As long as they’re still selling Milk Bones, there is no reason for a normal person to make dog treats.

When a 5-year-old gets an Easy Bake oven from Santa and a dog treat set complete with bone-shaped cutters and a recipe book from an aunt, though, normal flies out the window.

Thus began our mission to covert recipes from MacPherson’s K-9 Cookbook. Many  already were egg-free, but as (bad) luck would have it I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand to make those when Boots decided he needed to bake for Rita.

Why convert something to egg-free that wasn’t meant for human consumption anyway? Because we would be using the normal cooking gear – bowls, mixing spoons, rolling pin, baking sheets – and I really didn’t want to go through the careful scrubbing that it would require to make sure all remnants of egg were cleaned off the tools.

At least converting to egg-free for a dog isn’t as stressful as changing a human recipe. If something turns out a little tough or doesn’t taste quite right, Rita isn’t going to be nearly as picky as the guys are.

It turns out that she loved them so much that she’s now turning up her nose at Milk Bones. “I’ll make her more, anytime she wants them!” Boots chirped. Oh, joy.

Egg-free dog treats

• 1 c. whole wheat flour
• 1/4 c. all-purpose flour
• 1/8 c. (2 tbl.) cornmeal
• 1/8 c. (2 tbl.) oatmeal
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder. Garlic in large quantities is bad for dogs, but this amount isn’t going to hurt and could actually help with fleas.
• 1/4 c. plus 2 tbl. cooking oil
• 1/8 c. honey
• 1/8 c. milk
• 2 tbl. cold water – I wound up adding about 2 tbl. more to get the recipe to bind, but this could be because Boots still is learning to measure dry ingredients and was a little over generous.

Combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together wet ingredients. Make a well in the dry ingredients and slowly stir in wet ingredients until well mixed. Stirring didn’t exactly work. We had to resort to mixing with a fork.

Knead the dough on a well-floured surface for two minutes. Two minutes? Are you kidding? For a dog? We kneaded just long enough to get it to hold together into a smooth dough. Roll the dough to a half inch thickness. Cut the dough and transfer to a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for a half hour. Turn off the oven and leave on the sheets to harden for an hour. The same baking time also worked for the Easy Bake with a 95-watt bulb.

Copyright 2011 Debra Legg. All rights reserved.

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