Recipe Review: Rachel Ray's Pupkin Biscuits

Heidi has been out of treats for about a week now. To her, that is an eternity! I usually pick up Old Mother Hubbard peanut butter biscuits while buying her dog food. Well, the past few times I have been at the store, I forgot to pick up the treats. I know, I am a terrible doggy mommy. Thankfully, for her, she hasn't needed to be crated much this past week. Logan and I haven't been out much lately because the poor little man contracted croup from one of his grubby, germy friends at daycare. Last Tuesday, I walked in to pick Logan up from daycare to see another child (grubby, germy friend) hacking up a lung within inches of my son's face. GROSS! But what can I do, they are toddlers, they don't know to cough into their sleeves yet. Okay, now that I am a touch off topic, let's get back to my Wiggle Butt.

In every issue of Everyday With Rachel Ray magazine, Rachel Ray ends with a dish specifically for your dog. Issue after issue, I say to myself, "I think I'll make that for Heidi." Do I ever? Sadly, no..no, I don't. Well, that all changed today. I held on to the October 2011 issue just so that I could make the Pupkin Biscuits for Heidi. Click here for the recipe. Just in case Rachel is reading (a girl can dream), thanks for including every family member, even the four-legged ones, when creating your recipes!

These biscuits are super easy to make, requiring only 4 ingredients. I followed the recipe exactly as is...for the most part. Because the 2 1/2 cups of flour REALLY dried the dough out, to the point of crumbling in my hands and under a rolling pin, I added another 1/2 of pumpkin puree. The dough was much easier to work with after adding the extra pumpkin. Yesterday being Valentine's Day, I wanted to use my heart cookie cutters but they were no where to be found. My star cookie cutters were sitting happily in the drawer, waiting eagerly to be used. The recipe also says to bake the biscuits for 20 minutes, flip, and then bake for another 20 or until the biscuits were hard. After flipping, I only put them in for another 10 minutes, pulled them out and they were plenty hard. I know dog biscuits are typically quite hard, but I have been known to overcook (blackened grilled cheese anyone?) and over bake (care for a chocolate chip hockey puck?) a few things, I didn't want to disappoint Heidi.

Ready for the oven.

An hour later (30 minutes baking time + cooling time) it's taste testing time!

The verdict is in:

She gobbled it right up!

Logan was upset that he couldn't have a sample!

I think this is an easy recipe to play around with, too. Next time, I might use natural, unsweetened apple sauce, mashed bananas and peanut butter, or grated cheese in place of the pumpkin. Either way, I think Heidi will love them.

Heidi's treat jar is full once again!

In other news, a friend sent me this story on Facebook and I just HAD to share it! This is a story about Maverick, a rescued Weimaraner, who showed at Westminster. It's a truly touching story and I hope you like it as much I as do. Read Maverick's story here! Thanks for sharing it with me, Jessica!

Do you make treats for your pups? Feel free to share your recipe. If you decide to make these biscuits, I would love to hear how yours turned out. Now, do me a favor, will you? Leave a comment and/or share my blog! Thanks for reading!