We’ve had our pup Piper for almost a year and I figured it was about time I start making her homemade treats. She’s been a bit of a handful lately, she’s a jumper and still a puppy….so treats are a good motivator for good behavior for her. We’ve been working with her for the last couple of months and she’s greatly improved. We rescued her as a puppy from All 4 Paws Rescue and only know her mom is a Carolina dog and we think the father was most likely a pit bull/mix. She’s been a great addition to our family!
I had some pumpkin leftover from another recipe and Piper LOVES pumpkin, so I knew it was the perfect opportunity to make her a batch of dog treats. These were super easy to make – only 4 ingredients and I love that I knew what was going in them and not a bunch of random ingredients listed on the back of a package. Anytime I picked up the container, Piper knew exactly what to do…sit and wait. Tail wagging like crazy! I’ll definitely be experimenting more with different treats for her and continue spoiling her rotten!
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour plus extra flour for rolling out
2 large eggs
2/3 cup pumpkin puree, not pumpkin pie filling
3 Tbsp smooth peanut butter
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine all the ingredients. The dough will be crumbly. Using your hands, form the dough into a ball. If you dough is too dry, add a little water and if it’s too wet, add a little more flour.
Place the dough on a floured surface, and roll until ¼ to 1/8 inch thick. Cut the dough into strips and then into squares or use a small cookie cutter. I used a heart one that was about 1 inch wide. Next time, I’ll use a smaller cookie cutter to make more treats. Cut as many treats as you can and re-roll the dough until the dough is completely used.
Place the treats on the cookie sheet. They can be close together as they don’t spread out, just puff up a little bit. Bake from 15 minutes for a soft treat or 30 minutes for harder, crunchy treat. Completely cool the treats before transferring to an air-tight container.
Source: The Curious Country Cook
