Welcome to a new feature on Dogster: Treat of the Month! Claire Lower will whip up a different batch of tasty treats each month and run them by her professional taste testers, Kira and Angie.
This month’s recipie: Kira and Angie’s Thanksgiving Feast Treats!
I love giving my dogs treats almost as much as they love eating them. (Almost.) I’ll buy all sorts of fancy treats shaped like cookies or candies and convince myself that they’ll be really impressed. The truth is, they don’t give a damn about the shape or “theme” of the treat; all they care about is taste.
But I’m a slave to marketing. And the holidays can be a particularly tempting time to buy all sorts of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and Hanukkah treats and toys. I even almost bought Angie a bed shaped like a jack-o’-lantern, so she could sleep in spooky style. I mean, why shouldn’t your pet have a different bed for every season? You do! Oh wait, no you don’t. No one has a different bed for every season because that would be insane.
Plus, say I did buy that Halloween-inspired bed, how would that look now? I could force a whole Nightmare Before Christmas theme, but Angie’s more of a Coraline kind of dog. Thankfully, making themed dog treats is a good outlet for my theme obsession. Treats get eaten and therefore don’t just gather dust until they are appropriate again.
Since Thanksgiving is such a food-centric holiday, I always feel bad that my furry friends can’t partake. These canine-friendly cookies combine turkey, sweet potato, and cranberry for a treat that lets your dog enjoy Thanksgiving flavors right alongside you.
As with all treats, these are not meant to be given as a meal.
Kira and Angie’s Thanksgiving Feast Treats
This recipe makes approximately two dozen treats.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 pound extra lean ground turkey
- 1 large sweet potato; baked, peeled, and mashed
- 2 cups of whole wheat flour
- Dried cranberries for garnish
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 350 F and lightly grease a baking sheet.
- Place all ingredients except cranberries in a large bowl and mix with a spoon or your hands until combined.
- Roll dough into golf ball-sized mounds, smoosh between your hands to form cookies, and press a dried cranberry into the center of each one.
- Bake at 350 F for 20 minutes, then let cool and prepare for your pup to become completely obsessed.
Kira and Angie’s reviews
As soon as the treats were in the oven, both canines started sniffing the air, searching for the source of the enchanting aroma. Once the cookies were out and cooling, Kira and Angie stared me down, making me feel super guilty about not dispensing them right away.
Given that the remainder of their day was spent snooping around the kitchen looking for the rest of the stash, I think it’s safe to say that they’re fans. But don’t take my word for it! Let’s hear from Kira and Angie, in their own words.
Angie: I’ve always been pretty disappointed by Thanksgiving. Usually, it’s a day of tortuously good smells with no follow through. I’m told this is mostly because Claire doesn’t want me to get “pancreatitis,” but I’m pretty sure she made that word up. Thankfully, these treats are packed full of Thanksgiving flavor! Turkey! Sweet potato! Cranberry! What’s not to like?
Kira: Look, I’m 13. I’ve tasted a fair amount of treats in my time, and I’m not easily impressed. But these things are transcendent. Chase ’em down with a long, cool drink from the toilet … there’s nothing better.
Owner’s note: Kira is heavily discouraged from drinking from the toilet, but sometimes she’s very sneaky.
Well, there you have it, folks. For a simple, easy, and delicious Thanksgiving-themed dog treat, try Kira and Angie’s Thanksgiving Feast Treats.
Your pup will be truly thankful.
Read more about spending Thanksgiving with dogs:
