If you have ever researched healthy dog treats, treats containing flaxseed are usually near the top of the list and they are highly recommended for good reason! Flaxseeds are full of Omega 3 and Omega 6 fatty acids, they contain anti-inflammatory properties and immune boosting antioxidants. Plus, my dogs go crazy over these crispy little snacks!
Let’s get them started…
So, whole flaxseeds can pass right thru your dogs digestive system not giving them the opportunity to gain all that flaxseeds have to offer, but ground flaxseeds have a short shelf life at room temperature. The reason that I bring this up is that if you are ok with refrigerating your dogs treats, grind the flax seeds used in the cracker dough, but if this is not possible, leave them whole and then the treats can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature.
To get started, you will need one very ripe banana, 1/2 cup of unsweetened natural apple sauce, 1/2 teaspoon of baking powder, 2 tablespoons of natural honey, 2-2 1/2 cups of flour (wheat flour, oat flour or all purpose), 1/4 cup of flaxseeds (whole or ground) and then 1 egg and 2 tablespoons of whole flaxseeds to garnish the crackers.
In a medium bowl, mash the banana until it is smooth and then mix in the apple sauce and honey. Add the baking powder and flaxseeds and mix until combined. Add 1 1/2 cups of flour into the dough and mix until it is fully incorporated.
Continue adding flour until you have a dry dough that you can knead and roll out without sticking. Depending on how large your banana was and how much juice was in your apple sauce, makes the amount of flour needed vary, so add a little… mix… add a little more… mix and once it feels like something you could roll out easily, you are good!
Transfer the dough onto a floured surface. If your dough feels fully combined, then you can go directly into rolling it out. If it needs a little kneading, knead for a minute or so and then roll it out to about 1/4 inch thick. This thickness will create crispy crackers. If your furry friend prefers treats that are a little more on the chewy side, don’t roll the dough out quite so thin.
I love seeing the flaxseeds speckled throughout the dough! Now that it is rolled out, choose your cracker shape. You could use little tiny round pastry cutters, larger round cookie cutters or dog bone shaped cut outs. Today, I am using a 3/4″ round cutter for Twinkie and Kuro’s crackers. Small enough for the little guy, but not too small for his big brother.
Once the crackers are cut out, transfer them onto a parchment lined baking sheet…
The plan is to poke these crackers with a fork, so they will not be puffing up during baking, so they can be placed very close together on the baking sheet. I fit 70 crackers on this large baking sheet and got about 100 crackers total out of the dough.
Now that they are all laid out, poke each cracker with a fork in an “X” pattern. This will prevent the crackers from puffing up and help them to get crispy during the baking process.
Whisk 1 egg in a small bowl and brush each cracker lightly. Sprinkle a few whole flaxseeds over the crackers and bake them in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes. The crackers are done when they are golden brown and firm to the touch. They will not be super crispy when they are first brought out of the oven, but they will continue to crisp up as they cool.
Be sure to let the crackers cool fully before serving them to your four legged compadres and get ready to hide most of them, because if your dog is anything like my dogs, they will be hounding you for more (pun intended!).
Twinkie loves practicing his famous tricks with these flaxseed crackers!
Flaxseed Dog Crackers
Ingredients
- 1 very ripe banana, peeled, mashed
- 1/2 cup unsweetened natural apple sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 tablespoons natural honey
- 2-2 1/2 cups flour (wheat flour, oat flour, all purpose or any combination)
- 1/4 cups flaxseeds (whole or ground)
- 2 tablespoons whole flaxseeds (optional garnish)
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
- In a medium bowl, mash the banana until smooth
- Add the apple sauce and honey and mix to combine
- Add the baking powder and flaxseeds and mix to combine
- Add 1 1/2 cups of flour and mix until fully incorporated
- Continue adding flour until you develop a dough dry enough to knead and roll out
- Transfer the dough onto a floured surface
- Roll the dough out to approximately 1/4 inch thick (dust with additional flour during the rolling process, if necessary)
- Cut out crackers using a round cookie cutter, pastry cutter or dog bone cutter
- Transfer the crackers onto a parchment lined baking sheet
- Use a fork to poke holes in the top of each cracker
- Whisk 1 egg in a small dish and brush the tops of each cracker lightly
- Sprinkle with whole flaxseeds
- Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the crackers are golden brown and crispy
- Let them cool fully on a cooling rack before serving
- If you ground your flaxseeds, transfer the crackers into an airtight container and store them in the refrigerator. If you left your flaxseeds whole, store them in an airtight container at room temperature
