Treats – AMCARMEN'S KITCHEN

Hello Everyone! Wow I’m definitely on a roll here with the recipes – posting 3 back-to-back for this week! Well, the only reason for that is just because two very special days just happened to sandwich my normal Wednesday post schedule. So yes, today is indeed another special day and having read the title of this recipe, you already know who’s special day it is. Of course it is none other than my not so baby boy anymore, Blacky! Happy 6th Birthday to my Mutt Blacky, or as my friends have nicknamed him, Mr. Black and Cinnabon (because of his cinnamon scroll-like tail).

Last year a made him a batch of bacon doggie treats, and since the theme of my blog for this month is vegan, I decided to make him a healthy treat this time ’round. Okay, okay. I know. This isn’t vegan treat, but I realised a little bit too late when I was photographing the ingredients for this recipe. I guess I could’ve easily omitted the eggs from the recipe – but would that have somehow ruined the recipe altogether? Or is there a substitute for the eggs that I could’ve used instead? Any vegans out there please let me know in the comments section below. Thank you 🙂

That aside, I know Blacky hates his vegetables. Whenever we feed him some soup with meat, veggies, and rice, he is able to pick out anything green that he sees in his bowl. I thought that maybe by hiding some greens into a doggie treat, he wouldn’t notice and eat them. I guess I was wrong…ish. He still ate the treat, but it looked like he was being very picky in the beginning by just playing around with them, but not actually eating them. Then after a few hours, he’d eat half of the biscuit. Then by the end of the day, once I’m home from work, he’d show off and eat the rest of them and made sure that I saw him eating it. What a clever and devilish dog he is haha!

Once again, Happy Birthday Blacky! Original recipe can be found over on Damn Delicious.

PREP TIME 5-8 MINS | COOKING TIME min. 40 MINS | SERVES 75 BISCUITS

INGREDIENTS

225g pumpkin, steamed and then puréed*
3 cups wholewheat flour, or more as needed
1 cup baby spinach, chopped
1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1/4 cup peanut butter
2 large free range eggs
1 carrot, peeled and shredded
1 zucchini, shredded

*225g of pumpkin should be able to make 1 cup of cooled pumpkin purée which is needed for this recipe

METHOD

Preheat oven to 180C (350F or gas mark 4). Line a baking tray with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat and then set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cooled pumpkin purée, peanut butter, and eggs on medium-high until well combined, about 1-2 minutes.
Gradually add the old fashioned oats and 2 1/2 cups flour at low speed, beating just until incorporated. Add an additional 1/4 cup flour at a time just until the dough is no longer sticky. Then, add in the carrot, zucchini, and spinach, beating just until incorporated.
Working on a lightly floured surface, knead the dough 3-4 times until it comes together. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough to 1/4-inch thickness. Using cookie cutters, cut out desired shapes and place onto the prepared baking sheet.
Place into oven and bake until the edges are golden brown, about 20-25 minutes.**
Let cool completely. Makes about 75 biscuits.***

**Baking time will vary depending on the size and thickness of the treats.
***Serving size will also vary depending on the desired shapes and cookie cutters used.

So just like last year, I decided to try the biscuits for myself. Of course, they tasted really bland to me because I didn’t add any sugar or anything to sweeten it up a bit. I gave some to my Mom and sister to try, and my Mom actually liked them. Because I ended up making around 75 biscuits, I asked my Mom if I could give them to a colleague of mine who also has a dog. To which my Mom replied, “No, I will eat them” *crying laughing face emoji* Well, at least I know someone in the house will finish them if Blacky can’t! Hahaha!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx

Hello Everyone! Hope you had a lovely weekend; I sure did! As hectic as it was, it was pretty great as I got to celebrate my Sister’s 21st Birthday on Sunday with my Mom and close family friends. For those who have been following my blog for a while now will surely say that today’s recipe is a bit odd in a way that it’s not something they’d think I would whip up in the kitchen I guess.

Alas, it’s because today is an important day in the household – it’s Blacky’s 5th non-Birthday! For those of you who don’t know, Blacky is my beloved and well-behaved Mutt. He’s such a character, and a very smart dog I might add! We got him 5 years ago back in 2010 on this day when he was about 2-3 weeks old together with his brother, Browny (yes, we weren’t very creative with names). Unfortunately his brother passed away about 2 years ago because he was poisoned by our neighbours.

Anyway, I realised that for the past 4 years, I’ve never been around to treat my doggie something special for his non-Birthday as usually around this time I’m in my second term of uni in Australia. Now that I get to spend a birthday with him, I thought I’d do something nice for him today and bake him a batch of yummy homemade doggie treats! The original recipe can be found on The Kitchn.

A little note for Vidhya (and for anyone else who skips the recipe part when reading my blog): please scroll down and continue reading, there’s a little story for you at the end as well!

PREP TIME 15 MINS | COOKING TIME 20 MINS | MAKES 15 TREATS

INGREDIENTS

1 cup plain wholemeal flour
1/4 cup cold water
1/4 cup melted bacon fat (or unsalted butter)
1/4 cup rolled oats
1 small free range egg
Fried bacon bits

METHOD

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F or gas mark 4). Line a baking tray with parchment paper and set aside.
Combine all ingredients in a medium-sized bowl and mix by hand until a dough starts to form. If the dough is still feeling a little bit sticky, add more flour. Likewise, if the dough is too stiff, add more bacon fat, butter, or water.
Roll the dough out onto a floured surface, to a thickness of just under 1/2-inch. This is where you can get creative with your treats; you can cut them into 1×4-inch bars or use various cookie cutters to shape them. I wanted to make the treats bone-shaped but since I didn’t have a cutter, I shaped them each by hand – it took a while but I got there in the end.
Transfer the treats to your prepared baking tray. Bake for approximately 20 minutes or until lightly browned. Once down, turn the heat off, flip the treats, and place back in the oven until the oven cools down (this will further crisp your treats). Remove from the oven and set the treats aside to completely cool.
Treat your beloved doggie with these lovely homemade treats!

These doggie treats can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature. With this recipe, I was able to make about 15 doggie treats, and about 5 small discs with the scraps of dough. I tried one of this discs myself and it was neither good nor bad, it just had no taste whatsoever for me personally. At this point, I was a bit scared that I spent all this time making these treats for Blacky just for him to ignore them and not eat them because of their tasteless state. So when I baked them yesterday afternoon, I tried to feed him two of the small discs. He was outside lying down, being lazy. I was able to put one in his mouth, but instead of chewing on it, he dropped it on the floor. I picked it up and tried to feed it to him again, but he did the same thing. I then put the two little discs on his two front paws and went back inside the house.

Five minutes later, I peaked through the window; he hadn’t moved and the treats were still on his paws. I went back outside and tried to feed it to him again and this time he chewed on them, and it was a sort of oh-my-gosh-this-is-actually-so-yum kind of chew. When he was done with the first treat, he looked for the other treat that I had in my other hand. I fed it to him and he was still looking for more after he was done! So really, I knew before hand that he definitely liked his non-Birthday present 🙂

the rain was coming down really heavily and there was a bit of thunder and lightning which was why Blacky looked scared in the photo on the right – my poor baby. He did appreciate his treats though! He’s had 6 of them today alone!

Also before I sign off from tonight’s post, I am aware that it is indeed week 4 and the last week of Auguest for this year; do not fret! Tune in tomorrow and on Friday for my final guest blogger!

BON APPÉTIT

– Ally xx