Pumpkin Pie Doggie Treats

As a family, we refuse to give our dog table scraps. Although this is nice because she doesn't beg, it gives me an awful guilt complex. Every year on Thanksgiving we stuff our faces with food while my poor dog stares at us and licks her jowls. Every year, you see a little glimmer of hope in her eyes, and you know that it is her thinking that maybe, just maybe this one time she'll get to partake in some of the wondrous gluttony that is going on and alas, each year she is disappointed. 

Sure she gets treats every now and then, but they have to be few and far between (she has a bit of a weight problem and she's apparently grown sensitive to the allergens in the dog food) and plus, who wants the same ole' same ole'???


So this year I decided to look far and wide for EASY, healthy Thanksgiving treats for my Clover that I could make! I finally found a great recipe on squidoo.com!


Here are Clover's Pumpkin Pie Biscuits:
(Who knew pumpkin helps calm doggies' tummies too???)

You'll need:
1 1/2 cups of Whole Wheat Flour
2 cups of all-purpose flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of nutmeg
Mix of 1 cube of chicken bouillon and 1 cup water *(original recipe called for 1/2 cup broth instead)
3/4 cup of canned pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie mix)
1 tablespoon oil
1 tablespoon maple syrup or pancake syrup
1 egg
Non-Stick Foil


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
3. Blend the broth, pumpkin, oil, syrup and egg in a blender or food processor.

4. Add the blended mixture to the dry ingredients and mix together with a spoon.
5. Use your hand to mix well and form a dough. You'll have to REALLY work it!

6. Here is where I did my own thing to help with clean up. 

      (a) Put the dough onto saran wrap.

                                                   

    (b) Put another piece of wrap on top to prevent sticking to the rolling pin. Roll out to 1/2 inch thickness. You will actually roll on top of the saran wrap.

           

       (c) Pick up saran wrap and throw away with no left-over mess!

                  

       No extra flour to keep sprinkling on....AND look at how clean my rolling pin is!! :)

7. Use cookie cutters to cut out the biscuits and place on a baking sheet with non-stick foil.

OPTIONAL STEP  - At this point, I took a fork and poked four little center holes in the middle of each biscuit just for looks.

8. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes or until brown.

9. Store biscuits in the refrigerator in an air-tight container. 
I decided to give some of our other doggie friends the same treat, so I made these cute baggies for Clover to give them on Thursday. I put 4-5 biscuits in each Ziploc sandwich bag and added the topper! You can download the bag topper I made here. 


This recipe made around 25 biscuits. The wheat flour makes these a little chewy, Clover was the first to volunteer of course, and she loved them!