Canine treats made with pumpkin, just like the pumpkin peanut butter biscuits and pumpkin, carrot, and coconut biscuits pictured right here, are an ideal fall deal with on your canine. Credit score: CJ Puotinen
Although it’s finest identified for enhancing signs of indigestion, free stools, and diarrhea, small quantities of pumpkin are applicable anytime. Most canine love the style and pumpkin’s prebiotic fibers help the microbiome. Better of all, pumpkin canine treats are straightforward and enjoyable to make.
Begin With the Proper Form of Pumpkin
Plain pureed canned pumpkin is your main ingredient. Attempt a made-for-dogs product like Nummy Tum Tum Natural Pumpkin for Pets or use a single-ingredient canned pumpkin, comparable to Libby’s Pure Pumpkin Puree, Farmer’s Market Natural Pumpkin Puree or Fortunate Leaf Canned Pumpkin. Canned pumpkin pie combine, which incorporates sugar and spices, shouldn’t be really useful.
To make your individual puree from recent pumpkin, use small pumpkins bought for pie making relatively than the fibrous jack-o-lantern pumpkins related to October thirty first. Lower 2 small pumpkins in half, scrape the seeds out with a spoon, and place the items face-down on a baking sheet. Bake at 350ºF (177ºC) for 45 minutes or till the pumpkin is golden brown and fork-tender. Peel the pores and skin off and place chunks in a blender or meals processor, including a small quantity of water if wanted. Pulse or mix the pumpkin till easy. Alternatively, mash the pumpkin with a potato masher, press it by way of a potato ricer, or course of it with a meals mill.
Retailer pumpkin puree in an hermetic container in your fridge for as much as 7 days, or place it in a Ziplock freezer bag, press the air out, and freeze it for as much as 6 months.
Primary Directions for Pumpkin Canine Biscuits
When making pumpkin canine biscuits, mix dry components with a mixer, meals processor, or by hand, then add different components to create a stiff or delicate dough. Frivolously grease cookie sheets or line them with kitchen parchment paper earlier than baking to forestall sticking.
Stiff doughs could be rolled flat with a rolling pin (place dough between two sheets of parchment paper or plastic wrap or on a floured floor earlier than rolling) and formed with a cookie cutter, pizza cutter, or knife. For dog-related cookie cutters, go to
LokiDokiDog Cookie Cutters, The Cookie Cutter Store Canine Cookie Cutters, or
Low cost Cookie Cutters Canine Assortment. You too can form stiff dough as a log or cylinder, wrap it in plastic wrap, refrigerate till agency, then slice the roll into discs. To create small spherical pumpkins, roll dough into balls, pull as much as create a bit stem on prime, and press vertical strains into the edges with a knife.
Comfortable doughs could be pressed into silicon molds, comparable to these bought by SodaPup or Etsy Silicone Canine Bone Molds.
Most canine biscuit recipes name for wheat flour, however gluten-free flours are extensively bought. Blends containing almond flour, coconut flour, arrowroot starch, tapioca starch, cassava flour, rice flour, or potato starch are designed to interchange equal portions of wheat flour. Within the following canine biscuit recipes, use wheat flour or store for a gluten-free or Paleo flour labeled as a one-to-one substitute for wheat flour.
All recipes are adjustable, so if a dough appears too liquid, add a bit extra flour, finely floor oats or different thickener. Baking instances are approximate as a result of cookie thickness, oven temperatures, and components fluctuate. I used Cup4Cup gluten-free flour to check the recipes given right here.
For recipes utilizing peanut butter, attempt made-for-dog manufacturers that don’t include xylitol, hydrogenated vegetable oils, sugar, or molasses. Examples embody:
Whereas baking canine treats, verify the oven each 10 minutes and scale back or prolong baking time as wanted. Cool treats on a wire rack. Leaving treats at room temperature for a day or two helps harden biscuits to make them crunchier. Relying on components, home-prepared treats might final a number of days to per week or extra at room temperature or longer within the fridge. For long-term storage, freeze in air-tight containers. For vacation baking, combine cookie doughs forward of time and refrigerate or freeze them till a couple of days earlier than present giving, then bake and gift-wrap.
