As we mentioned last week, we have put a hold on the series we have been doing on starting a more self-sufficient lifestyle to do some fun holiday stuff. Last week we did a talk on how to make an inexpensive Halloween wreath and village. This week we move on to holiday treats for your pet. We have a simple recipe for Thanksgiving-themed, handmade dog treats, and pet-friendly icing.

With this batch of dog treats, we were going for a Thanksgiving theme. For our Thanksgiving pet treats, we used a simple “thumbprint” shape, and fall colors. Our pet treats came out tasty if odd shaped. The icing colors were good, if not as fall/Thanksgiving as we had planned. We considered leaf or acorn shapes but decided that was too much. These are pet treats, not cookies for the school bake sale. As you should remember from other talks, we like quick, simple and easy projects.

Handmade dog treats
you will need:

2 cups flour
1 cup oatmeal
1 cup sweet potato puree

optional:
1/2 cup yogurt or 1/2 cup broth (depending on the flavor you are going for)
1/4 cup honey to sweeten a bit
cookie cutter shapes

These treats are quick and easy, made with ingredients you likely already have on hand. As you also know from other talks, we like to use what we have on hand to make as many projects as possible with the resources we have. If it is a must, we will buy ingredients especially for a project but for these treats, we already had everything we needed.

Mix the flour, oatmeal, and sweet potato puree until well blended.

When mixed, it has the consistency of play dough. We had to knead it like bread dough and then roll it into balls to get the right form. The mix is easy to shape or roll out to cut.

We rolled our mix into medium balls and made “thumbprint” treats. For this just make the balls and then press with your thumb or finger to get a flatish treat with a dimpled center. The thumbprint shape is easy, requires no extra materials, and has the center for filling or icing.

If you are going to use the Pet-Friendly treat icing recipe below, now is the time to make it. Decorate the treats to your liking.

Before you cook the treats, make your icing. This icing recipe needs to be baked along with the treats to make it set and harden up.

 Bake the treats with or without the below icing recipe.
Cook at 350 for between 30 and 45 minutes. The time will depend on how thick you made your treats. The timing will also be up to you. Do you want chewy treats, crispy treats, or somewhere in between? If you want chewy start with 30 min and test. If you need to you can cook the treats longer.

Lay out the treats on a wire rack to cool.

Pet-Friendly Icing Ingredients:
1 Tablespoon Cornstarch
2 Tablespoons water
3 to 6 drops food coloring (be sure to use only pet-safe food coloring)

The ratio is 1 cornstarch to 2 water. If it is too thick add more water. If it is too runny add a bit more cornstarch. If you are painting the icing on, you will want it runnier. If you are using it like whipped icing, you will want it more solid.
Two tablespoons of cornstarch will make 1/8 cup of icing. Use cold water to mix the cornstarch, warm water will make it lump up. Depending on how much icing you are wanting to make you can double or more the recipe.

Mix cornstarch and water. It is best to use a whisk but a small hand mixer can do the job.

Add the pet-safe food coloring to the darkness or shade you want.

Ice the treats. You can use a brush to paint it on, dip the treats or spoon the “paint” onto the treats. The kids like to use their fingers and finger paint with it. Note some of the designs or lack thereof.

In truth, this was our first attempt at treat icing. There is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to getting the consistency you want. We did several tryouts to get the right color and thickness.

This icing recipe is to be baked onto the dog treats. So after you make your dog treats but before you bake them, ice your treats.

Once your treats are made and iced, bake according to the treat recipe.

You may want to put a tray or foil under the treats in case the icing runs off a bit. We have had many a smokey kitchen due to “stuff” in the bottom of the stove.

There you have your own, homemade dog treats iced and all. This recipe makes around 50 treats, depending on how large you make each one.

Treat Recipe Alternatives:

If your pet is allergic to flour you can substitute arrowroot powder, almond flour, chickpea flour, or whole wheat flour.
For not allergic pets, cornmeal can also be used.

You can use beef broth, chicken broth, plain yogurt, or just up the sweet potato. If you like a fruit and veg recipe, you can pretty much use any pet-safe fruit or veg instead of sweet potatoes. Apple puree, carrot, pumpkin, and others can be smashed, pureed, and used in this recipe.  If you need a bit of oil you can add coconut oil or olive oil.

If you add any of these other liquids, make sure to back off on the sweet potato or add more flour and oatmeal.

There are many different ways you can alter your recipe to suit your pet.

Pet-Friendly Icing Recipe Alternatives:

As with most DIY projects, you can alter the ingredients to your specific needs or rather the specific needs of your pet.

If your pet is allergic to corn you can substitute the cornstarch. Instead use arrowroot powder or rice flour. There are other alternatives that are less common like regular flour, potato flour, and tapioca powder. Whichever you use, make sure your pet is not allergic to it before you start.

If your pet is picky about taste, ours are not, you can add 2 tablespoons of honey, agave, or date syrup to your icing to give it a natural sweetness. Among our geriatric and infirmed pets, we have one diabetic dog, so we do not add sweeteners to our treats. If you are after a comfort food, you can add a splash of pure vanilla extract as well.

You can use whatever colors you want. You can make the colors lighter or darker as you choose. Choose colors to go with the season or theme you are working with.

Treat Shape Alternative:

You can make any shape treat you like. There are all kinds of cookie-cutter shapes to be found. Any size and shape you can imagine, you can likely find.

Yes, that is the Millennium Falcon.

Making the treats by hand is also an option. You do not need to buy shapes if you want to use roll balls by hand. Most of the time, we roll balls by hand for our treats. This is a fast and easy way to make treats. If you want “thumbprint” treats, roll balls then flatten with your thumb or finger. Any way you can think of, you can make treat shapes. As in the recipe above, we did ball rolls and then “thumb printed” to make our dog treats.

Honestly, the dogs do not really care what shape or color you make their treats. But if you are wanting to sell your handmade treats or give them as gifts, it is better to have a nice shape.

These 2 recipes can be altered to use for any holiday, season, or theme as well. Use your imagination for shape, color, size, and theme to make each batch your own special style. Also, a side note: all of these ingredients are human safe also. So if the kids eat them by mistake, that is ok.

We hope you have enjoyed this talk and hope you will try your hand at making homemade dog treats and use the icing, it adds a holiday flare.

Thank you for visiting and please come again for another edition of Out Standing in the Field.