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If you happen to be a fan of the big, goofy galoots over at My Brown Newfies, like I am, then you’ll know it’s been a hard week for one of our favourite rock eatin’, person pantsin’ slobber machines.
Leroy has been sick. Scary sick. Our buddy is suffering from a mystery ailment that caused his liver to go wonky, fluid to build up all over his body and his tummy to go catawampus. It was bad. Leroy spent several days at the ER vet, afraid of the worst and hoping for the best.
Everyone knows that with big dogs come big vet bills and I’m pretty sure ER care for a newfie costs about a squillion dollars a minute. Staring down the barrel of an growing vet bill for a mystery diagnosis with an unknown treatment is scary and somehow Jen did it with grace. I’m always so proud to be a part of this community of amazing dog lovers and it’s my honour to come here and hang out with you guys every day, but man! Y’all really outdid yourselves this week. In just a five days, with your help, we were able to help relieve Jen and her family of the financial burden of the vet bill and let them focus their energy when it was needed most: on Leroy.
Leroy’s Fund on GoFundMe was an amazing success all thanks to you.
That sweet boy is out of ER and they’re waiting on test results to determine how to help him get better and stay better. So while today’s grain free dog treat recipe was meant to be a way to share the fundraising link and ask for your help, instead it’s something so much better: It’s a celebration. Celebrating this amazing community, celebrating a Dog Mom who we all love and respect and celebrating the irrepressible Leroy.
My Brown Newfies Peanut Butter & Carob Dog Treat Recipe
(inspired by the super cute human treats at NickWillJack.com)
My Brown Newfie Peanut Butter & Carob Dog Treat Recipe
Materials
- Peanut Butter & Carob Dough:
- 1 egg
- 1/4 c. all natural peanut butter
- 1/2 of a medium, over ripe banana, mashed
- 1 tbsp. natural honey
- 1 tbsp. melted coconut oil
- 1 c. fine ground Buckwheat flour
- 1/4 c. carob powder
- 1/4 tsp. gluten free baking powder
- Peanut Butter Dough:
- 1 egg
- 1/4 c. all natural peanut butter
- 1/2 of a medium, over ripe banana, mashed
- 1 tbsp. natural honey
- 1 tbsp. melted coconut oil
- 1 1/4 cup fine ground Buckwheat flour
- 1/4 tsp. gluten free baking powder
- K9 Cakery Yogurt Royal Icing (mixed with Carob or black colouring)
- egg white for egg wash
Instructions
Carob Dough:
In a medium bowl, whisk the egg until frothy. Whisk in the peanut butter, mashed banana, melted coconut oil and honey. Sift in buckwheat flour, carob and baking powder, stirring until combined. Set dough aside.
Peanut Butter Dough:
In a medium bowl, whisk the egg until frothy. Whisk in the peanut butter, mashed banana, melted coconut oil and honey. Sift in buckwheat flour and baking powder, stirring until combined. Set dough aside.
Preheat oven to 300F.
Roll out the carob dough to a 1/4" thickness and cut into heart shapes. (If the dough gets a bit stiff, scoop some peanut butter or coconut oil onto your hands and knead it in.)
Roll out peanut butter dough to a 1/4" thickness and cut into heart shapes. Use a butter knife to cut each heart in half, right down the middle.
Arrange the cookie pieces into a dog shape, as below. Brush them with egg wash, then press them together, ensuring the pieces stick together.
Lay out cookies on your silicone/silpat or parchment lined baking sheet. DON'T SKIP THE LINER. You'll regret it when your cookies are clinging to the pan like black dog hair on white pants. There isn't enough fat in these to keep them from sticking.
Use a toothpick or a dough docker to perforate the dough and prevent it from puffing up during baking.
Bake for 13 - 17 minutes. If a crunchy cookie is desired, turn the oven down to the lowest setting and leave cookies for several hours to dry.
Remove cookies from the oven and allow to cool completely.
Mix K9 Cakery Yogurt Royal Icing to a thick, piping consistency. You can absolutely pipe these details in natural white, but I decided to add a little black natural food colouring because it looked cute. Pipe eyes, nose and "whisker freckles" on each sweet newfie cookie face.
Mary
Wednesday 10th of February 2021
I am having troubles keeping the ears connected to the head, even with the egg wash. Any other ideas?
Jodi & Kolchak
Sunday 14th of February 2021
I have a few ideas:
1. Use a larger size egg. Upgrade to an XL egg or add a little splash of boxed egg white to make the dough a little "stickier" 2. Have you ever worked with ceramics? They do this cool thing called "slip" which is where they mix a thinner version and use it like a glue to hold pieces together. Take a small piece of dough and mix it with egg until it's slimy. Use it like glue.
Sorry you're struggling! This one is on my list to rebake and refine to see if I can come up with better solutions.
10 Healthy Homemade Dog Cookies • The Everyday Dog Mom
Tuesday 5th of November 2019
[…] Peanut Butter & Carob Cookies from My Brown Newfies […]
Faith
Sunday 31st of March 2019
Can you substitute coconut flour or ground flax seed for buckwheat flour? And how much?
Felix
Sunday 31st of March 2019
Unfortunately, grain free flours are a finicky substitution. Is is totally *possible*, but there is not formula to calculate how much. It would just have to be trial and error. Sorry I wasn't more help! I can totally add a grain free version of this treat to my "to do" list!
10 Healthy Homemade Dog Cookies - The Everyday Dog Mom
Tuesday 12th of June 2018
[…] Peanut Butter & Carob Cookies from My Brown Newfies […]
Tricia
Thursday 18th of January 2018
I have been wanting to use baking powder and or baking soda in my dog treats but a few friends told me it wasn't good for dogs? Whats your take on it?
Felix
Friday 19th of January 2018
This is such a great question! To understand why baking soda is dangerous for dogs, let's talk a little food science.
When a dog consumes pure baking soda, it combines with the natural hydrochloric acid in your dog's stomach to create a chemical reaction. That reaction creates carbon dioxide and other gases. These gases can react with the minerals in your pet's body and wreak havoc - especially if they consumed a lot of baking soda - causing low potassium or calcium, high sodium, muscle spasms or heart failure. It's scary stuff. I'm always VERY CAREFUL to ensure baking soda is put away and my dogs can't get into it.
Now, that said, it's a little different when you use it in baking. When you use baking soda in a recipe and then bake it, you have already created the chemical reaction before your dog ever eats it. (That chemical reaction is what makes cakes light and fluffy as the air for the reaction rises through the cooking batter.) In baking you're also working with much smaller amounts.
If your dog gets into baking soda, they may eat a whole mouthful. In baked goods, it's often a tsp split across dozens of treats. Since treats should be less than 10% of your dog's diet, I wouldn't be too concerned about the baking soda in them. A cookie here and there shouldn't be a problem at all. That said when in doubt, talk to your vet! They will always be able to tell you if your pet has any specific health concerns that would make using small amounts of baking soda in treat recipes and issue.