Attempt These Straightforward Recipes
Pumpkin Peanut Butter Biscuits for Canines
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup peanut butter
1 egg
2 cups gluten-free or equal flour
Mix the pumpkin, peanut butter, and egg yolk in a big bowl. Regularly add flour and stir till mixed. Use a rolling pin to roll the dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Lower shapes by hand or with cookie cutters and place 1 inch aside on ready cookie sheets. Bake at 375oF (190oC) for 20-25 minutes or till evenly brown.
Pumpkin, Carrot, and Coconut Biscuits for Canines
2 cups gluten-free or equal flour
3/4 cup pumpkin puree
2 tablespoons unsweetened peanut or almond butter
2 egg yolks
1 cup grated carrots
1 cup shredded dried unsweetened coconut
Mix components, roll to 1/4 to three/8 inch thick and form with cookie cutters. Bake at 350oF (177oC) for 30 to 35 minutes, or till evenly brown.
Comfortable Pumpkin Treats for Canines
“Soft” treats are appreciated by canine with tooth issues. Most include vegetable glycerin, a plant-derived syrup that acts as a moisturizer and preservative. Meals-grade vegetable glycerin from Glycerin Provider, Starwest Botanicals, and different producers is bought on-line and in pure meals shops. For those who don’t have vegetable glycerin, substitute honey, which additionally works properly in delicate treats.
2 cups pumpkin puree
1/2 cup grated apple or 1/4 cup applesauce
1/4 cup honey or vegetable glycerin
1 egg
1-1/2 cups gluten-free or equal flour
Mix components and drop dough with a teaspoon to kind mounds on ready baking sheets, inserting them an inch or extra aside. Bake at 350oF (177oC) for 20 minutes. Refrigerate in an hermetic container to take care of delicate consistency and forestall mould progress.
Frozen Pumpkin Treats for Canines
Listed below are three easy variations:
Pumpkin Peanut Butter Frozen Treats
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup melted or softened coconut oil
Pumpkin Frozen Yogurt Treats
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup Greek yogurt or common yogurt that you simply pressure in a single day by way of cheesecloth or a mesh strainer to thicken it
1/4 cup melted or softened coconut oil
Pumpkin Banana Frozen Treats
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
1/4 cup melted or softened coconut oil
Combine components and fill silicone molds or ice dice trays. Freeze for a minimum of 2 hours, then take away treats from the molds or trays and retailer them in an air-tight freezer bag or container. Take away treats from the freezer a couple of minutes earlier than serving.
Pumpkin Gummy Treats for Canines
Gelatin is the important thing ingredient in candy or savory gummy treats. Unflavored gelatin powder is on the market from Nice Lakes Grass-Fed Gelatin, Knox Gelatine, and different manufacturers. Soda Pup sells Dogtastic Jelly Pictures Gelatin with holiday-themed silicone molds. Gelatin is really useful for getting old joints, elevated mobility, improved digestion, robust bones, and pores and skin and coat well being. Sadly, gelatin doesn’t freeze properly. Use gummies as coaching treats or as additions to your canine’s dinner. Including extra gelatin will create firmer gummies.
On your first gummies, sprinkle 3 tablespoons gelatin powder over 1/4 cup unheated coconut water, bone broth, soup inventory, water, or different liquid and let it stand a minute or two till the gelatin is absorbed. Warmth 1/2 cup of the identical liquid till virtually boiling, add it to the gelatin, and stir to mix. Add 1/2 cup pumpkin puree and stir gently. Pour right into a evenly oiled silicon mould, loaf pan, or tray. Refrigerate till agency. Take away gummies from silicon molds. If utilizing a loaf pan, take away the only slab of chilly gelatin and reduce it with a knife or cookie cutters. Refrigerate gummies, tightly sealed, for as much as 2 weeks.