Have you finished all of your holiday baking? Are you sure?? If you have a fur-baby, you might want to bake one more treat, just for them!
My puppy Carmenta gives two paws up for the pumpkin peanut butter dog treats recipe in The Great Big Pumpkin Cookbook, by Maggie Michalczyk. The recipe couldn’t be easier, and at this time of year I had all of the ingredients in my kitchen.
As Michalczyk notes, “Pumpkin is a superfood for dogs! It’s great for their digestion and can even help with an upset stomach.” While Michalczyk uses a molded dog treat pan, I borrowed a set of doggie cookie cutters from Whitehall Public Library and chose the dog bone cutter to make Carmenta’s treats.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup oat flour (I used a blender to make oat flour from old fashioned oats)
- 1/2 cup creamy unsweetened peanut butter
- 1/3 cup pumpkin puree
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons low sodium chicken stock
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Spray a dog treat pan with cooking spray to prevent treats from sticking. (I used parchment paper for my cut-out treats.)
- Combine oat flour, peanut butter, pumpkin puree, and cinnamon in a medium mixing bowl. Add stock and stir until well combined. The dough will be thick.
- Scoop about 1 tablespoon of dough into each mold of the dog treat pan or roll into a ball (or roll out your dough and use cookie cutters, as I did).
- Bake for 18 minutes (I increased my bake time to 25 minutes), remove from oven, and let cool. For maximum freshness, store in an airtight container or refrigerate.
Pumpkin is healthy and delicious for humans, too, and recipes in this cookbook range from pumpkin snickerdoodles to pumpkin ravioli with creamy sage and toasted pine nuts.
The Great Big Pumpkin Cookbook is available upon request here or by calling Whitehall Public Library at 412-882-6622. The cookie cutters are available here. If you would like to borrow other cookie cutters or cake pans, check out our complete list here!
