Tag: Easter treats

Easy Easter Dog Treats

Happy Easter weekend everyone. I guess this Easter is a little different to what we all had planned… yes our travel plans got cancelled too but that doesn’t mean Easter has to be cancelled! 

Whenever I think of Easter I only think of one thing… CHOCOLATE and lots of it! We are all well aware of the dangers that chocolate brings to our furry loves. I have done carob treats in the past for Oscar and Zara which were a hit but a bit messy to make and eat so I thought I would simplify things right down and make some yummy carrot treats for Zara, since the Easter bunny loves his carrots 😉

Zara’s Carrot Biscuits

Ingredients

2 steamed carrots, pureed

1 cup wholewheat flour

1 egg

1 tbs coconut oil

1tsp chia seeds

Directions 

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Mix together your carrot puree, egg and coconut oil. Then add your chia seeds and flour and mix until a dough forms. You might need to add a splash of water if it’s too dry or extra flour if it’s too wet. Roll your dough out onto a floured surface and using cute Easter themed cookie cutters, cut out the treats. Place them onto a greased baking tray and bake for 20-30mins or until cooked and slightly golden in colour. Allow the treats to cool completely before icing them.

Icing 

2 tbs cornstarch and 4 tbs water. Mix them together then use to decorate as you wish. You can add organic food colouring to make different colours.

Using traditional coloured icing sugar is also totally fine! 

Zara is sharing Easter with her baby sis this year, and while I love finding recipes so both girls can enjoy the same treat, sometimes baby Gia needs something a little extra yummy because after all it is her first Easter! 

So here is the recipe for baby Gia’s Easter treats… 

Super Easy Shortbread Bunnies

Ingredients

1 cup butter

2 1/4 flour

1 cup icing sugar

2 tbs vanilla 

Directions

Preheat your oven to 170 degrees. Cream together your butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy. Add your flour and mix, then add your vanilla. Mix until a dough forms. You may have to turn the mixture out onto a floured surface to combine. Once combined, roll out your dough and using Easter themed cookie cutters, cut your shortbread and place the shapes onto a greased baking tray. Bake for +-20 minutes or until biscuits are lightly golden. Remove and allow them to cool before decorating. 

You can decorate your biscuits however you wish, using icing, buttercream, melted chocolate etc… My decorating skills need a little work-haha. Nonetheless, these Easter biscuits are a total hit amongst the humans in the house! And Zara is loving her Easter treats too… My heart is happy!

Happy Easter everyone. Stay safe and enjoy your quality time with family at home! If you decide to make these yummy Easter treats for yourself or your furry love, don’t forget to tag us in your pics… @stylish_paws

Thank you for reading

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Easter Yummies…

Easter, that holiday time where there is an endless supply of chocolate. Chocolate eggs, chocolate bunnies, chocolate chickens, chocolate-chocolate-chocolate. I have quite a sweet tooth and I absolutely LOVE chocolate so these holidays are definitely one of my favourite to celebrate!

We all know the serious dangers when it comes to dogs and chocolate! Ours is always packed away in a sealed tub on a high shelf. Oscar has zero chance of reaching it with his little legs-haha… And being in a tightly sealed tub Zara has zero chance of getting to it too. But did you know that dogs can enjoy some carob chocolate? Oscar and Zara absolutely love it and I make little carob treats for them on special occasions so they feel extra special and included in the celebrations. My Easter blog post last year focused on carob doggy Easter treats (read here), so this year I am using it in a different way.

Carob comes from the carob tree. Inside the carob pod is a sweet pulp that is then dried, roasted and ground into carob powder. It is naturally sweet and has a slight nutty taste. Carob is completely free of the toxic compounds that are found in chocolate and has a moderate amount of fibre, potassium and vitamins. Carob is also a great healthy alternative for chocolate for humans and boasts a range of health benefits. You can find carob chip and carob chocolate bars in selected health stores.

I like to keep carob powder in the pantry because it has such a variety of ways I can use it for Oscar and Zara. I love experimenting with it and seeing what they love and what they don’t. Zara usually loves everything, it is Oscar that I need to impress 😉

My Easter recipes are pretty simple and seriously yummy this year. There is one for us humans-which is a little different to the traditional way and one for the pups… Enjoy

Humans only Giant Chocolate Hot Cross Buns

Ingredients

Hot Cross Bun

1 1/2 cups warm milk

1/2 cup sugar

1 tbs yeast

4 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp nutmeg

2 eggs

4 tbs soft butter

1 1/2 cup chocolate chips (because raisins are the devil hahaha)

Depending on how sweet you like them you can add an extra 1/2 to 1 cup of sugar.

