My first attempt at making homemade treats for Oscar was a disaster!
Let me explain:
Our friends at According to Gus suggested a mouth-watering pumpkin dog cookie recipe by Get Lick’d in response to my search for wholesome doggie treats. One glance at the ingredients list and instructions reassured me that it would be a simple undertaking, but I was worried about the peanut butter sabotaging Oscar’s diet. So I took to the Internet in the hope of finding a yummy, low-fat cookie recipe Oscar can enjoy without worrying about his figure (gotta impress the ladies, you know).
A quick Google search lead me to Dog Treat Kitchen‘s Sweet Carrot, Banana and Applesauce Biscuits recipe. Fueled by the knowledge that Oscar eats almost anything, I decided to give it a whirl and copied the recipe down on a sheet of paper. Big mistake.
Everything went flawlessly until I started kneading the dough. Its consistency was just… off. The dough was too moist and I couldn’t even roll out the mixture without it sticking to everything. I tried to improvise, adding more flour to soak up the moisture and dropping rounded spoonfuls onto a baking sheet instead of neatly cut cookies.
I double-checked my notes as the cookies were baking—I didn’t deviate from directions (minus the extra flour), so I was puzzled as to what went wrong. I checked the recipe online and found my mistake: Instead of the 1/8 cup of additional water for kneading, I wrote 1 cup. No wonder!
In the end, the cookies were waterlogged, mushy and way too appalling to document (LOL!). I think we’ll be sticking to Three Dog Bakery goodies for a while until I get over the initial shock.
However, according to Oscar, a waterlogged treat is still a treat, but I was too embarrassed about the finished product to let them stick around for too long.
My cookie fail is well hidden. 😉
Oscah Baby 
LOL Sounds like one of my famous goofs! I don’t make mistakes in baking often, but when I do, they’re DOOZIES! I’m sure Oscar enjoyed whatever you let him taste, though!
I’m usually really careful about writing the recipe, but I guess that day in particular was my off day. I just can’t believe 1/8 cup turned into 1 cup!
Oh no! Oops!
Please share if you attempt this recipe again – I just clicked over and it looks amazing! I’m tempted to give it a whirl myself, but Gus has tons of treats we’re trying to clean up.
Happy Friday and thanks for the link love!
I don’t think I’ll be attempting this recipe again soon—operant conditioning. 😛
Too bad about the cookies, for you and for Oscar. I can bake, but I am not fond of doing it…lol. Credit to you for giving it a whirl. I did have a spinach dog cookie recipe at one time, but I am afraid it may be on the hard drive of the computer that just died. It was an easy recipe.
Baking is such a science—If you mess up the measurements, you mess up the finished product! Although, I was way off with the additional water. 😛
One time I made my mom pancakes for mother’s day and thought that baking soda could suffice for baking powder (or maybe it was the other way around). Needless to say, they turned out like potato pancakes … 😛
I would have done the exact same! Baking soda… baking powder… They look the same, so shouldn’t they have the same effect? 😛
Lucky for you, potato pancakes are yummy as well!
Thankfully my mom looks back on it and laughs now 🙂
oooops,
It’s the thought that counts though isn’t it? If there’s any spare dodgy cookies, feel free to send them my way……:)
Don’t worry, my Mum messes up recipes all the time cos she always tries to substitute various things….tee hee
Your buddy Snoopy 🙂
Bravo for taking such great strides to bake Oscar homemade treats! I have yet to try my hand at baking (besides the ready-made mixes)—like you said, baking is a real science. Don’t despair, though, I’m sure your next attempt will work out just fine! And, we hope to see a post about it (with pictures of the final product) 😉
Oscar has that longing look on his face 😉
My dog’s name is Oscar too! I’ve tried treats from the Dog Treat Kitchen – most of them look pretty quick and easy. I made the pumpkin/peanut butter ones. The first time I make anything is a bit of an experiment. These ones sound pretty good too – I may give them a try. Sorry they didn’t work out for you this time. Now you know for the next time!
Wow.. that’s a big miscalculation. Silly pauline 😛
Did you end up with sticky cake like things instead?
Yes! They were hard on the outside, but sticky in the inside. Not a good combo. 😛
Well you tried right? I have not been ambitious enough to atempt my own dog cookies yet.
Kudos for the attempt! I keep meaning to go into baking mode, but I also love to go into shopping mode (which is how I get most of Toki’s treats). : )