Treat recipes for dummies?

[Spiritsmam]

I admit it ... I can't cook ... I tell people I can burn water.

With the soaring cost of living, I have decided that I want to try making my own dog treats, which is where I need help. Does anyone know of any simple treat recipes that I can start with?

Joanne, Spirit and Eli

[ninhar]

I hate cooking so I don't do much of it either. These are very simple to make - 4 ingredients and most importantly, they passed the Cody test (she was very picky)

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup skim milk

Preheat oven to 375
Combine flour and baking powder in a large bowl.
Combine milk and peanut butter in a separate bowl and mix until smooth.
Gradually stir peanut butter mixture into flour in the larger bowl.
Knead dough by-hand and roll-out on floured surface to 1/4" thickness. Cut-out treats.
Place on a no-stick baking sheet and bake 15 - 20 minutes. Cool before storing.
Note: cooking time may vary depending upon thickness.

[I_LOVE_MY_MIKKO]

those are the ones i make too, however i accidentally used baking soda instead of powder the first time i made them, and i'm not sure the difference between the two, but they came out perfectly so now i always use baking soda. it only takes about 8-10 minutes to cook them. i cut them into little bone shapes (about 2 inches long) and it makes just over 100 treats.

[Amaruq]

My "basic" recipe is flour (and or oatmeal), eggs, baking powder and the flavor source. Mix as above roll and bake. I bake them for 60-90 minutes and flip them about every 20-30.

The flavor source can be anything from a jar (or 4) of baby food, gravy, leftovers, peanut butter, left over Mackerel/Salmon juice, ground meat, liver..... anything the dog might like. Up the other ingredients based on the amount of the flavor source.

[DancingCavy]

Buffalo Burger
1 pound ground game meat (venison, elk, bison. Chicken or turkey can work too, just as long as there's minimal fat in it)
1 1/2 cups flour
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp of garlic powder

Mix it all together and spread it out flat on a cookie sheet. It should be about 1/4 inch in thickness. Pop it in the oven at 250 degrees for a half hour. It will be pretty much cooked on the outside but still soft and maleable on the inside. (You can also make this without flour.)

Liver treats
Liver (pre-sliced works best for the beef liver)
Garlic powder (optional)

Boil the liver for about 20 minutes until it's cooked all the way through. If you want to add garlic powder, add it to the water before you start boiling it. After the liver has been boiled, remove it from the water and put it on a metal pan. Place it in the oven to bake at 250 degrees for an hour. Once it's done, you can easily break it into smaller pieces for training treats.

You can also use beef heart though it comes out more like jerky and is a bit more difficult to break apart.

Tuna Treat
1 can tuna/chicken/turkey (10 oz)
2 eggs
3 tsp garlic powder
1 3/4 cups flour

Mix ingredients and press onto cookie sheet. Bake at 250 degrees for 30 minutes. Cut into quarters. Flip over and bake the other side for 15 minutes. (You can also make these with less flour--I used about 1/2 a cup.)

[ENewman]

Garlic is terrible for dogs same with onions after so much liver and kidneys can start failing

[Wild Wolf]

Ohhh, what a great thread. Going to try making my own today!

[Wild Wolf]

Found this one recently, looks delicious...

Banana Pupcakes
(Recipe courtesy of 3 Dog Bakery)

Ingredients:
2 c. water
2 bananas (mashed)
1/2 tsp vanilla
3 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1 egg
2 tbsp honey


Directions:
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the water, mashed bananas, vanilla, egg and honey. Add the flour and baking powder. Mix it well.
Pour batter into a muffin tin that has either been lightly sprayed with nonstick cooking spray or lined with paper cups.
Bake for 20 min. or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of one of your pupcakes comes out clean.
Cool & Serve.

[King&Skylar]

My guys go bananas over the tuna treats that dancing cavy posted- cut them up small enough and they make great training treats.

I also make meatballs- 1 pound ground hamburger, 1 egg, grated cheese (i use 1/2 cup) 1 cup of oatmeal. Skylar goes crazy for these- they're her vet trip treat.

[Stosh]

Stosh's favorite is beef crunchies-- I use about 2 lbs of the cheapest beef stew meat I can find, cut it into little cubes and put it on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Put it in the oven at 350 for an hour, then reduce it to 225 and bake another hour or until it's pretty dry. Take it out of the oven and leave it to dry overnight. Store in refrigerator.