Syrup

1/4 cup water

1/4 sugar

Cream Cheese Icing

1/2 cup icing sugar

2 tbs cream cheese

1 tbs soft butter

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tbs water

Directions

  • Combine the warm milk, sugar and yeast and let it rest for the yeast to activate.
  • I use an electric mixer for the next step because it’s easier and quicker. Mix together your flour, salt and nutmeg. Add the eggs and butter to the yeast mixture and stir then pour it over the flour and using the dough hook beaters, mix until your dough looks lovely and smooth and well combined. You can add your chocolate chips at this stage and carry on mixing. If the dough is too wet then add more flour, if it is too dry add a little water.
  • You will need to let your dough rise, so lightly oil a big bowl and place your dough in the bowl. Cover with clingfilm and place it in a warm spot so it can rise. It is done when it has doubled in size.
  • Preheat your oven to 180 degrees. Take your dough out the bowl and punch it down then break off small parts (mine turned out to be huge)  and begin rolling your hot cross buns into balls. Place these on a greased baking tray and cover with a clean cloth and allow them to rise again.
  • Then bake them for +-20 minutes or until cooked and golden brown.
  • To make the syrup glaze simply mix the sugar and water in a pan on a low heat, allow it to just go a bit thicker then remove from the heat.
  • For the icing you beat together all the ingredients with an electric beater. You can either put it into a piping bag to neatly pipe onto the top of your buns or you can spoon it on, it’s entirely up to you-the icing is really yummy!
  • Once the buns are cooked, remove them from the oven and brush the top with your sugar syrup. Allow them to cool completely before decorating them with the icing. You can even add a few more chocolate chips on top-get creative! Then ENJOY!!

Doggy Hot Cross BunsIngredients

4 cups flour

1 tbs honey

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tbs baking soda

1 cup milk

1/2 cup organic greek yoghurt

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 tbs butter

Carob chips

Syrup

The same as above

Cream Cheese Icing

The same as above

Directions

  • Preheat your oven to 200 degrees.
  • Combine all your dry ingredients. Combine all the wet ingredients then add to the dry flour mix and add the carob chips.
  • Mix together until a dough starts forming then tip it out onto a floured surface and knead for a few minutes.
  • Break off small balls and round them into shape and place them onto a greased baking tray.
  • Bake for +-30 minutes or until cooked and golden brown.
  • Remove from the oven and you can use the same syrup mixture from the human buns to glaze these ones. You can also use the human buns icing mixture to decorate these yummy buns for your pus. They sure will love these!!

Along with enjoying these yummy hot cross buns and spending quality time together, Oscar and Zara of course had to dress up. Oscar decided he wanted to try become a chicken and Zara became a bunny-weiler… And of course the three musketeers wish you all a very Hoppy Easter too.

Whatever your Easter plans are, stay safe and enjoy precious family time!!

Thank you for reading

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Easter Fun…

Easter is one of my favourite holidays to celebrate, not only do Oscar and Zara become Valentine and Duchess-haha ;), but it means I can stuff my face with my favourite Easter eggs. This year Easter is slightly more special because it is my birthday too, so more chocolate for me-yes!

Those of you who follow my blog will know that we love dressing up and I love spoiling my four furry loves. I don’t always buy goodies for my furry loves because I absolutely love making homemade treats and toys for them, and this Easter will be no different.

We all know chocolate isn’t good for dogs-with good reason! So I have made a few treats for them using a safe alternative that will still make them feel like they are eating and sharing our yummy Easter treats.

 

Carob and peanut butter Easter cups

Ingredients

1/2 cup carob powder

1/2 cup coconut oil

Natural peanut butter

Directions

Mix together your carob powder and coconut oil until smooth. Carefully pour a little mixture into silicone moulds and set aside or put them in the fridge to harden. Then scoop a dollop of peanut butter in the middle of each carob mould. Then cover with more carob mixture until you can no longer see the peanut butter. Set aside or put them in the fridge to harden. Once set gently pop them out of your moulds and there you have cute doggy friendly Easter eggs.

Blueberry bones coated in Carob

Ingredients

1/2 cup fresh or frozen blueberries mashed to form a liquid or paste

1 cup flour

1 egg

1 tbs coconut oil

1 banana mashed

For the coating

1/2 cup carob powder

1/2 cup coconut oil

Directions

Mix together your blueberry paste, banana, egg and coconut oil. Then add the flour, it needs to form a workable dough consistency so if it is too wet add more flour, if it is too dry add a splash of water. Roll your dough out onto a floured surface and using bone shaped cookie cutters cut out the treats and place them onto a greased baking tray. Bake for +- 20 minutes or until cooked through.

For the coating, mix together the carob powder and the coconut oil until it’s a smooth dripping consistency. Once the baked treats have cooled down completely, dip them into the carob mix and then place them on a dripping tray to dry. And there you have it, your pups will go crazy for these! My two do 🙂

Valentine and Duchess get spoilt too and this Easter I have decided to grow some of their favourite herbs and veggies in pots. This honestly couldn’t be easier, all it takes a little bit of effort.

What you will need:

Packets of seeds (basil, parsley, coriander, carrots, lettuce)

Soil

Plant pots-medium size

Garden tools

What to do:

Simply fill each plant pot container with good quality planting soil, follow planting directions on the packet of each herb. Place them in a sunny area and make sure you water them each day. Within a week you will see your seedlings start to grow, this will give you motivation to carry on! As soon as the plant is big enough, I usually give Valentine and Duchess the entire pot to nibble on. They love it and when the juicy greens are done they like jump on the pot and scratch around in the soil and have a whole lot of fun.

A great way to have fun with all these treats is to have treasure hunts around the house and garden. Hide your doggy easter eggs and treats all over the place and get your pups to find them. You can do the same thing with your bunny herb pots, hide them and place them in different spots to where you would normally feed them. If your bunnies roam inside dot them in different rooms and watch them use their noses to find their treasure.

Have fun with your friends, family and furry loves this Easter, and above all stay safe.

Thank you for reading.

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