Carob Cookies for Dogs

Make these carob cookies for dogs, using carob powder, and give your homemade dog treats a chocolate-like taste, without the dangers of chocolate for dogs.

These cookies are fun to make, and, when they come out of the oven, most people (let alone dogs) will be hard pressed to tell the difference between these carob dog cookies and chocolate cookies!

The recipe that follows will serve as a basic recipe for dozens of delicious chocolate-like treats for your pet!

Mix up a batch of dough and choose the cookie cutter shapes that you want to use!

I like to vary my cookie cutters, depending on the time of year or the occasion.

Your dog will enjoy the cookies—whether you decide to decorate them with dog treat icing — or not!

Decorated Dog Cookies

These heart shaped dog treat cookies, made for Valentine’s Day, are frosted with a carob icing. They look like chocolate on chocolate. Yummy enough for you to eat!

But don’t limit your decorating to plain icing. You can add all kinds of decorative accents and details to your dog cookies to make them look cute.

Dog cookie cutter cookies take a little longer than drop cookies or press cookies, but they certainly are worth the effort!

Think of all the shapes you can make! And then, consider all the ways you can decorate each shape. The combinations are endless.

Ingredients for Carob Dog Cookies

• 1 cup water
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup carob powder (chocolate substitute)
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 cup unbleached flour
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
• 1 1/2 tsp. dry yeast

Directions

1. Place all ingredients in your bread machine—according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
2. Use the “dough” cycle
3. When the dough is finished, take it out of the machine and divide it into 3 equal portions.
4. Sprinkle flour onto a pastry board or a large cutting board.
5. Roll the dough into a sheet that is about ¼ inch thick. Sprinkle the rolling pin with flour to prevent sticking, if you are not using a non-stick rolling pin .
6. Cut the dough into shapes with cookie cutters, like the heart cookie cutter that I used.
7. Place the cookies on a greased cookie sheet or ungreased silicone baking mat.
8. Bake the cookies at 275 degrees F for 1 hour.
9. Turn off the oven and let the cookies dry overnight in the oven.
10. Decorate the cookies if you would like…

These cookies will keep for several months in a dog cookie jar and many more months if you store them in an airtight food storage container in the refrigerator or freezer.

Try looking for special shapes for each holiday of the year–and plan to include your pet when you make special desserts for the family!