Pinterest Inspiration: Piña Colada Frozen Dog Treats

As mentioned last week, we've had some scorchin' weather here in P-town (thank goodness it has started to cool down).  With warm weather also comes the desire to do absolutely nothing and make the excuse that "it's just too hot."  I used the "it's just too hot" excuse on a long list of tasks this week, but I made it a point to make an extra special frozen treat for Athena to help her beat the heat.

That's right.  I made Miss Athena a big yummy batch of homemade piña colada frozen dog treats that I found the recipe for on Pinterest.  Now, not only has my cellphone ringtone been Escape by Rupert Holmes for as long as I can remember (you know, "if you like piña coladas and getting caught in the rain..."), but I also had a pineapple on hand so OF COURSE I knew that I just had to make some of these delightful frozen goodies.

I got these coolio ice cube trays with tiki man faces at the Dolla' Tree for only one dolla'!  I knew they would be the perfect shape for these pineapple and coconut island treats.

Here's the recipe:

• 1/3 cup fresh pineapple
• 1 T honey
• 1/2 cup low-fat or fat-free plain yogurt
• 1 T hardened coconut oil or coconut flakes

Instructions:

• Blend the pineapple and yogurt together in a blender (I used a Magic Bullet)
• Pour mixture into a silicone mold, ice cube tray, cupcake liners, paper cups, or anything that you'd like (I used my tiki man trays)!
• Drizzle honey over the top of the pineapple yogurt mixture and the sprinkle on some hardened coconut oil or coconut flakes (I simply got out my jar of coconut oil and instead of heating it up, I just used a spoon to scrape off small pieces off of the top to sprinkle on the treats)
• Freeze for at least 2 hours
• Serve to your four-legged friend!

Athena thought these treats were totally DELISH!

There are a ton of other great frozen treat recipes on Pinterest that I still have yet to try.  Here are a couple that I found that I can't wait to test out this summer:

Frozen Berry Water Treats
BananaBerry Appsicle Treats

Athena also loves our trusty triple berry and banana frozen treats that I make for her often.  What are your dog's favorite frozen treats?

Homemade Grain-Free and Egg-Free Flyball Speed Boost Bones

In preparation for the shelter's dog sports demo day over the weekend, our flyball team, the Flying Underdogs, decided to jazz up our booth at the event with fancy team flyers and some homemade dog treats and recipe cards.  I was put in charge of baking the treats, so I knew that I'd need a yummy recipe that was grain-free to accommodate all of the doggies who would be visiting our booth.

Our table at the sports demo day

Grain-free homemade treat recipes are hard to come by online.  I scoured Pinterest for grain-free treat recipes that had limited ingredients and that also didn't contain egg, since many dogs are also allergic to eggs (we still don't know if that's one of Athena's triggers, so we avoid it).  I finally found an awesome recipe here, but it called for an egg, so I did some further research on dog-friendly egg substitutes.  Just for your reference if you ever want to substitute egg in homemade dog treats:

one egg = 1 T ground flaxseed + 3 T water

Bean waiting to try a speed boost bone!

This egg substitution sounded PERFECT to me since flaxseed is not a grain and has many health benefits for dogs.  As far as the grain-free part of this treat recipe, garbanzo bean flour is called for instead of wheat flour.  Athena has had treats made with garbanzo bean flour (like her favorite STAM treats), so I knew that this recipe would be good for her sensitive tummy!  Garbanzo bean flour is also very high in protein, so these treats were perfect to bring along for a long hard working day of flyball!

Here's the recipe:

The recipe cards that we handed out at the sports demo

Here are some photos of the treat-making process:

4 thick slices are sizzling away!

Bean always hangs out in the kitchen when there's bacon cooking

I rolled out the dough on floured parchment paper just so there wouldn't be any sticking

Look at those big chunks of bacon in there!  YUM!

Rolling out the dough in preparation to cut with my cookie cutter

Straight out of the oven!

Not only are these treats yummy, they are pretty too!

