Fall Treats for Tigger
A Homemade Pumpkin Spice Dog-Friendly Snack
It’s Fall (well, in the Northern Hemisphere) which means…PUMPKIN SEASON!! This dog-friendly recipe was sent to me by a client who has a dog named Tigger, so the name of this should actually be “Fall Treats FROM Tigger!” but hopefully your dog is forgiving with the details.
We don’t want your pup to feel left out of the feasts that come with fall. In the United States, our tradition is to stuff our bellies full on the third Thursday of the month for Thanksgiving and then say we are grateful for lots of stuff. Yes, there’s more history to that, but I don’t want to start the controversial discussion so let’s focus on our Tasty Fall Treats
This features nutritious pumpkin puree and a blend of spices that will also smell amazing as you cook them.
CAUTION: Nutmeg is a standard ingredient in commercial pumpkin pie spice and it’s NOT GOOD FOR DOGS! So, please follow the recipe with the other spices rather than trying to shortcut and use a pre-mixed pumpkin pie spice blend. This recipe replaces nutmeg with turmeric - which also adds some great color to the treats.
A Tasty Dog Friendly Treat for Fall
One more warning - do NOT USE NUTMEG or any spice blend that contains nutmeg. It’s generally not good for dogs so let’s be extra careful!
NOTE: I’ve included two versions - the first is the full version from Tigger and his mom and it’s super healthy and great for your dog’s digestion! I’m a lazy baker, so I included my simplified version below. Sorry Tigger!
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 50 minutes
Ingredients (full version - lazy version is below)*
1 1/3 cup oat flour
1 cup tapioca flour
2/3 cup coconut flour
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp turmeric
1/2 tsp ginger
pinch of allspice
pinch of clove
1 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp coconut oil
1 egg
1 cup pumpkin puree (pumpkin should be the ONLY ingredient)
2 tsp molasses
Fun Cookie Cutters!**
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350º (move your oven racks so you can bake multiple sheets at once)
Mix all dry ingredients in a bowl and stir lightly to combine (you can use a stand mixer, if you’re fancy!)
Add wet ingredients, and mix until the dough comes together
Roll dough on a floured board, adding additional oat flour until dough is no longer sticky
Cut dough into whatever shapes you fancy, placing onto parchment-lined cookie sheets.
Bake for 30 minutes, then turn off the oven but leave the cookies inside to cool for extra crunch.
If it looks like this…
You’ve done something drastically wrong and should probably head to the store to simply by treats (and maybe buy some dinner for yourself while you’re there!)
Here is my lazy version stolen from somewhere on the internet a few years ago…
Ingredients
½ can 100% pumpkin puree (pumpkin should be the ONLY ingredient)
½ tsp cinnamon
½ tbsp freshly grated ginger
1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
1½ cups Oat flour, plus a little extra to work with when you roll out the dough
Instructions
Pre-heat oven to 350 °F
Combine the pumpkin, molasses, cinnamon, and ginger until thoroughly mixed.
Slowly add in oat flour and mix with a spoon or your hands to form a dough. Once dough is formed, let it rest for about 10 minutes to come together. Sprinkle more oat flour on the dough if there are super sticky spots.
Roll out the dough on a floured surface until its ⅛–¼ inch thick. NOTE: the thinner you can roll the dough, the crunchier the cookies will be.
Use a cookie cutter to cut out cookies**
Bake treats on a baking sheet for 20-25 minutes, then turn your oven off and let them sit IN THE OVEN for another 45 minutes to an hour to dry out. You can also let them sit overnight - but don’t let your dog counter surf and eat them all!
**I encourage you to buy local, but just in case you don’t have a local cookie cutter store, here are some cute cutters! (and no, I don’t get commission!) - 4.5 inch Large Turkey Cookie Cutter - Stainless Steel, 5pcs Dog Bone Cookie Cutters Set, Stainless Steel
If you make these - PLEASE send me pictures or tag #CasaLunaCanines or @CasaLunaCanines on FB or Insta!
