Dog Treats [Apple, Peanut Butter, Oat)

I want to start by saying if I could come back as anything I would want to come back to life as my sweet five year old puppy Sophie Chunk.  She has 14K fans on Facebook and is a mini-celebrity; yes she has been recognized in multiple places by strangers (and even voted one of the cutest french bulldogs in NYC).

This past weekend my husband and I took our Spoiled Monster (as we lovingly refer to Sophie) apple picking in the Hudson Valley (I should say we went apple picking and brought Sophie with us).  We had an awesome time roaming the grounds and picking apples.  I LOVE sweet escapes from the concrete jungle and this little trip was the best medicine from the stress of work, life and marathon training.

In preparation for our apple adventure I started a Pinterest board called Apples (I needed inspiration for all the delicious things I was going to bake with all these apples).  I had also been thinking about making dog treats for the longest time and finally decided to embark with the apples we picked as a family.  I did some research on dog nutrition and decided that my ingredients were going to be simple; oats, peanut butter and fresh picked apples.  I found a few recipes online that I used to create this master piece.

And for my mini-celebrity-diva-french bulldog, I would give her nothing less than homemade peanut butter, fresh picked apple, freshly ground oat flour dog treats (I guess I am officially a crazy dog person...as if I was not before).

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups oats (plus up to 1/2 cups of oats for rolling the dough out in)
• 2 tbsp peanut butter  
• 3 - 4 tbsp apple sauce (I used homemade apple sauce from our fresh picked apples)

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 300 degrees (F) 
2. In a food processor blend oats until they are a course flour consistency 
3. Add peanut butter and 3 tbsp of apple sauce to food processor 
4. If your dough is not fully together in a ball add the additional tbsp of apple sauce until dough is of a soft together consistency 
5. Take two pieces of parchment paper and place a sprinkling of oats on one side.  
6. Place dough on the oats on the parchment paper 
7. Place another sprinkling of oats on top of the dough and place the second piece of parchment paper on top
8. Roll dough out between parchment paper to aprox 1/2 inch thick 
9. With a dog bone shaped cookie cutter cut out bones and place on baking sheet (recommendation is to bake on parchment paper).  If you don't have a dog bone cookie cutter you can just cut the treats into squares (or whatever shape you want).     
10. Bake for 30 - 50 minutes (depending on the thickness of your bones).  After 30 minutes check your treats and if they are still soft set oven timer for another 10 minutes.  Once they are hard they are done! (Beware, they will smell amazing and will make you hungry as they bake in your oven)
11. Let cool and let your favorite puppy enjoy!    

**Please note that only you know what nutrition is right for your puppy.  Some dogs can be allergic to various foods and I can not be held responsible for knowing this for every dog (Sophie Chunk is not allergic to any of the above ingredients).  If you are at all concerned about what to serve your dog please consult your vet***