Peanut Butter Dog Treats

I've been meaning to put this recipe on here for forever. These pictures are actually from a few months ago, life has been a little hectic.

Anyway, this is the recipe that I've been using for the last year or so to make the treats that I bring with me to adoption events. I love this recipe because there are only four ingredients in it and they don't seem to bother the dog's stomach as much as some other treats.  I've also doubled the recipe from the site that I originally used because it didn't make nearly enough for my taste. Okay, enough with the rambling, here's the recipe:

First thing you want to do is mix together the dry ingredients, i.e. the flour and baking powder.

Next, mix together the peanut butter and hot water. You don't really need to use a mixer for this, but it's way easier and you don't have to worry about spilling hot water everywhere... or is that just me that does dumb things like that?

The kitchen usually starts to smell like a peanut butter dream at this point. Just a heads up, family members and roommates will follow this smell and expect there to be peanut butter cookies for them to eat. They will be disappointed.

Break out whatever cookie cutters you'll be using. It was still fall when I made these so I used my leaf, pumpkin, and heart cookie cutters. In retrospect, I probably should have only used the pumpkin for pumpkin flavored treats. People were very confused.

Make sure you put flour down and roll the dough thinner than you would think you should. It will rise a little bit and if it's too thick, they won't dry out as well as you want to get that nice crunch that dogs like. Also, the drier you get them, the longer you can store them without having to worry about them going bad.

If you want to make smaller treats, or use the treats for training, you probably don't want to use big cookie cutters. What I usually do (which I'll try to get a picture of eventually) is roll the dough out and then use a pizza cutter to cut thin vertical lines in the dough and then make horizontal cuts so you get little squares. I like that method because you can make them any size you want. I like to make tiny ones so you don't have to worry about breaking them up when you are training. I make them just a little larger than the size of kibble. Just make sure you keep an eye on them while they're in the oven, they go from perfect to super crispy in no time.

Once they're light brown and firm to the touch, take them out, let them cool for a bit on the pan and then transfer them to a cooling rack. This lets them dry out even further. Make sure you cool them completely before you put them in any kind of container or the steam they give off will make them mushy.

Good luck making them!

Recipe:

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 cup peanut butter

1 cup hot water

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. Mix together the flour and baking powder.

3. In a separate bowl, mix together the peanut butter and hot water until smooth.

4. Gradually add in the dry mixture. If too wet, add a little more flour.

5. Turn dough out onto a flat, pre-floured surface.  Roll until a little less than 1/4 inch thick. Roll thicker if you want flakier, biscuit-like treats. Roll thinner if you want easier to break up treats to be used for training.

6. Cut into your desired shape and size treat then transfer to a cookie sheet.

7. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly brown and firm to the touch. Let cool completely and store in an air tight container.

Original recipe from: elephantineblog.com