Our friend Kath just sent this recipe for dog cookies, and we couldn’t wait to try it out — thinking of homemade Christmas gifts for other friends with dogs! Kath says that these are the only dog treats her picky-eater Bichon Frise won’t turn his little nose up at, so the ever-greedy pups in our own family are sure to approve!
Homemade Whole WheatDog Treats
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup powdered milk
1 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp wheat germ
1 tsp beef bouillon granules or 1 beef Oxo cube
7 Tbsp bacon grease or meat drippings
1 egg
1/2 cup (approx.) cold water — as cold as you can get it!
Preheat oven to 350 °F. Combine all dry ingredients and cut in the
drippings as if you were making biscuits or pastry. Mix in egg. Add just enough of the cold water to allow the mixture to be formed into a ball. Pat it out to 1/2″ thickness and cut into shapes. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, then cool on a wire rack.
We’ve always had good luck with our tried-and-true Peanut Butter Dog Cookies recipe, but so many people are allergic to peanut butter, it’s great to have another recipe to use sometimes.
For dog treats to give as Christmas gifts, I’ve finally rounded up some special dog-themed cookie cutters! One is shaped like a bone, of course — and the other cutter is in the shape of a fire hydrant! Won’t that be cute?
Now, if I could only come up with a few good homemade gift ideas for the human beings on my list!
Linda,it makes sense to me to work out a price for homemade dog treats in the same way you would set a price for any other product you’re thinking of selling at a craft fair:
Add up the cost of ingredients; track the time it takes to produce, package and market them; figure out what your time is ‘worth’ and calculate that cost; add together materials and labour costs to get the cost of making/selling them — and that’s the effective out-of-pocket; then figure out what you’d be happy to get for a profit – and that’s your mark-up.
Take that total and look, realistically, at what similar products are selling for: if your price is competitive (or if there’s a clear niche demand for your product that will support a higher-than-average cost), then you’ve got your price.
I dont know if it’s a viable proposition — that would depend on your costs and your market — but I do know that these dog treats make very popular gifts for our dog-owning friends!
:-)
How would you go about pricing these treats at a craft fair?
Thanks for this wonderful treat.Thanks for the link also.