Pumpkin-Banana Dog Treats

So, I kind of need a hug this week. Or several. Or possibly massive amounts of alcohol. Or, you know, all of the above.

Because my littlest little man started kindergarten. 

And my biggest little man started middle school.

I know, right?!? I was a hot effin’ mess on Tuesday, let me tell you. There were ridiculous amounts of tears {all on my part, mind you — Mason climbed on that bus and pretty much never looked back}, including some while I was trying to place my order when Dave took me out to breakfast. I have problems. 

But he had a fabulous day {they all did, actually}, and now that all 3 boys are in school full-time, I am going to have tons of time to focus on this blog. 

At least that’s what I’m trying to focus on. Not the fact that the house is entirely too quiet during the day. 

You know who else is missing the chaos up in here? This guy. 

Poor Fletcher is definitely feeling a little mopey now that his boys are gone all day. And he gets so darned excited when they get off the bus, it’s pretty much the cutest thing ever. 

So for National Dog Day last Friday, we decided to make some pumpkin-banana dog treats to celebrate the fact that as much of a giant pain in the neck he can be sometimes, he really is becoming a good dog. 

We’ve gotten to the point now where he can play nicely with our neighbor’s dog, which is something I pretty much never ever thought would happen. 

This is pretty much his favorite place in the world, and where he spends several hours every day.

He’s absolutely amazing with the boys, especially Mason. It’s funny to think back to when we first got Fletcher and Mason was completely, utterly terrified of him. I mean, to the point where, the morning after we picked him up, Fletcher {who weighed 16 pounds at the time, mind you} ran down the hall toward him, and Mason started screaming like such a lunatic that he actually made himself throw up. Yeah, it was fun.

So we certainly never thought we’d see things like this now that he’s pushing 90 pounds and is about double Mason’s weight.

But they are best buddies.

Yeah, Fletcher’s a keeper.

So like I said, we decided to make him some treats. We’ve made homemade dog biscuits before, but it had been a while, and now I have this cookie cutter, so clearly, we were due. {I’m also somewhat obsessed with this set and this set too. Damn you, Amazon Prime for making me want to buy stuff all the time…}

The fun thing about dog treats is you can sort of just throw whatever you have lying around in there {provided it’s not dangerous to pets, obviously}. I found a can of pumpkin in the cupboard, so I was originally just planning on doing that, but then I saw that we had a banana that was getting a little close to its end, so I tossed that bad boy in there too.

I also love how easy they are to make. You just mix everything together {the dough is pretty thick, so your best bet is to use your hands to knead everything together}, roll them out, cut them out and bake them. If you don’t want to use a cookie cutter, you can just use a knife or a pizza cutter to cut them into squares. 

Fletcher is a big fan.

Pumpkin-Banana Dog Treats

Jennifer Young

Easy pumpkin and banana treats that your dog will love!

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 mins

Cook Time 40 mins

Total Time 50 mins

Ingredients

  

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 c pumpkin
• 1/2 ripe banana
• 2 T powdered milk
• 2 T chicken base or chicken bouillon
• 2 1/2 - 3 c flour

Instructions

 

• 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• 2. Mix eggs, pumpkin and banana together until combined. Knead in powdered milk, chicken base and 2 1/2 cups flour until thoroughly combined. Add additional flour if dough is too sticky.
• 3. Roll out dough 1/4" thick and cut with cookie cutters, knife or pizza cutter. Prick each treat with a fork {see Notes}. Place on parchment lined baking sheet and bake 15-20 minutes. Flip treats over and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and very hard. Cool completely.

Notes

Pricking the treats with a fork isn't completely necessary, but if you don't do it, treats will end up puffing up a bit.

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