Pretzel Dog Treats

It's time once more to celebrate a special occasion. Moxie's birthday! My little wild pup is officially 2 years old now, and despite coming down with a wicked sinus infection, I needed to bake a special treat for my special pupper. I shared her "gotcha" story back on her 1st birthday. Moxie was a shelter find, a rescue dog that was found running around outside. I knew when I met her she was special.

What I didn't know what just how special Moxie would turn out to be. She is a little ray of sunshine, always ready for a walk or some playtime. So, for her birthday, Moxie definitely deserves a little bit extra.

Last year, I made her some Pupcakes. This year, I looked at a few options and decided on pretzels. They looked rather simple, without a bunch of fuss required. Given the fact I'd been feeling like the banana peel marinating in the bottom of the trash bag, simple was right up my alley.

I will say that I had to tweak the recipe a bit from what I initially read. The original version called for oat flour, oats, apple sauce, and an egg, but I used whole wheat flour and mixed in some peanut butter and water in to create a formable but thick dough, one I rolled into pretzels. I found it too dry to form without the peanut butter and water, so these additions helped. It may have been dude to my flour swap, so I'll have to try rice flour (which I saw in another pretzel recipe and it is a very light flour) or oat next time.

Because this wasn't quite the pretzel dough of Auntie Anne or Wetzel's, I didn't have to worry about the dough falling apart in the rolling process. I grabbed about 2-3 tablespoons and rolled it out into a log about 10 inches long. Because oats are chunky and the dough was still fairly dry, the rolls often crumbled some, leaving me with shorter pieces. That was fine though; I gently formed them together into one longer piece, wrapped the ends around, and formed a pretzel shape. I brushed a little bit of beaten egg on the outside of each (hello, golden brown shine!) and popped them in the oven. After about 25 minutes, the pretzels were ready to go. After a few minutes of cooling down, I gladly gave Moxie her birthday reward.

It's safe to say she appreciated her treat, as she wandered off and a swift pretzel crunching session ensued.

Let's face it, these pretzels look like the kind of thing Moxie drops off when we walk. You know, the kind of thing you pick up with a bag and tie a knot on it. But Mox doesn't care what her tasty treats look like! It's about flavor, and she definitely digs these. You see, Moxie can be snoody when it comes to food; if I ever have the audacity to set down a bowl of plain dry food, Mox looks at me with these sad eyes, sniffs the bowl, and walks off until I add something extra. Sometimes it's treats mixed in, others canned food or yogurt, but this princess doesn't do the bare minimum with anything.

Pretzel Dog Treats Recipe

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour (or regular flour)

2/3 cup oats (quick oats or regular will work)

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup peanut butter

1 egg, beaten

Instructions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, combine flour, oats, applesauce, water, peanut butter, and all but 1 tablespoon of egg. Mix until combined. Use your hands to mold about 1/4 cup of dough into a log about 10 inches long, then lay it in a half circle and fold the ends over it to form a pretzel shape. Brush each pretzel with some of the remaining egg mixture. Bake for about 25 minutes.

adapted from dog pretzels