The Covered Dish - Pumpkin Pup Treats

Today we seek to put only the best into our bodies as we strive to sustain a quality life. We do it for ourselves, but...are we doing it for our pets? This week I’m going to share a three ingredient pumpkin recipe for homemade dog treats. One of my goals is to make you feel as ‘honery’ as I did after I made approximately 165 individual treats.
Let me shock you just a little bit more with the cost factor: $5.16 plus tax, yes, you read this correctly.
How long will these last? With only one dog I would hope a couple of months! Let’s dive in and break the recipe down just a little bit more.
This originated on line called a 3-2-1 dog treat, 3 cups oatmeal, 2 eggs and 1 cup pumpkin. The recipe was easy enough, but my additional tips are going to be very beneficial as you work with the sticky dough. First; I made a double batch today when I baked mine. That’s how I got 165 pieces from the dough. While I had my kitchen aid out I also made a batch of peanut butter treats. I flattened them out in a Ziploc bag much like I do cookie dough, and froze the entire batch, I’ll bake them on another afternoon. Because we are now dealing with ‘no preservatives’, I would recommend leaving about a weeks worth of baked treats out and freeze the remaining.
Pumpkin is great for dogs, the only thing you need to remember is you want to purchase plain pumpkin with absolutely nothing but pumpkin in the can.
This is much easier to find that it was a few years back, due to demand. You will also find it handy to keep canned pumpkin on hand in the event your pup ever has a bowel blockage. The only time this happened for us was when I was gone on a road trip a couple of years ago, the pumpkin was just the ticket.
Did I roll out shapes with my treats? Nope, I was making quite a few today so I rolled most of them into the shape of a dime, put them in a bag with whole wheat flour, , pressing them down with the bottom of a flour covered jigger. Press the nuggets into about the size of a quarter. About 50 to 60 fit on the cookie sheet. Remember; you do not want these treats to stay soft, you want to bake them thoroughly. Using a 350 degree oven I baked this size for about 30 minutes. Then; I made some of the treats about half this size for a very small 5 lb.
Pomeranian my grand-dog to be exact. She needed a much smaller bite so I rolled out a ball of dough patting flour on both sides and cut it into strips using a plastic knife. Then I cut the bites about the size of a communion biscuit This size I baked for only about 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven. After they cool down if you think they are still too soft, it is absolutely fine to bake them longer.
Enhancing the treats can be done, however; consult with your veterinarian first and foremost. Store a week supply in a tightly sealed container. Freeze the ones your pup won’t consume in a week. Simply yours, The Covered Dish.

Pumpkin Pup Treats
3 cups instant oatmeal
2 whole eggs
1 cup mashed pumpkin, or canned, with no
additional ingredients.
1 cup whole wheat flour
Mix together until well blended. Roll into dime size balls, drop into a Ziploc bag filled with whole wheat flour. Coat ball and flatten with a small shot glass on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper..
They are now the size of a quarter. Bake large treats for about 30 minutes, 350 degrees and smaller size treats for dogs under 10 lbs for about 20 minutes.
For the small dog treats cut the flattened dough into strips and cut into communion bread size treats. Of course you can do large bone shaped treats, but I find the smaller size more convenient for daily use.
Remember; when I prepared the treats they yielded about 165 pieces but that was with a double batch.