Peanut Butter Buckeyes - Dog Treats

It’s that time of the year again: time to celebrate Clem’s birthday! For those of you new to the blog, Clem is my darling and spunky Jack Russell Terrier. This year, she’s turning NINE years old! Where do the years go?!

By the way, check out my other dog treat recipes on the Recipe Index under “Dog Treats” — this one is a favorite of readers and I personally like this one for a pup party.

A brief update on my life — as you know, I haven’t been doing a stellar job in keeping up with my blog since I had a baby in January. I promised once per month…and I seemed to have skipped February and March. Oops. But on the bright side, Little Ru (one of the many nicknames we’ve given our daughter) is sleeping regularly now so I should have a tiny smidgen of time to bake and cook. I’m looking forward to it.

When I was in Pittsburgh last fall visiting my family, we stumbled upon a bakery that sold peanut butter buckeye dog treats. I was so impressed by them — they looked like the real deal! If you’ve never had a buckeye before (maybe it’s just a Pennsylvania/Ohio thing?), it’s traditionally a ball of peanut butter, butter, powdered sugar and other stuff dipped in chocolate. Sounds good, right?

Welp, I thought Clem deserved a new recipe for her birthday.

Out of curiosity, I typed “Buckeye dog treat” into Google to see what came up and the first thing was the Ohio Buckeyes football team’s pet jerseys. I added the word “recipe” to the query and found only one message board referencing such a thing. It was two equally lost people discussing giving their dogs regular buckeyes.

My first thought was, “No, your dog doesn’t need powdered sugar or butter!” Dogs do not need things sweetened up! They are happy with peanut butter alone.

When you buy peanut butter for your dog, make sure it is the natural kind (with oil separation). No sugar or xylitol. Obviously, your dog should not have chocolate either. This recipe uses Chatfield’s Carob Powder. Carob is a member of the pea family, not cocoa.

This recipe could not be easier. It has three ingredients (four if you count water, but who does?) and it’s very quick — take it from someone who has a three month old! As you can see, Clem was a little too cool for the camera, but she ate the treats with gusto!