Bodacious Soft Baked Peanut Butter Dog Treats Recipe

Each week, I create and bake a new, homemade dog treat recipe. The inspiration behind most of the recipes I create come from requests I receive via email or private messages. Sometimes, the inspiration is based on the seasonal fruit we have on hand, a great sale on produce, or my urge to experiment with ingredients I've never used in a homemade dog treat. This week, my inspiration had nothing to do with ingredients or sales or emails. It had everything to do with a sweet pup who recently had oral surgery.

We've known this pup's Mom and Dad for quite a while. Lisa has known them for much longer. They're incredible people with big hearts and their life revolves around their fur-kids. They've also been a part of our Bodacious Community since day one and have supported our mission. We absolutely love and adore them.

Their pup loves our original Bodacious Biscuit Love Peanut Butter Dog Treats. During her oral surgery, this sweet pup had quite a few teeth extracted. Sadly, after recovering, it became obvious that our peanut butter dog treats were too difficult for her to chew. From that point on, she was only able to eat soft dog treats.

When Lisa informed me of this, I knew I had to do something. I was faced with a single question. How could I transform our Bodacious Biscuit Love Peanut Butter Dog Treats into a soft baked treat without altering the recipe too much?

Our original recipe, without the drying time, was still too hard. I needed to alter the recipe so the finished product was similar to a soft baked sugar cookie.

I put on my apron. Grabbed some ingredients. Measured. Mixed. Rolled. Baked.

By mid afternoon, I nailed it.

In a mixer or bowl you'll want to mix the following...

1 cup peanut butter (we use Skippy Natural)
2 eggs
2 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup warm water

If your dough is too dry, add a little more water. If it's too sticky, sprinkle in a bit more flour.

Flour your counter and the top of the dough before rolling. I rolled the dough a little thicker than 1/4 of an inch.

Place your shape-of-choice biscuits on a non-stick cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 21 minutes. This time will vary depending on your oven.

I was extremely impressed with the final product. Golden brown. Soft. No shortage of peanut butter. They rose to perfection. I didn't have to sacrifice the flavor to achieve soft-baked-status.

These Bodacious Soft Baked Peanut Butter Dog Treats were a HUGE hit with the sweet pup who was our inspiration.

She gobbled 'em up with gusto and ease. And, she was so happy to be able to enjoy her favorite peanut butter dog treats again.

Later that night, I received the most heartfelt thank you message from her Mom and Dad.

That made my day for so many reasons.

I've lost count how many times people have told me that I could open a bakery or cafe or a dog biscuit bakery.

I have 30+ years of baking experience and a slightly-over-a-decade experience with marketing, social media, content management, etc.

I'm confident that I could be successful in whatever avenue I chose.

However.

That would involve a lot of time away.

Away from home. Away from our kids. Away from our family. Away from Lisa.

Being a work at home Dog Mom is one of the reasons why our family has been able to get bigger over the years.

Lisa's job and her motivation to go to work everyday and work hard is the other reason.

None of our kids are able to be home alone for more than a few hours.

Working outside of the home, for me, is not an option.

I am honored and flattered that people love my baked goods and homemade dog treats enough to say I could open a successful cafe or bakery or dog biscuit bakery.

But, it's not going to happen. By choice.

I'm totally okay with that.

I don't need a successful bakery or cafe or dog biscuit bakery to radiate my experience, success, or how many years I've been baking.

It's moments like this, those heartfelt thank you messages and emails, the photos, and the gratitude extended from Dog Moms and Dog Dads that make my day.

It motivates me.

When I can take my baking experience and use it towards altering a recipe to create a soft baked treat so a pup can enjoy her favorite treats again, that's good enough for me.

If I can alter more recipes to accommodate food allergies, health issues, and food sensitivities, that's good enough for me.

I'm on the right path.

We're on the right path.

No regrets.

As always, it's face forward, onward march.