Homemade Dog Treats: Paw- and Bone-shaped Biscuits

This post isn’t meant for my usual audience of college students, but if you’re a dog lover, read on! It was a very special puppy’s 1st birthday recently. She’s a dachshund mix we adopted almost a year ago, and she is the sweetest and smartest little thing in the world. I’m a huge advocate for pet adoption, and I hope you consider adopting your next pet! We celebrated her birthday with a few other puppy friends, and the dogs enjoyed delicious homemade treats while the humans enjoyed a nice BBQ.

Yes, you can make homemade dog treats! Did you know pet stores even sell boxed mixes to make dog-friendly cupcakes, etc.? Well, those aren’t homemade, but you get my point: you can totally make treats for your dogs in your kitchen.

Click here for the recipe for “Homemade Dog Treats: Paw- and Bone-shaped Biscuits”

The website for the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) has very thorough guidelines that should answer any questions you might have about what you can and cannot feed your pets. If you have any concerns about homemade dog treats, please consult your veterinarian. Here’s a link I love: ASPCA People Foods.

Anywho, you should be fully aware of your pet’s health and whether he/she has any grain or wheat allergies. These homemade biscuits have wheat flour, oats, and peanuts in them, so please understand your dog’s health very well before making homemade treats. A good tip is to check the ingredients on your dog’s feed and see what he/she has been safely chowing down on. Just FYI, many dog feeds have wheat flour in them as a filler ingredient. These were just a one-time treat for a birthday, so even though the dogs loved them, they won’t be getting these very often! We tried to keep it healthy by using low-sodium ingredients and not adding any sugar or preservatives, too.

I manipulated the recipe that Spago Executive Pastry Chef Sherry Yard has for homemade dog biscuits to my own liking. Feel free to switch it up with ingredients your doggy loves!

Here’s what you need for these fabulous dog treats:

Whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, raw old-fashioned oats, large eggs, natural unsalted peanut butter, honey, vegetable oil, and chicken broth. Also, preheat that oven to 325 degrees F.

Using an electric stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the flours and oats together on low speed until mixed.

In a liquid measuring cup, combine the chicken broth, honey, oil, and eggs together. Using a measuring cup will make your life a million times easier.

Whisk it thoroughly! Looks kinda like oily orange juice, huh?

On medium-high speed, pour the chicken broth mixture in a steady stream into flour mixture. The dough should start to form, and you may have to use a spatula to scrape down the sides.

Then add in the natural unsalted peanut butter. Don’t give your doggy JIF or Skippy. That’s just wrong. We don’t want to partially-hydrogenate our pets.

A few minutes of mixing will yield this beautiful dough.

Divide the dough in two! Let’s roll it out on a smooth surface.

So, like… I didn’t have my rolling pin. I had my roll of plastic wrap, though, so I used that. You can use a wine bottle or whatever you like. We want to roll it out so it’s 1/2-inch thick.

Like that.

Now use a round cookie cutter, a glass cup, or whatever you have to cut your desired shape. I had a bone-shaped stencil we cut out of cardboard. Your dog won’t hate on the shape, I promise.

Place the shapes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Let’s imprint some paw prints on the cookies! Use your fingers and press down hard to make sure the imprint is deep!

How cute! You can imprint 4 digits like I have, or do just 3.

Time for the egg wash. This will make those biscuits nice, shiny, and smooth. Whisk the last remaining egg with a little water.

Brush on the egg wash evenly over the biscuits. After about 20-23 minutes in the oven, the biscuits will be golden brown and firm.

Let them cool on a wire rack before serving to your doggy. These are totally edible for humans, too! Duh, we used people food to make them. They taste very… wheaty. Not exactly my cup of tea, but hey, your dog will love them! Enjoy!!! Store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week. Otherwise, they will get moldy pretty fast at room temperature!

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Homemade Dog Treats: Paw- and Bone-shaped Biscuits

Total time: 32 minutes
Prep: 12 minutes
Cook: 20 min
Yield: about 2 dozen, sizes vary
Level: Easy

Ingredients:
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
3 large eggs, divided
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 tablespoon honey
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached, all-purpose flour
1/3 cup raw old-fashioned oats
1 cup natural unsalted peanut butter
2 teaspoons water

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

In a liquid measuring cup, whisk together chicken broth, 2 eggs, vegetable oil, and honey until evenly mixed. In the large bowl of an electric stand mixture fitted with the paddle attachment, add wheat flour, all-purpose flour, and oats and mix on low speed until evenly combined, about 30 seconds. Adjust the speed of mixer to medium-high and pour in chicken broth mixture slowly at first, then pour entire mixture in bowl. Continue mixing until dough comes together, about 2 minutes, then add peanut butter slowly until evenly mixed into dough. Scrape down the sides of bowl with a spatula if necessary. Divide dough in half and work with one piece at a time.

There is enough oil in the dough to prevent it from sticking to the countertop, but if desired, lightly sprinkle all-purpose flour on the surface where you will roll out dough. Roll out dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Cut into desired shape with cookie cutters. Gather excess dough and continue to roll it out and cut shapes until all of dough is used. Using index or pinky finger, press a paw print indentation into the round biscuits.

Place shapes at least 1 inch apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining egg and water. Brush the egg wash lightly over the biscuits. Bake biscuits until lightly golden brown on top, crisp on bottom, and interior is no longer raw, about 20-23 minutes. Transfer biscuits to wire rack to complete cooking. Serve to dogs or humans. Store in airtight container in refrigerator for up to 1 week.

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