Recipe: Peanut Butter Bacon Dog Treats

I love baking for myself, but since I've been spending a lot of time with my parents, that means I also spend a lot of time with their dogs. My mom feeds them lots of bones and treats, and sometimes I feel like those aren't the healthiest. I figured I could easily make my own dog treats.

I found this recipe on the Sally's Baking Addiction blog and thought I'd give it a try: 

Ingredients

• 1 cup natural creamy peanut butter
• 3/4 cup non-fat milk
• 1 large egg (or 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce)
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup oats
• 2-3 strips cooked bacon, chopped

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees (F). Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, gently mix the peanut butter, milk, and egg together with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula. Add the flour and baking powder. You may need to turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and use your hands to work in the flour. Mix in the oats and bacon. The dough is extremely thick and heavy.
3. Using a floured rolling pin, cut into shapes using a cookie cutter or a knife. Arrange on the baking sheets. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until very lightly browned on the bottom. Remove from the oven, and flip the treats to bake the other side 10-12 more minutes.
4. Allow to cool completely before serving to your pup. Cover and store leftovers at room temperature for up to one week or in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. They also freeze well for up to two months.

This is not a very good recipe, which I would have noticed right away had I actually read through the full instructions before choosing the recipe (usually I just look at the ingredient list). The biggest flaw is that nowhere does Sally tell us how thick the treats should be, or how large they should be. Even in her blog post, she shows pictures of treats of all shapes and sizes; itty-bitty hearts would NOT need as much time in the oven as a big, bone-shaped treat. Everyone knows that the bigger and/or thicker the cookie, the longer it needs in the oven, and vice versa. So that left me guessing as to how large and thick I should make my circular treats. On top of that, this dough was hard to work with and mix in the flour, which is just frustrating. It was so annoying that I didn't even bother putting in the oats, and I just squished little pieces of bacon onto the top of the treats instead of attempting to work them into the already tough dough. And I pretty much never roll out dough because that's just another pain in the ass. I just took a chunk of dough, pressed it into a somewhat circular shaped, and called it a day.

Since these were for dogs and not people, I didn't really care as much (not that I really care that much when baking for myself, either). I didn't fully incorporate the flour (plus I used regular white flour, not whole wheat flour), I didn't bother flipping the treats (I just cooked them for 15 minutes), and I didn't care if they tasted good (which they don't. The texture is not bad, but because there's no sugar like there would be for people cookies, they were pretty bland). When I fed one to my mom's puppy, I couldn't tell if she even liked the treats, but dogs will eat just about anything, right? So maybe not worth the trouble...