by Kelsey Warren-Bryant
Baking Christmas cookies is a tradition that many of us look forward to for the holidays. Consider including your pet in the fun as you plan your holiday baking this year! Whether your family members have two legs or four, who doesn’t love festive seasonal treats?
For some inspiration, check out these holiday cookie recipes for dogs and cats.
Oat-Cranberry Smash Cookies for Dogs
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups whole-wheat flour
½ cup old-fashioned oats
Âľ cup fresh cranberries, chopped
1 egg, beaten
½ cup honey
1 3-oz. pouch or cup of plain applesauce
1 tbs. olive oil
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Use parchment paper to line your baking sheet.
If starting with whole cranberries, chop them up on a cutting board until they are about the size of chocolate chips.
Using a large bowl, mix the flour and oats together.
Add cranberries, beaten egg, honey, applesauce, and olive oil. Mix well. You will end up with a crumbly dough.
Scoop up the dough by hand and fashion into a ball about the width of a tablespoon. If making the treats for a smaller dog, you can use a teaspoon as your baseline instead. Repeat with the remaining dough until your pan is full, with the cookies about two to three inches apart.
Using a fork or spoon, smash down your cookies. I used a fork and made a crisscross pattern.
Bake for about 12 to 15 minutes until the edges are golden in color.
Allow to cool before serving. Store in an airtight container.
Tuna Christmas Tree Cookies for Cats and Dogs
Ingredients:
â…” cup whole-wheat flour
ÂĽ cup no-salt-added green beans
1 can no-salt-added tuna with water
1 egg
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Sprinkle your baking pan with a little bit of the flour.
Blend the entire can of tuna plus the water, green beans, and egg in a blender or food processor until puréed.
Pour the purée into a mixing bowl and add flour. Mix well.
Scoop about a tablespoon full of dough and roll into the flour on your pan until the outside is no longer sticky.
Repeat with the remaining dough, making sure to leave a small amount of dough in the mixing bowl for the bottoms of the trees.
Gently shape each ball of dough into a triangle. Using a fork, press down on both sides of each triangle until it resembles branches on a Christmas tree.
Using the remaining dough, shape the tree trunks by taking about a dime size of dough per cookie and rolling each into a cylinder. Attach to the bottom of each tree.
Bake for about 12 to 14 minutes until golden and puffy.
Allow to cool before serving. Store leftovers in the fridge in an airtight container.
NOTE: Tuna should not be given to your cat in large quantities because it contains high levels of mercury and can cause gastrointestinal upset in some cats. I recommend offering these cookies to your cat as an occasional treat a couple times a week rather than as a daily indulgence.
Pumpkin–Peanut Butter Holiday Cookies for Dogs
Ingredients:
2 ½ cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup milk
â…” cup 100 percent pure pumpkin
â…“ cup peanut butter
(without xylitol)
1 tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a medium-sized bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and cinnamon together.
In a separate large bowl, mix the milk, pumpkin, and peanut butter until smooth.
Dump the flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture. Mix well until you have moldable dough. If the dough is too wet to mold, add small amounts of flour until you have a pliable texture.
Roll the dough out with a floured rolling pin. If you do not have a rolling pin, you can scoop up individual pieces of dough and press them flat by hand or with a spoon.
Cut the dough into festive shapes using cookie cutters. I chose a gingerbread-man shape for mine.
Bake for 13 to 15 minutes for a treat that is slightly browned on the outside and soft on the inside. If you prefer a crunchier treat for your dog, add a few minutes to the baking time.
Allow to cool before serving. Store in an airtight container for as long as seven days at room temperature.
