Today I whipped up some dog treats for our pup, Loki, using a strategy that’s proven sometimes delicious and sometimes disastrous: baking without using a recipe. Whether out of curiosity (“I wonder what’ll happen if I add another egg…?”) or total laziness (“I don’t care how it comes out; I just want a sweet dessert-ish bread-like thing!”), it’s fun to see what happens when you combine some desired ingredients, bake at the magical 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and give it a gander after 15 minutes or so.
When baking without recipes, you sacrifice consistency (and often, success) in favor of speed and a much easier cleanup. Sometimes it’s worth it, sometimes, not so much. How’d it go this time?
Here’re the ingredients I used:
A bit of cooked rice,
Some steamed sweet potato,
An egg,
And a bit o’ bacon grease.
These dudes were combined in the same pot used to steam the sweeties,
Doled out in cookie-like dollops,
And baked for a total of 30 minutes.
Results?
Pup approved.
Enthusiastically!
Verdict on this experiment? Delicious! Loki boy loved ’em. (I think the bacon grease really shined through!) Initially I hoped for more of a cookie-like consistency, but they turned out really soft (think coconut macaroon) with just a bit of bite around the edges. Next time I’ll make the balls a bit smaller for a training treat sized morsel, but these’ll stay in our fridge and be broken up for distribution during this week’s training/play sessions.
That was fun to post! Stay tuned for future episodes of baking without recipes. 🙂
Aww these look great, YAY for the pup enjoying them!
Aw, thanks Brittany! I can’t wait to attempt more baking experiments for the little guy. 🙂
Nice! I don’t know about the dog but I kind of want to try them myself now. 😀
Aw, thanks! I must admit I gave one a try–a greasy bacon-y aftertaste lingers, but with a bit of salt they’d be pretty good to my tastes, too. 🙂
I wonder if my Max and Maggie would enjoy these? My curiosity is certainly aroused.
If you make them, I hope Max and Maggie enjoy! 🙂
My dogs would be drooling for these treats!
OMG – my dog would never eat anything else after one of those!!