Peanut Butter Banana Dog Treat

My first attempt at a homemade dog treats was a success! My dog loves this treat! I knew he'd love the peanut butter (what dog doesn't love peanut butter), but I wasn't sure about the banana.  Turns out, the peanut butter makes this cookie so desirable, that it just doesn't matter.  Although, for all I know he loves banana too.  I'm just guessing here. 

These are very easy to assemble and bake. You could probably also substitute all-purpose or whole wheat flour if you don't have a food processor. 

The picture above just sort of makes my dog look like a shark, doesn't it? He's really very gentle.  He's also very old.  I'll have to give you the run-down on him.  

Chip is our rescue dog.  He's about 15 years old.  We guess that he's probably an Akita mix.  Most likely mixed with a heeler or a border collie, we think. He's also the reason I met my very first friend in Charlotte.  

My husband and I moved to the Charlotte, NC area about 13 years ago.  We moved into an apartment when we first got here.  My husband's job was going to be out of the Charlotte airport so I set out trying to find myself a job too.  It's harder to find a job in this area than in other area's, I found. So I was often lonely while my husband was working and I was home alone.  I started to search petfinder .com, and one day came upon this dog.  His name was Harvey at that time and they had found him as a stray.  He was actually set to be euthanized because he had heart worms and he wasn't a very social guy.  They had him in a cage with a puppy and he just sat in the back of the cage and growled at the puppy.  He also didn't come to the front when people where looking to adopt.  So my friend, Cristen, decided to save his life and adopted him, cured his heart worms, and then set out to try to find him a good home.  That's where we came in. 

So, we eventually got to meet him, adopt him and I made my first friend in Charlotte.  After that I was able to find a job and life has been good.  

Since we've had Chip we've moved twice and still live in the Charlotte area but now we're in a house with a fenced back yard and we've had our daughter join our lives, 8 years ago.  I can't believe all that's happened in 13 years.  We're so glad to have found Chip.  His health has started to decline these past few months and I can't believe he isn't going to live forever.  So, homemade dog treats it is!  It's the least I can do. 

Peanut Butter Banana Dog Treats

Recipe from Munchkins and the Military

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 medium banana
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter

Cooking Directions

1. Blend the oats in a food processor until it becomes a fine powder.
2. In a medium bowl, squish the banana and mix it in with the peanut butter.
3. Add the oatmeal powder to the banana/peanut butter mixture (reserve 1 Tbsp of powder) Push together until it forms a dough and place on a work surface dusted with the leftover oatmeal powder and press out or roll out to 1/4 inch.
4. Use any shape cookie cutter to cut shapes.
5. Bake at 350º on a parchment paper or silicone lined cookie sheet for 15 minutes.