Various events and every day happenings of our quiet life in Port Orange, FL.
Includes community events, travel, home projects, food, gardening and a lot of our pup Rufus.



Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Doggy treat recipes from Rufus' 3rd birthday

On July 26th Rufus turned 3. I still can't believe it! Of course we had a birthday party :) We technically can celebrate his birthday on both the 25th and 26th because of the time he was born (if you missed that story, check it out here).
This year's theme was Hawaiian island. We had all sorts of leis and luau food for the people including DH's special smoked pulled pork, a tropical chicken salad and pineapple upside down cupcakes for the people. Everyone loved it all. We ended up with 20 people and about 15 dogs. Of course I didn't get any photos of the treats, I barely got to taste any of the food! Will work on that for the next party. Photos from the party will be up soon!

With the price of store bought treats and the questioning of ingredients, I love to bake treats for Rufus at home. We used to have a great doggy bakery in town, where we got his 1st bday cake, but they've since moved. For Ruf's birthday this year, we had a nice array of easy treats. I love easy treat recipes, ones with all natural ingredients that can be found in most pantries. And I wouldn't give my dog anything to eat that I wouldn't eat (or at least try) myself.
I've had a lot of requests for this 1st recipe. It's from a dog cookbook titled 'Cooking the Three Dog Bakery Way' by Mark Beckloff and Dan Dye which was actually a gift from my aunt for Ruf's 2nd birthday.
Here's a photo my MIL took while we were singing Happy Birthday to Ruf with the candle on his pupcake
It says it makes (2) 8 inch cakes, but I made cupcakes (or pupcakes) and it made about 12 total. (I made 2 batches, recipe below is for 12 pupcakes or 2 8 inch cakes)

PAWSHAKE CAKE
(2) cups whole wheat flour
(2) teaspoons baking powder
(1/2) cup honey
(1/3) cup unsalted peanut butter (I used chunky)
(1) large egg
(1) cup skim milk
(1/4) cup chopped unsalted peanuts

Preheat oven to 350 deg F.
Spray baking pans with nonstick vegetable spray and dust with flour (or insert cupcake liners).
Stir together flour and baking powder and set aside.
In large bowl, cream together the honey and peanut butter with an electric mixer or wooden spoon.
Beat in the egg and milk.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until smooth.
Pour the batter in the cake or cup cake pans (about 1/3 way full if making cup cakes).
Sprinkle the top with peanuts.
Bake 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the top comes out clean.Cook to room temperature.
Store in airtight container for up to 3 days, or wrap well and freeze for up to 2 months (thaw before serving).

Can be frosted with this frosting (we skipped it for the party, may be too messy for 20 or so dogs at once!)
(1) 8 oz. package low-fat cream cheese, softened
(3) tablespoons carob powder (usually found at health food stores)
(1) tablespoon pure vanilla extract
Combine all ingredients and beat until smooth.

Another great and easy treat we had was dehydrated sweet potatoes. You can make them in a dehydrator, but I've found it easier to make in the oven. Preheat oven to 250 deg F. Wash and peel sweet potatoes, microwave for a minute or two to soften, slice approx. 1/4-1/3 inch thick slices, arrange single layer on cookie sheet, bake for about 2-3 hours, or a little longer for crunchier treats, checking often to make sure they're not burning.

We also had these two types of treats which came from this website. I loved that I could just throw everything together in my Kitchenaid mixer!

Chunky Peanut Butter Molasses Cookies
4 cups whole wheat flour2 cups oatmeal
½ - ¾ cup chunky peanut butter
2½ cups hot water2 Tbs molasses
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C).
Mix all ingredients together, adding more hot water if dough is too sticky. Knead well. Roll out to ¼" and cut into shapes with cookie cutter (I used a dog bone shaped cutter, may want to roll out a little thicker than 1/4 inch so they bake up a little thicker, some of our thin ones burnt). Bake on greased cookie sheet for 40 minutes (or until lightly browned). Turn off heat and let cool in oven overnight (we skipped this too, baked them the day of the party, they cooled for 6 or so hours on racks).

Savory Peanut Butter Biscuits with Cheese
1 cup flour
½ cup milk
2 Tbs peanut butter
2 Tbs grated parmesan cheese
1 tsp baking powder (I forgot to add this and they came out like discs, but everyone still loved them!)
1 egg white
1 Tbs chicken broth
Directions: Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C). Mix flour and milk until lumpy. Add Peanut butter and chicken broth. Mix parmesan cheese with first four ingredients. Add egg white. Mix well or until it has the consistency of pancake batter. Add baking powder. Pour onto cookie sheet sprayed with nonstick spray, in 3-inch diameter blobs. Cook until golden brown. Serve cool.
More treat recipes to come in future posts. For now, happy baking!