52 Weeks of Pinterest: Week 12 – Homemade Dog Treats!

This year I wanted to go with a resolution I would have no problem sticking to! Then as I was pinning an item on Pinterest, a light bulb flashed on above my head. Ok, maybe not literally, but this great idea popped into my head. Those of us who are Pinterest users know that we pin hundreds of things a week, but do we ever do them? So I decided this year I would do one of my pins every week. At the moment, 52 weeks of Pinterest was born. Each week I will do something I found on Pinterest rather it be a craft, new recipe, organizing technique, or whatever!

This week I went for a pin for our Pet Friendly Board – Homemade Dog Treats!

We have been a single cat home for the past three years. Here recently though, my girls sweet talked their dad into bringing a puppy home.

Meet Zoe, the adorable daschund puppy.

When I went shopping for puppy supplies I wanted to grab a small thing of treats to help with the house training and dang they are kind of spendy. So I thought to myself “Why can’t I make these?” Sure enough – you can!

What you will need:

• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/3 cup margarine
• 1 cup boiling water
• 3/4 cup cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons white sugar
• 2 teaspoons beef bouillon granules (chicken granules can also be used)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
• 1 egg, beaten
• 3 cups flour (the original recipe called for whole wheat flour, I just used regular)

First thing you will need to do is start boiling 1 cup of water. While you are waiting for that to boil, add your rolled oats and margarine to a large mixing boil. One the water is done boiling, add it to this bowl as well. Now let the mixture sit for 10 minutes.

After letting it sit add your milk, cheese, cornmeal, beaten egg, bouillon, and sugar. Make sure to mix thoroughly between each ingredient. Finally comes the flour. Add the flour one cup at a time, mixing between each cup.

Once you have your dough ready, take it to a floured surface and knead the heck out of it, adding more flour as needed until it is no longer sticky. I added quite a bit more flour, not sure about measurements though, you will know when you have enough.

Roll out your dough until it is about ¼” thick, mine were a little thicker I think. Once you have your dough rolled out – you can use cookie cutters to make whatever shapes you would like.

I used some star shaped ones for the bigger dogs my friends and family own. For little Zoe though, I just used a cookie cutter and made smaller squares and rectangles. I didn’t want to go out and purchase those super cute dog bone cookie cutters until I knew the dogs liked these treats! 🙂 They did so I am thinking about ordering this dog bone cookie cutter set.

Once you have all your treats cute how you would like, put them on prepared cookie sheets. I used silicone baking mats and then parchment paper on my small pans. Have you tried parchment paper? It is SO awesome!

Put your treats into a 325° preheated oven for 25-35 minutes until they are golden.

Take them out and cool them on wire racks. Once cool – put them in whatever container you would like.

I had plenty of extras so I gave some out to family and friends for their four-legged fur babies.  Decorate the bag a little and you have a quick and inexpensive gift for the dogs!  I think I will do a bigger batch towards the holidays with those bone cutters to give out.

Make sure to pin this to Pinterest to save for later! If you are not following us on Pinterest, make sure to do so now so you don’t miss out on some great pins!

Hope you enjoyed Week 12 of 52 Weeks of Pinterest, come back next Saturday for another attempted pin!If you don’t want to wait a week for a new pin idea, checkout our DIY posts, there are some great ideas there as well!