Turkey & Cranberry Dog Treat Recipe

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I wanted to feature a holiday-themed recipe this week….and what could be more traditional than turkey and cranberries? Turkey is a canine favorite and cranberries are incredibly beneficial for dogs so this seemed like a great combination for treats (although I was a little worried that the dogs might not like the tartness of the cranberries).

The ingredients are ones you probably already have on hand if you’re making a Thanksgiving dinner:

Ingredients

1 cup whole cranberries
1 cup cooked, boned turkey
3-1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 egg
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup water or broth as needed

If you’re cooking your turkey as you make the treats, you can use the broth in this recipe. In that case, you probably won’t need the tablespoon of olive oil. I was using frozen turkey so it was dry, and the recipe needed a little oil.

First, preheat your oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease two cookie sheets.

Next, mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. In a blender or food processor, add the turkey and egg (and some of the water or broth as needed). When the turkey is the consistency of baby food, add the cranberries and continue to mix until it looks like a smoothie:

Pour this mixture into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients and stir to create a thick dough. On a lightly floured surface, knead the dough. This is a heavy dough so you’ll need to put a little muscle in it!

I used cookie cutters to cut the treats. (I bought a giant bin of cookie cutters at the thrift store the other day. This one is supposed to be a turkey…although I couldn’t really tell that…)

Put the treats on the cookie sheets and pop them in the oven for 25 minutes. I rolled out my dough pretty thick so the treats were slightly chewy inside. Let them cool completely before serving them to your dogs or before refrigerating.

And the result? Although I’d been worried the dogs might turn up their noses at the cranberries, Irie and Tiki absolutely loved these treats…they gobbled them up! (Sorry…I couldn’t resist…)

Looking for more recipes? Download one of our free dog treat cookbooks!

Cooks: Don’t miss our My Dog Says I’m a Great Cook™ cookbook with over 100 dog treat recipes from the publishers, readers and fans of DogTipper! This paperback book is available in our PawZaar gift store!