sixty seconds with david reamer: How To: Homemade Dog Treats

2020 continues with putting some serious effort into the Union Wine Co. FIELD NOTES This is a part of their site that tells employee stories, showcases recipes and cocktails as well as a few cool How To’s…

This is one of those posts. Check them all out in the above link.

Shelter in Place Projects:

Amazing Homemade Dog Treats

Meet Oliver, my bestest buddy and definitely my savior during these safe but oh so boring times. Lets face it, most of us have already binged Tiger King and McMillions (spoiler alert- neither live up to the hype…). We’ve been reading, doing puzzles, cooking and finding myriad ways to stay safe but also stay busy.

One of my escapes from the house (while still maintaining social distancing) is to take Oliver to the dog park. We both get some fresh air and also get to stretch our legs. These dog park trips have really been keeping me sane, so I felt it was only fair to do something nice in return for his companionship. (Not to mention, a lot of the local pet stores are running low on essentials and getting dog treats is becoming more difficult.)

So I figured, why not do a little research and come up with a simple but healthy homemade dog treat that we can both feel good about. The recipe has only 5 ingredients, is incredibly easy to make, and I swear your dog will go absolutely bonkers for them.

How cool do those look???!!!

Here’s all you will need:

Delicious Dog Treats

2 eggs

1/2 C canned pumpkin puree

1/4 C healthy peanut butter

1 cube of beef bouillon

1/2 C water

2-3 C whole wheat flour (as usual, we recommend Bob’s Red Mill)

A few notes before we begin:

* Lets just be honest here... Everyone has a can of pumpkin puree in their pantry leftover from thanksgiving. This is a great way to use it up.

*Beef bouillon cubes are usually dissolved in 1 C of water. I only use half a cup to concentrate the flavor. You can leave this ingredient out entirely, but I promise your dog will love you if you keep it in the recipe

*As I will further explain, the flour will vary as per how wet the other ingredients are.

*Most people will have whole wheat flour that they had to buy for some random recipe and never used again- so check the back of your baking shelf before going to buy more.

Crack a can of Underwood Pinot Noir. (This is solely for consumption, not the recipe.) Then, preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Dissolve one bouillon cube in 1/2 C of water and set aside to cool.

STEP TWO

Once bouillon liquid is cool, put eggs, pumpkin puree, peanut butter, and bullion liquid into a mixing bowl with the paddle attachment and blend well.

STEP THREE

While running mixer, slowly add flour, 1/2 C at a time until dough comes together and is no longer sticky. When I did it, it took about 2 1/4 C of flour but this may vary. Remove the dough, place on a large work surface dusted with flour and kneed for 2-3 minutes.

Puppy Interlude….

Here is an unnecessary but ridiculously cute picture of Oliver (and his sister Pretty Penny) just to keep you entertained…

STEP FOUR

Roll out the dough to your desired thickness (I went with a 1/4” because they tend to puff up in cooking.) Use a cookie cutter or just cut small squares- I promise your dog won’t know the difference- and place on a baking sheet with either a silpat pan liner or parchment paper. Bake for 20-30 minutes, rotating the sheet pans every 7-8 minutes for even baking.

The extra dough can be reshaped and used for a second and third batch.