One of my favorite tips when hosting a pet friendly Super Bowl or football party is to make sure your dogs have designated treats that your house guests can give them. It prevents them from being fed table scraps and gives your guests a great way to interact with your pets. In the past we’ve done sweet potato chips, but this year we are decorating store bought dog biscuits.
Sometimes I like to kid myself, but I’m not a baker. I’m great at following directions and can usually venture a tiny bit off of a recipe to add or remove and ingredient so the finished product is to my (or my dog’s) liking. I hardly have the patience to come up with my own recipe. Maybe because it always fails? And, I really have to be in the right mood to pick up a rolling pin and a cookie cutter.
I’m a crafter and a decorator. I’m a hacker and a builder. I love giving my dogs special holiday and event themed treats, but I definitely don’t have a ton of free time to make them from scratch. THANK GOODNESS I finally figured out that you don’t have to!
I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Instead of baking dog treats from scratch, I just spice up high quality store bought ones! It’s quick and easy. It’s customizable for whatever holiday or event you are celebrating with your pups. The finished result looks GREAT and it can even save you a few bucks.
Since our Super Bowl party is sponsored by Whole Foods Market in Northern Virginia, we picked up a few boxes of Whole Paws dog treats that I knew both Ralph and Luna would enjoy. We opted for the larger size bones and the sandwich cookies for more decoration space.
Once we had the cookies, preparing these gourmet treats was as simple as mixing up some dog friendly frosting and piping it onto each cookie.
For the frosting, we obviously had to go with peanut butter. To thin out the frosting and the calories, I added some plain Greek yogurt and a bit of olive oil. If you do add yogurt to the dog frosting mixture, then you should store these treats in the fridge.
After the frosting is all mixed up, just put it into a Ziploc bag (or piping bag if you’re fancy) and cut the tip off. Here’s the fun and creative part! For the Super Bowl or other big football games, I just added some laces on the dog bones and then piped a football on the round sandwich cookies.
For other seasons or holidays, you could do Easter eggs, hearts, shamrocks, balloons, and so much more!
Ingredients
- 1 box store bought dog treats
- 2 tablespoons of natural peanut butter
- 2-3 tablespoons of plain Greek yogurt (optional)
- 1 tablespoon of olive oil (optional)
- 1 Ziploc or piping bag
- Parchment paper
Instructions
- Mix together the peanut butter, yogurt, and olive oil in a bowl for a dog friendly frosting until it is thick, but still easy to pipe.
- Place the frosting mixture into your bag and cut the tip off.
- Lay out all your store bought dog treats on parchment paper to catch any frosting drips.
- Pipe away on your store bought cookies with your seasonal image!
- Let the frosting dry and then store in a dry, cool container. Place in the fridge for long term storage if you used yogurt in the frosting.
PRO TIP: Place the parchment paper on top of a cookie sheet or two, so you can easily move the treats while they are drying and keep them out of reach of hungry hounds.
Don’t forget to sneak your dog a taste before the frosting dries! And don’t stress about your frosting drawings. I bet your dog will still eat it anyway.
If you have leftover frosting, you can always add it on top of their regular meal as a special treat!
Tell us how you’ll decorate your dog’s store bought treats!
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