Maddie's Favorite Dog Treats

Yesterday was Maddie's 12th birthday. And we didn't get any cards or phone calls from you people. Thanks a lot.

John and I took her to the dog park to celebrate. We also celebrated by making her favorite - homemade dog treats. I realize it might disturb some of you that I make Maddie dog treats, but I'm okay with that. It's really easy to make these dog treats, and it makes both of us happy, so why not? She never gets to eat anything fresh out of the oven, so this is especially nice. Okay, I'm done defending myself. On to the recipe!

Here's what you need: 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 2 eggs, 3 tablespoons peanut butter, 2 teaspoons vanilla, 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup cornmeal, and 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats.

First, dump all your "wet" ingredients into a bowl. That includes the 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup vegetable oil, 2 eggs, 3 tablespoons of peanut butter, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. I forgot to vanilla at this point. Oops. I used a little bit less than 1/2 cup of the water and oil because the last time I made this recipe, it was a little wet. I used regular (sweetened) peanut butter this time, though last time I used the "natural" and sugar-free kind. I just didn't have any of the healthy junk on hand, so I figured 3 tablespoons of the sweetened stuff wouldn't be too bad for Maddie. And one last note, I used imitation vanilla for this. Sorry, Maddie!

Now whisk all your dry ingredients together. That's the 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup cornmeal, and 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats.

Dump the dry ingredients into the wet and mix together with a fork. This will seem really watery at first, but will come together soon enough.

When it's done, it will form a ball of dough.

Now dust some flour onto your counter top. This will make your life easier when rolling out the dough, but your cleanup won't be a whole lot of fun. Also you will want to flour your rolling pin and re-flour the work surface between each batch

Now get out your 7 cute dog-related cookie cutters. Three bones, a paw, a dog house, and two fire hydrants.

Now roll out your dough until it's about 1/4 of an inch thick. And start cutting with those cookie cutters!

These little bones are the best because Maddie can eat 'em in one bite. Plus I can give her more and feel less guilty.

Here's a whole big sheet of them. You don't have to cut treats all at once like this, I just find it easier.

Put 'em on an ungreased non-stick cookie sheet. You can put them really close together because they don't rise or spread. Now bake them at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes. Mine were in there for 17 minutes or so.

Here's a sheet of some of our bigger cookies. The paw really looks nothing like a paw. Bummer. I recommend cooking your little cookies on one sheet and bigger cookies on another so that things cook evenly.

Here they are out of the oven! I flipped over one on the right side so you can see the color they are on the pan side. Just a little bit browned. That's how Maddie likes 'em. I made two and a half sheets of the little cookies and one sheet of the big cookies.

Here's a plate of some of the first batch (browned side up). I admit they only kind of look like bones, but Maddie doesn't mind.

Here I am attempting to get a picture of Maddie eating her fifth treat. I had the treat in my fist and Maddie is trying to get at it. Oh well, close enough. After I started giving her all these treats she started following me around the kitchen, well, like a puppy dog. Now it's up to me to restrain myself from giving her all these treats in the next two days. We'll see how this goes.

Peanut Butter Dog Treats
1/2 cup water (slightly less than 1/2 cup)
1/2 cup vegetable or canola oil (slightly less than 1/2 cup)
2 eggs
3 tablespoon peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla (the cheap stuff is okay)
2 cups flour
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Whisk together wet ingredients in a large bowl: 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup oil, 2 eggs, 3 tablespoons peanut butter, and 2 teaspoons vanilla. Whisk together in a medium bowl the dry ingredients: 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup cornmeal, and 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats. Pour dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix together with a fork until a ball of dough is formed. Flour your surface and rolling pin and roll out your dough until 1/4 of an inch thick. Use dog-themed cookie cutters to cut out dog treats and place them on an ungreased nonstick pan. Bake in a 400 degree pan for 15-20 minutes, until golden brown on the bottom. Store the cookies in Tupperware until you go through them all. Ours have lasted at least a month in the past (they never went bad, we just used them up).