PB-Squared Dog Treats
Buckle up, everybody, I'm mixing things up today. I had a dream the other night that I gained so much weight I was hardly recognizable. It was terrible. I was so mad at myself. So today I baked up something that I won't eat any of. I could, if I wanted to, but I tried one, and I don't need any more. They're (drumroll, please)..... homemade dog treats! Make these for your four legged friends and they will love you even more (if that's even possible).
Another of my motives for making these treats is that our sweet pooch Pippin just started his intermediate level training class, and treats are key for training. Unfortunately, treats from the store can get expensive. I've also seen an alarming number of posts on Facebook about particular treats and foods that claim made dogs devastatingly sick. Of course, just because it's on Facebook doesn't mean it's true, by any means, and we usually spoil Pippin with pretty high-quality treats, but making your own treats is a good way to make sure you know exactly what your feeding your dog. It's also a good way to make sure you get the flavors you know your dog loves.
But the intermediate class is a little more intense than the beginner class, and in practicing the first few commands, I've found that Pippin needs a really worthwhile treat to figure out what I'm trying to get him to do, so I amped it up a little. I increased the pumpkin and also added some banana, so Peanut Butter, Pumpkin, Banana: PB-Squared. The extra fruit meant that the dough was a little wetter and therefore stickier, so I had to add a little more flour as well.
How easy are these ingredients? So easy. You'll notice that in the picture, the banana is not in the peel. When I don't have time to make fabulous banana bread, I put overripe bananas in the freezer (peeled and broken into pieces). They make a great treat for Pippin in the hot summer, and they were amazing when he was teething. If your bananas aren't frozen, no big deal. That's just what I had on hand. If they are frozen, thaw them. Thirty seconds in the microwave should suffice.
Then, dump it all in a bowl and mix. It's a bit easier in the bowl of a stand mixer, but it's definitely do-able to stir it by hand (I did). Just to be safe, I recommend only using two cups of flour in the initial mixing and adding the remaining flour as needed to reach the right texture.
When the dough is no longer sticky, roll it out on a floured surface and cut into cookies. I find that it's easier to divide the dough in half before rolling it out. If you have a bigger work surface that is safe from curious canines, rolling it all out in one sheet shouldn't be too difficult. Pippin has gotten tall enough that he can get his chin up on the edge dining room table, so I just use the kitchen counter and roll out smaller batches of dough.
The thinner you roll the dough, the more cookies you'll get out of this recipe, and feel free to use whatever cookie cutters you want. I have a small bone-shaped cookie cutter and a small round cookie cutter from King Arthur Flour that I love. You can even just cut out squares or strips with a knife if you don't want to mess with cookie cutters. Put the cut cookies on a lined baking sheet and bake them at 350. I baked them for about 17 minutes so they still had a little chewiness to them so Pippin can eat them quickly when training, but if your pup likes crunchy treats better, bake them for up to 30 minutes. 
Also worth noting, these have almost no spreading when they bake, so you can really load up your cookie sheet, which is great, because this makes a lot of cookies. To give you an idea, I got 123 cookies out of this batch with the round cookies being about the size of a vanilla wafer, and the bones are roughly the size of Milkbones. If your dog is bigger or smaller, you'll probably want to make your cookies bigger or smaller, too.
The only downside to these cookies is that they won't last as long as most store-bought cookies (because they don't have preservatives in them). The good news is they freeze beautifully, and that helps them not go to waste.
I can't personally gush about how awesome these taste the way I do in most of my other posts, but just look how much Pippin loves them! You can't fake that!
PB-Squared Dog Treats
2 3/4 cups flour (whole wheat or oat flour preferred)
2 eggs
1/3 cup peanut butter
2/3 cup pumpkin
1 cup banana, mashed
Mix all ingredients until smooth. If dough is sticky, add more flour. Roll dough out onto a lightly floured surface and cut into desired shapes and sizes. Bake at 350 degrees for 17-30 minutes depending on desired chewiness or crunchiness of cookies. Use or freeze within one week of baking.
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