Does eat oats and mares eat oats and little lambs might eat ivy …. but my dog Victor and his buddy are eating homemade oat dog treats this week. I’ll be rolling some not so wild ones this week, trying out (and modifying where necessary) some oat-based dog treat recipes I’ve found online.

Plus, I’ll get to use some new winter motif cookie cutters and that might be the best part.

First up,  thanks to dogtreatkitchen.com, is the easiest  of course with only three main ingredients and a dose of peanut butter, Victor’s favourite because sometimes he’s a bit picky. He’s lab buddy, Sasha, however, hoovers pretty much anything so she’s no discerning critic.

Ingredients:

2 cups of whole wheat flour

1 cup of rolled oats

1/3 cup peanut butter (I used smooth Canadian Kraft with No xylitol)

1 cup of almost boiling hot water (the original recipe suggested 1¼ cup which I found too sticky)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix the dry ingredients together in one large bowl
3. Mix peanut butter and water together in another bowl creating a peanut butter ‘soup’
4. Slowly pour the wet mixture into the dry
5. Knead dough into a ball. I will likely be sticky (water and flour make glue after all)
6. Add flour if necessary and add flour to rolling surface
7. Roll dough to about ¼ inch thick and cut with cookie cutter shapes. I chose snowflakes to celebrate winter.
8. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, place cookies on sheet and bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool.

The results were crunchy, which is the intension. Therefore, they might be a bit dry for some dogs’ preference (like mine). So, for Victor I smeared a bit of extra peanut butter on the top once the treats were cooled to entice him to give them a try.

Sasha eats everything, though not always immediately. If she’s eating, though, so will Victor.

Next up: we put a twist on oats and apples.

Meanwhile, check out our adventures at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY because where else do they love oats this much?