A Few Things To Keep In Mind When Baking Dog Treats

Since yesterday, I've added 3 recipes to the 'Our Dog Treat Recipes' tab. In that time frame, I've received a few messages from people who want to try the recipes, but they've never made homemade dog treats. There are questions. Uncertainties. And, the big, "Well, what if....?"

I'm taking the opportunity to put y'all's mind at ease. The homemade dog treat recipes I've created in our kitchen, and sharing with you, are relatively easy to make.

A few things to keep in mind...

1. If you can bake a batch of human cookies, you can make homemade dog treats. Even if you've never made a batch of homemade human cookies, I'm confident you can make homemade dog treats. Exhale. You've got this.

2. There are 4 important things to remember. The dough shouldn't be too sticky or too dry. The thickness of the dough, once rolled or pressed, should be that of pie crust...or a hair thicker. Flour the counter before rolling and sprinkle a little flour on the dough as you're rolling. Finally, the biscuits will not be crunchy after baking and cooled. They have to sit for 24-48 hours. If you can remember those 4 things, and you've followed the recipe, you're good.

3. Do not substitute dehydrated for fresh. If you use fresh bananas, instead of dehydrated, in our Bodacious Banana Crunch Biscuits, or stewed cranberries, instead of dried cranberries, for Coco's Cranberry Crunch Biscuits, your biscuits will be soft even after allowing them to sit for 24-48 hours. Fresh produce contains moisture. That moisture will prevent your biscuit from becoming crunchy.

4. We use Skippy Natural Peanut Butter. Almost 3 years ago, when we came up with our original peanut butter dog treat recipe, we tried a half dozen brands of peanut butter. Skippy Natural Peanut Butter worked the best. However, you can use whatever brand you'd like. JUST make sure the peanut butter you're using DOES NOT contain Xyitol. Check the labels. Always.

5. Trial and error. We've nailed down the perfect baking time and temperature based on the oven we have. For us, it's 22 minutes at 350 degrees. The time may vary for you. The goal is to get a light, golden brown biscuit that will harden after sitting for 24-48 hours If you try to bake your biscuits so they're immediately crunchy after cooled, you'll end up overcooking them.

6. Exhale. Did I mention already that you've got this? You can do it.

7. If you don't have cookie cutters, no problem. It may take a bit longer, but you can hand press into any shape you want. Just make sure they're not too thick and are uniform in size and thickness before baking.

8. Keep trying. Maybe you rolled the dough too thick. Maybe your bake time is different than ours. Regardless, unless the biscuits are burnt, don't throw them away.

You've. Got. This.