Thursday, February 14, 2013

Homemade Bacon & Peanut Butter Dog Treats

Happy Valentine's Day!  Here's a quick recipe I made for my furry little friends to show my love -  homemade heart-shaped dog treats hot n' fresh out the kitchen.


I shared another homemade dog treat recipe a few weeks ago and I have since tweaked it a bit, added some ingredients, ran it by the bassets for a taste test, & am ready to share with you!  This new recipe includes two ingredients that my dogs go nuts for - peanut butter and bacon grease.  Like my last recipe, I love that everything I needed to make these was already in my pantry (or, in the case of the bacon grease, in a sealed jar underneath the sink so nobody can steal it, open it up, and hide in a closet while devouring it, FRED).

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups flour
1/4 cup bacon grease (heated slightly so it's liquid)
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup water
1 egg

Mix all ingredients together and knead the dough into a ball.  Cool in the fridge for half an hour and roll out onto a floured surface...


... and then cut the dough into shapes:


Bake in an oven at 375 for 20-25 minutes.  Remove when the edges of the treats are crispy and golden.  Like the last recipe, your kitchen will smell incredibly good (unlike the last recipe, I was not tempted to taste test since the memory of solid-to-liquid bacon grease was very fresh in my memory).  Allow the treats to cool, feed to your dogs, & stay hungry!

 

56 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, these are so sweet. So thoughtful of you to do this for your dogs. I love the last pic of your dog licking his chops!

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    1. Haha, I know, isn't it funny? My husband was like, you HAVE to include that picture!

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    2. Didn't notice the ribs on the dog?! This idiot is not feeding the dog properly!! I can't believe no one noticed!!!

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    3. Tillie is a rescue dog who has been bulking up since we adopted her. Thanks for your concern but she's a-okay.

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  2. Well now I have to make these for Floyd! Love that picture of them! I can only imagine theres a good story there with the grease. Bassets taking things and hiding in another room with them?! Never...

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  3. disgusting - would not feed bacon fat to my dog

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    1. why do you hate life?

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    2. What do you think is "really" in dog food??

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    3. its a small amount of fat. wont hurt the average dog especially an active one

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  4. OOO! Ive been wanting to try to make dog treats! Ill have to try these :-) You should enter your photos from this project into Craftbaby's Hearts Craft Challenge :-) http://www.craftbaby.com/contests/43/those-tiny-toes-hearts-craft

    xo,
    Candie

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  5. Love the recipe...thanks!! I pinned it!! :)

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  6. Thank you thank you thank you, you smart sweet child!

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  7. Do you need to grease the cookie sheet or is the bacon grease in the recipe itself sufficient to do the trick?

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    1. I used Silpats on the cookie sheets, so that's a good question. Probably a little bit, just to be safe.

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    2. parchment paper would work, too. It's great for cookies, etc.. and can be found where the foil and plastic wrap hang out in the store =) awesome recipe, thanks!! and please, disregard the jerks that are so hateful in their unneeded remarks and apparently love lurking on your site.. they just were not raised right, apparently.

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  8. BTW, ignore that ignorant comment from "anonymous" about not feeding bacon grease to their dog. As long as it's only an occasional treat and not a steady diet, there's nothing wrong with it. What, are they one of those vegetarians that refuse to feed their carnivore dog meat products?

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    1. Yup :) I figured "anonymous" would be horrified about how much bacon grease my dogs have ACTUALLY consumed when they break into the cabinet under the sink and run off with the grease container! But seriously, I feel much better about making treats from scratch so I know what all of the ingredients are... even if one is bacon grease!

      Let me know how making the treats go!

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    2. My vet actually told me once in a while a little grease is good for them. And I use olive oil on a regualr basis over their food, about a teaspoon, it's great for their skin and fur! Love your recipe by the way! Typing this with floor all over my hands, right in the middle of making a batch of these for my fur kids!! Thanks Caitlin for sharing this recipe, love it!!

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    3. Ooh good to know... that makes sense! Hope your pups enjoyed!

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    4. I like making treats from scratch as well so I know what the ingredients are and like you said even if one of the ingredients is bacon fat. I was making peanut butter and pumpkin treats but go figure one of my dogs has an allergy to pumpkin so I am searching for a new one. It's too bad because pumpkin is good for them and they love it. I purposely searched one with peanut butter and bacon fat and am going to try this recipe but with rice flour. Thanks for posting!

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    5. we southerners usually keep a container of bacon grease in the fridge, covered.. lasts for a very long time, and we use it in flavoring, etc. keep it in the fridge instead of under the sink and no more pilfering! LOL.. smart pooches!

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  9. hmmmmmm......wonders if i can find me chihuahua size cookie cutters

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  10. I made these for my 4 doxies and they all devoured them!!! Such a simple recipe too!! Thanks so much Caitlin!!!

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    1. Lucky dogs! So glad they liked them!

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    2. Skinny Dogs! You can see the ribs and that is terrible!! Starving the dogs!! I wonder why no one noticed?!!!

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    3. She's already commented about that when someone else mentioned the dog's weight. She had just rescued that dog and it was in the process of bulking back up when the picture was taken. Please learn to ask questions first and refrain from judging people so quickly. Why would you assume she's starving them when she obviously cares enough about them to bake them special treats?

