Homemade Dog Treats

We all want to spoil our dogs with tasty treats from time to time. But choosing a treat with natural ingredients without a hefty price tag can be tricky. 

One way to provide your canine friend with healthy but fun treats is to make your own! Children or even the dog the self can get involved in baking these tasty goodies.

We’ve found a couple simple recipes using cheap, natural ingredients which you can find easily in supermarkets. 

Homemade Dog Biscuits:

Using just 5 ingredients, these biscuits from Baking Mad are so simple, the dogs could nearly make them themselves!

Ingredients:

For the biscuits:

• 300g plain wholemeal flour
• 1 egg
• 150ml Stock (beef, chicken or fish)
• Water (hot)

For the peanut butter icing:

• 120g Peanut Butter
• 1 tbsp plain flour
• Water

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 170 °C (150 °C for Fan Assisted Oven)
2. Dissolve the stock cube of your choice in a bowl of hot water
3. Add remaining ingredients to the bowl
4. Knead into a dough until it forms a ball (approximately 3 minutes)
5. Roll dough until 1 cm thick
6. Cut into slices or bone shapes (you can buy a bone shaped cookie cutter to make shapes with through Amazon Smile and raise funds for us at the same time)
7. Place dough pieces on baking paper
8. Bake for 20 -25 minutes (or until golden brown)
9. Remove biscuits from the oven and allow to cool on a wire rack.

To make the optional Peanut Butter icing, warm up the Peanut Butter in the microwave until it is smooth and easy to stir.

1. Add the water to the Peanut Butter and mix together before adding in the flour and stirring well
2. Spread over the dog biscuits and allow to set. If the mixture hardens before you have finished you can always warm again in the microwave
3. Take a picture of your pooch enjoying the treat, share online tagging @iwct_uk

These biscuits can be stored & refrigerated in an airtight container for 2 months or alternatively kept frozen for up to 6 months.

Homemade dog cake:

For a special occasion, like a doggy birthday, you might like this cake recipe from Bigger Bolder Baking.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 60ml flavourless oil
• 115g apple sauce
• 70g peanut butter
• 140g carrot, grated
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 140g whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Additional peanut butter for icing, if desired

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C
2. Butter and line 2 (6-inch) round cake pans with parchment paper, set aside. 
3. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, oil, apple sauce, peanut butter, carrot, and honey until smooth
4. Next, stir in the flour and baking powder until combined. Divide the batter between the two prepared cake pans
5. Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in center of the cake comes out clean
6. Allow cooling in the pan for 3-5 minutes before turning out onto a cooling rack.
7. Let cool to room temperature
8. Stack layers together using a thin layer of peanut butter
9. Serve a little slice to your furry friend
10. Share the photos with us or tag @iwct_uk in them

Cover the cake with cling wrap and store at room temperature for up to 3 days. Freeze the rest in slices to give as a treat in the future.

NB – we recommend using a low salt peanut butter free from xylitol, as this is poisonous to dogs.

We hope you enjoy making these treats as much as your dog enjoys eating them as part of a balanced diet.