Note: This recipe was adapted from, Gourmet Dog Biscuits From Your Bread Machine by Sondra MacDonald.