These adorable little heart shaped dog snacks are made with hearty black beans and sweet fresh blueberries plus some antioxidant packed cinnamon and immune boosting, joint supporting turmeric. My dogs are obsessed with these tasty treats and yours will be too.
Let’s get started…
To begin, drain and rinse a 15 ounce can of black beans and gather about 2 cups of whole wheat flour, 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric, 1 egg, 1/3 cup of fresh blueberries and 1/3 cup of unsweetened apple sauce.
Combine the rinsed black beans with an egg, the blueberries and apple sauce in a food processor and blend until smooth.
Transfer the mixture into a large bowl and add 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric and start with 1 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour.
Mix until all of the ingredients are fully combined and a soft dough forms. Knead in the bowl, adding additional flour when necessary, until a non-sticky dough forms.
Transfer the dough onto a floured surface and roll out to between 1/4 and 1/2 of an inch, depending on how thick you want the treats to be.
Use a cookie cutter to cut out treats in your desired shapes, like little bones or hearts or even just cute little circles. If you don’t have cookie cutters, you can simply use a sharp knife to slice long strips top to bottom and side to side forming small square little crackers.
Transfer the treats onto a flat baking sheet.
Note: Re-roll the excess dough and continue cutting out shapes until all of the dough is used.
This recipe will make about 150 small treats or about 100 classic 2″ bones.
Once all of the treats are cut out, bake them in a 350 degree oven for 12-20 minutes. Right around the 12 minute mark, the treats should be baked and puffy and if you remove them at this point, they will be softer, more chewy treats, just perfect for older dogs or dogs that prefer their snacks a little less crunchy.
If you continue to bake the treats longer, they will dry out more and become more crisp. I bake these treats for 20 minutes and my dogs love how crunchy they are.
Allow the treats to cool fully before letting your four legged friends dig in.
Somehow my dogs always know when I am baking something for them, so every time I make these cookies, they are always loitering around the kitchen waiting for me to hand them something tasty.
The next time your dog is having a birthday or maybe needs some cheering up after a vet visit or was just extra good, whip them up a batch of these fabulous little black bean and blueberry dog treats. They will be forever grateful…
Black Bean & Blueberry Dog Treats
Ingredients
- 15 ounces of black beans, drained and rinsed
- 1 3/4-2 cups of whole wheat flour
- 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup of fresh blueberries
- 1/3 cup of unsweetened organic apple sauce
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
- Blend 15 ounces of drained and rinsed black beans, 1 egg, 1/3 cup of fresh blueberries and 1/3 cup of unsweetened applesauce in a food processor until smooth
- Transfer to a bowl and mix in 1 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour, 1/4 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and 1/2 teaspoon of turmeric
- Mix until a soft dough forms
- Add additional flour until the dough is no longer sticky and knead to combine
- Transfer the dough onto a floured surface and roll out to approximately 1/4-1/2 inch thick (depending on how thick you want the treats to be)
- Use a cookie cutter to cut out treats in your desired shape
- Transfer the treats onto a flat baking sheet
- Bake in a 350 degree oven for 12-20 minutes (depending on how crunchy you want the treats to be)
- Allow the treats to cool before serving
- Store at room temperature in an airtight container
