halloween "fraidy cat" dog treats

The air is fragrant with change, pumpkins dot the neighborhood porches and the crunch of leaves has become the soundtrack of each walk around the block. It's that time of year again! Yes, it's time for our biannual comprehensive veterinary visits. These day-long ventures can be quite traumatic and this time, Etta's includes a dental cleaning. Etta has ghoulish teeth, despite daily Greenies and brushings. Last year's dental visit ended in a bill that scared me.

In the meantime, I'm preparing for a little vacation to visit the boyfriend in Los Angeles. The pups will be spending a week with my parents. The combined events made me want to make something to ease their anxiety or at least mine. On Pinterest, I noticed this recipe for dog biscuits with some great photographic storytelling. But on Facebook, the ASPCA which contained whole wheat flour. I have a ton of whole wheat pastry flour (from an unfortunate attempt to make gangster gingerbread cookies for Ludachristmas) I've been meaning to find a use for.

Funny thing about canned pumpkin, it's slippery. It happened to plop in the bowl of dry ingredients, making a mushroom cloud of flour, cinnamon and baking soda.

It was really hard to mix. So hard, I broke my Pampered Chef spatula and had to switch to this flashy model.

The only cookie cutters I had were candy canes and Christmas trees, so my downstairs neighbor loaned me this appropriate Halloween cookie cutter—in exchange for a doggie treat for Kuma, her standard poodle.

The cookie cutter was a little large, so the recipe didn't make a ton of cookies. I managed to cut out about nine plus two moon-shaped blobs.

Arlie and Etta ended up having a mixed revue at the vet. Arlie, thankfully, survived his rabies shot without a serious allergic reaction. Etta will have to return to the vet in a couple weeks to have a few teeth removed, the ones slightly out of reach of my brushing. The rest look very healthy, so there's hope that after this surgery, Etta's periodontal troubles may subside.

When they came home, they were very excited to hear me ask them if they'd like a treat. Due to the cookies' monstrous size, they each shared one. They didn't seem to mind and spent a good 15 minutes trying to trick the other one out of their half.

Halloween "fraidy cat" dog treats
from ASPCA.org

Prep Time: 20 min | Total Time: 60 min

Ingredients 

2-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup fresh or canned pumpkin (not seasoned pie filling)
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup water as needed

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, pumpkin, peanut butter and cinnamon in a bowl.
3. Add water as needed, but dough should be stiff and dry.
4. Roll to 1/2 inch thick and cut with holiday cookie cutters.
5. Bake for about 40 minutes, or until hard.



Comments

[val!]

i'm so ready to make these!

[Jarod Vonk]

Arlie and Etta look excited to try it! LOL

Jarod Vonk
HVAC Plus