Of course, Athena has to perform a solid "leave-it" in order to enjoy her treat

I was so impressed with this treat recipe (I actually made 3 batches for the demo) and the dough turned out great every time even with the garbanzo bean flour and egg substitute.  Just an FYI, I poured the bacon fat into my dough mixture while it was still hot (I let it cool off of the burner for about five minutes before pouring it into the mixture) which helped to melt the shredded cheddar and keep the dough really smooth instead of lumpy.  One batch of dough yielded an entire cookie sheet full of bones.  However, because these bones are homemade and have fresh ingredients, they do need to be stored in the refrigerator.  Athena doesn't mind though, she goes bonkers for these treats!  Every time I get them out of the fridge she stalks me around the house, jumps on me (which is rare) and even gave me a woof!  Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that at least four humans have tried these treats since I made them and everyone agrees that they are actually pretty tasty.  They would make great crackers to pair with some cheese!

Have you ever attempted a homemade grain-free treat recipe?

Pinterest Inspiration: Homemade Dog Treats

This weekend not only did we attend the grand opening for Portland's new Unleashed by Petco store and test Athena's sniffer at a free K9 Nose Work class, but we also did some extra special dog treat baking.

Mom, can I have that?

Ever since starting my Pitlandia Pinterest boards months ago, I have wanted to use one of my 'Dog Recipes' pins to bake a batch of dog treats.  This weekend I finally gave it a shot after realizing that most of the treat recipes call for ingredients that I already have at home (I've also been looking for an excuse to use my new bone shaped cookie cutters).

I ended up baking a batch of Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dog Treats using this recipe found on Pinterest:

2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour oat flour
2 large eggs
2/3 cup pumpkin purée, canned or fresh
3 Tbsps peanut butter

"Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place all ingredients in the mixing bowl or a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium for about a minute, or until the dough looks like a bunch of little dough balls. If you pinch a piece and it crumbles, add a little water. If it’s really sticky, it’s too wet and you’ll need to add a little flour. Gather the dough together and form into a ball. Place on a lightly floured work surface and roll it out to about 1/4-inch thickness. You can either use a cookie cutter to cut out cute shapes, or use a knife to cut squares or strips.  Place the cookies on a baking sheet.  Bake 15-20 minutes for softer treats or 30 minutes for hard treats."-Recipe provided by userealbutter.com

The recipe made 100+ little crunchy treats in bone, heart, and flower shapes!

Athena thought that these treats were absolutely delicious!  I will admit that I tasted one and found it to be just like an unsweetened peanut butter cookie.  Athena doesn't seem to mind the flavor because she's been gobbling them up like crazy (I would say that she seems to like them even better than packaged dog treats)!

'Waiting' for her 'OK' to eat her treat

Substituting Oat Flour for Wheat Flour in Dog Treat Recipes:

The treat recipe above is not grain-free, but I substituted wheat flour for oat flour to make it so.  I made my own oat flour by putting dried rolled oats in the food processor and pulsing to chop the oats into a fine powder (1 1/4 cups of oats yields 1 cup of oat flour).

Making Dog Treats Grain Free:

One reason that I've been discouraged from making any dog treats found on Pinterest is because most are not grain-free.  We try to feed Athena a grain-free diet as much as possible.  To make the above treats grain-free, you could substitute the wheat flour for potato flour, almond flour, or any other grain-free flour substitute.

Grain Free Dog Treat Recipes:

Peanut Butter & Carrot Treats (also gluten, dairy, and sugar-free)

Dehydrated Liver Treats

Sweet Potato Chews

Dog Treat Recipes (substitute flour for a wheat-free or grain-free treat):

Peanut, Banana, & Bacon Treats

Veggie Treats

Carrot & Banana Treats

Cheesy Treats

Excuse me, but when can I eat that?

For even more homemade dog treat recipes visit my 'Dog Recipes' Pinterest board

Have you ever tried your hand at baking homemade dog treats?  What are some of your favorite recipes ?