Pumpkin, Peanut Butter, and Bacon Dog Biscuits

It’s been a while since my sous chef shared a recipe.  She represents one third of the My Kitchen Addiction family (and sometimes it seems like more!), but she doesn’t get the representation she deserves here on the site.  Granted, you’d probably get sick of reading about the all-natural sweet potato and trout dog food that she eats just about every day for breakfast and dinner… She thinks it’s delicious, though, I must warn you that it leads to very fishing smelling doggy breath (fondly called “trout snout” at my house).

Even though Yellowdog’s weekly menu might not make for a thrilling blog post, I did think it was time that she share another recipe for homemade doggy biscuits. Originally, I planned to let her write this blog post and share the recipe herself. However, when it came time to actually make the biscuits, she was nowhere to be found. Most days I can barely get a package of bacon out of the fridge before she is sitting at my feet begging for a taste.  But, when I made these dog biscuits, she was upstairs in my hubby’s office sleeping while the bacon was sizzling away. So, since she was not actually part of the baking process, I decided to revoke her writing privileges.  That’s what she gets for sleeping on the job!

Yellowdog and I have been wanting to try making some doggy treats with bacon in them for a while.  She is a fan of bacon, after all.  Since I have my freezer stocked with more pumpkin puree than I will ever need, I decided to make a bacon-flavored variety of her favorite pumpkin (or squash) and peanut butter treats. To make sure that the treats were safe for her sensitive tummy, I used some gluten-free flours that I had on hand from doing some gluten-free baking a while ago.  We’re not 100% sure whether or not wheat and gluten are the source of her tummy troubles, but I try to avoid them as much as possible when making her treats.  Of course, if your doggy is OK with those ingredients, feel free to substitute regular all purpose flour.

Although Yellowdog pretty much slept through the whole baking process, she was certainly interested in sampling some dog cookies when they came out of the oven.  She hovered around the kitchen while I waited for them to cool.  Then, she devoured a few sample treats, for the sake of quality assurance, of course.  I had to hide the rest in her cookie jar so she wouldn’t gobble them all up. Of course, now she just sits by her cookie jar and begs for treats.

Pumpkin, Peanut Butter, and Bacon Dog Treats
Makes about 3 dozen medium sized treats

• 3 slices bacon
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup creamy (natural) peanut butter
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 1/2 cups (gluten-free) rolled oats, pulsed in the food processor
• 1 cup brown rice flour, plus additional for sprinkling
• 1/4 cup potato starch

Preheat the oven to 350°F.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone liners, and set aside.

Place the strips of bacon in a large microwave-safe mixing bowl. Microwave on high for about 6 – 7 minutes (and I’d recommend covering it with a paper towel to keep from spraying your microwave with grease), until the bacon is completely cooked.  Use a fork to pull the cooked bacon out of the bowl and transfer to a cutting board, leaving the drippings/grease from the bacon in the mixing bowl to cool.  Chop the cooked bacon and set aside.

Once the drippings have cooled, add the eggs, peanut butter, and pumpkin puree.  Whisk until smooth. With a spatula or wooden spoon, stir in the oats, brown rice flour, potato starch, and chopped bacon. The mixture should form a slightly sticky dough.

Sprinkle a generous amount of brown rice flour on a clean surface and turn the dough out onto the flour.  Sprinkle the top of the dough with some additional rice flour, and then roll the dough out to approximately 1/4 to 1/2-inch thickness.

Use a cookie cutter (I opted for dog bone and fire hydrant shapes) to cut out the dog biscuits.  Transfer them to the prepared baking sheet.

Bake the dog biscuits for 30 minutes, until they are golden and crisp.  Cool completely before transferring to an airtight container.

Please Note – Much like people, the foods that are safe to eat can vary from dog to dog.  Please take the time to research what foods are safe for your dog.