How to Make Homemade Peanut Butter Dog Treats

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees.   Start heating water using a tea kettle or a pot on the stove.  The recipe calls for 2 cups of water, but you may have to add more if your dough is too dry, so heat at least 4 or 5 cups of water just in case.

Grease the large cookie sheets using butter, margarine, or cooking spray.  Note that this recipe makes a lot of biscuits, so if you only have one large cookie sheet or only have two small ones, you may want to cut the recipe in half.  You can also bake the biscuits in batches, but with a 40 minute bake time, that means the whole project will take around 2 hours.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, oatmeal, and peanut butter.  Stir with the big spoon. 

Add the hot water to the other ingredientes in the mixing bowl and stir thoroughly with the big spoon.  The resulting mixture should have a dough-like consistency, so if it is runny or too sticky, try adding more flour.  If the dough is too dry, add a bit more water. 

Either sprinkle flour on your countertop or cover it with wax paper.  Take the dough out of the mixing bowl and set it on the floured surface or wax paper.  Knead it with your hands to ensure that the ingredients are thoroughly mixed.  

Roll the dough into a round shape and dust it with flour (in order to keep it from sticking to the rolling pin in the next step).   

Use the rolling pin to roll the dough into a flat sheet that is roughly 1/4 inch thick.  If the dough starts to stick, sprinkle it with more flour. 

Cut the dough into your favorite shape by using a knife or a cookie cutter.  To make fun, dog-themed shapes, try this set of dog treat cookie cutters.  For holidays, try these Halloween cookie cutters or these Christams cookie cutters.  For dog lovers, a heart shape is always appropriate.

Whichever shape you choose, make sure to cut the treats to an appropriate size for your dog.  Tiny dogs need tiny treats!   

Take the dough shapes you just finished cutting and arrange them on the greased cookie sheets.  Make sure they are not overlapping.  Once you have filled the cookie sheet, bake the treats for 40 minutes at 350 degrees to make treats with a slightly chewey cookie-like texture.  If you prefer a crisper texture more like a commercial dog biscuit, then remove the treats after 20 minutes, turn each treat over, put them back in the oven, and bake for the remaining 20 minutes. 

Baking time may need to be extended for very large treats or shortened for very small treats.  Use good common sense and check the treats as they near the end of their baking time.

Remove the biscuits from the oven and let them cool for at least an hour before putting them in your storage container.