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    4. read her reply. she said the poor dog is a rescue and allot rescue dogs have health issues of one kind or another. Having adopted rescues myself, I've seen dogs at their worst become some of the best pets I've owned. So kindly pull you head out of you own butt, take a look at the world and notice there more than your narrow view point.

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  11. I found this recipe and my dog wont eat store bought treats anymore.. he just wants these :) i gave some to my sister in law, she has a chiuaua pomerainian, he absolutly loves them to. He gaurs the bag of treats when i bring them cause he knows they are for him! Thank you so much!!

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    1. Awesome!! I'm so glad to hear the dogs love them! This reminds me to make another batch for my hounds ASAP.

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    2. Did you notice how skinny the dogs in this are?! You will be mortified when you realize this person starves their dogs!!

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    3. Please learn to ask questions first and refrain from judging people so quickly. Then go read the other comments where she explains this is a RESCUE dog. She didn't starve it, she saved it from someone who did.

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  12. I have a Basset Hound named Fred too!! Thanks for the recipe!

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  13. I just stored them in a jar on the counter. Mine lasted about a week and a half (and then we ran out). I'm sure you could prolong their life by keeping them in the fridge (or making a double batch of batter and freezing half). Let me know how it goes!

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  14. Occasionally many of us forget about showing our puppies how much many of us love all of them in addition to providing them with an incredible handle is the best way to let them know Dog Treat
    .

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  15. My girl cannot have wheat, corn, or soy... can I use rice flour instead?

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    1. Hmm... I don't know much about baking with rice flour but I would imagine this will turn out pretty tasty! If you bake them with rice flour, please report back so we can share the news with other sensitive-stomached pups!

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  16. My dog loved them! Thanks for the recipe!

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  17. I made these with two slices of bacon, cooked and crumbled, one dog didn't eat them but then she doesn't eat much any way, and the other will eat any thing so I gave a few to a friend and she said her dog loved them!! Will be easier with the bacon drippings!

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    1. Oh my goodness, any time you have leftover bacon anything, I'm sure my two hounds would be happy to help you out!

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  18. I have a friend who has a dog bakery, she dehydrates all her dog treats, would this have to be done with yours as well?

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    1. I'm guessing she does that so they'll last longer for customers and to make then shelf stable. Just a guess. I don't dehydrate mine because they never last for longer than 2 weeks - I keep them stored in an airtight jar.

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  19. Why is your dog so skinny??? Can see the ribs!!
    No wonder they are licking their chops..... terrible dog owner!! How dare you starve your dogs and then show them treats that are not even healthy!!

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    1. She's a rescue dog who came from owners who did't feed her at all... when we got her, she weighed almost half what she should have. She's been gaining weight at a good rate since then. As you can tell from the hound on the left, we're not exactly in the business of starving our dogs.

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    2. Holy crap Anonyjerk, stop spamming this page! She's saves rescues! So do I and several of our dogs arrived underweight. What is your freaking problem? Stop posting your rude, ignorant comments and GO SAVE A DOG!!!!!!!!!!
      P.S. Great recipe <3

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    3. don't show that certain anonymous any more attention. they have a beef with Caitlin, or the page, or they're online without benefit of their meds.. whatever the case may be, they're just trying to make trouble. You kind of have to feel sorry for someone that has no life, but can lurk on a page and be hateful to someone trying to make our 4-legged family members happy.

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  20. Wow negative people! Were you ever taught "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say it". I LOVE this recipe! We exchange gifts for the family dogs at Christmas, and I've tried other recipes that didn't turn out so well. These were perfect! I even added crumbled bacon too!

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  21. Forgive me if this posts twice, but thanks for recipe! Can't wait to go home and make these for Sophie my minitaure Schnauzer. She will go bananas for these! Making mine with OMG! BACON FAT! Maybe anonymous doesn't know this but some vitamins require fat for better absorption into the body.Stop being such a hater. But hater's gonna hate i guess. Way to go Caitlin on the rescue! The dogs look very happy and love the lipsmacking photo, So funny!

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    1. Let us know what Sophie thinks! We have some fresh new bacon grease here and I'll be making a new batch for the pups soon.

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  22. I found your recipe a few months back and have been making them about every 2-3 weeks since. My dog Scooby just loves them and so do some of his neighborhood doggie friends that we share them with. Thanks for sharing it!! :)

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    1. So glad Scooby loves them! This comment actually reminded me that it's been a while since I've made these for my hounds. If I have some time tomorrow I will make some more (my dogs thank you!).

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  23. I made these tonight for my Bassett, Emma, and my Norwegian Elk Hound, Loki. They both loved the cookies, so much they almost got into a fight over them.

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  24. These were incredibly easy to make and are much coveted by my dogs and their friends. Now I have a reason to cook bacon!

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  25. These cookies were a real hit for the Akida, Pitbull and Rottweiler pack I made them for....who are staring at me as I type. Cook more cookies they're trying to tell me. Thanks for sharing the recipe!!

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Thank you so much for taking the time to comment!