Name: Charcoal Skull Dog Treats
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: 160
Ingredients: 1 cup flour (wheat or oat); 1/2 cup pureed canned beets (reserve the liquid); 1-2 tsps Activated Charcoal (1 tsp gets you very very dark cookies, 2 tsps gets you jet black); 1 egg; 1 tbsp peanut butter (natural is best)

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SKIP TO RECIPE

And they look fan-freaking-tastic.

Black charcoal skull shaped dog treats on a worn baking sheet.

Crispy-crunchy or spongey-chewy, these treats, like the mind of a newly initiated cult member, can be molded into whatever you want.

I know a lot of people look forward to my Halloween posts because I have a bit of a love affair with the dark side. But you can use this same recipe in any silicone mold if you're of delicate breeding and find skulls distasteful.

YOU KNOW THOSE SILICONE ICE CUBE MOLDS YOU USED ONCE AND THEN STUCK SOMEWHERE? Yes, you can use those molds (as long as they're silicone) for this recipe.

All silicone molds are oven, microwave and freezer proof.

Table of Contents

Ingredients

All your 1950s basics. Wheat flour, peanut butter, canned vegetables and egg.

canned beets
flour
activated charcoal
egg
peanut butter

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

1 cup of flour in an ironstone bowl with 2 teaspoons of activated charcoal on top.

Add 1-2 tsps charcoal to 1 cup flour.

A bowl of grey flour that has been coloured with activated charcoal.

2. Mix until completely combined.

Red mixture of wet dog treat ingredients in ironstone bowl.

3. Add 1 tablespoon peanut butter and 1 egg to ½ cup pureed beets. Mix.

Wet ingredients added to dry for natural dog treats.

4. Add wet mixture to centre of flour mixture.

Mixing beets, charcoal, flour and other ingredients for making charcoal dog treats.

5. Mix together by gradually pulling in the flour as you stir.

Charcoal and flour based dog treat dough.

6. It should look like a very sticky dough now.

7. Add in enough of the reserved beet juice and mix until you get a smooth pancake like consistency.

Skull shaped silicone mold for baking or freezing.

8. Grab your silicone skull molds.

Skull shaped silicone molds on baking sheet.

9. Place them on a baking sheet.

Dog treat batter blobbed on top of silicone mould of skulls.

10. Pour ¼ of the batter onto each mold.

Baking charcoal dog treats in silicone moulds on baking sheet.

11. Spread it with a frosting spatula or knife so it fills each skull cavity.

Silicone baking pan with cooked dog black charcoal dog treats.

12. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Remove from molds after cooling a bit.

13. Rebake directly on pan for another 15 minutes for a crunchy treat.

Substitutions

Flour - for dogs with sensitivities, instead of wheat flour, you can use oat flour
Beets - swap out the beets for any pureed vegetable like pumpkin or carrots
Charcoal - if you leave out the charcoal your dog cookies will take on the colour of whatever vegetable you add. Light orange for carrots, or pink with beets ...

Charcoal Skull Dog Treats

Yield: 160 treats

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes

Additional Time: 15 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

The blackest black dog treats for Halloween and other dark days. All healthy ingredients in the spectacular shape of a skull.

Makes 160 skull shaped dog treats.

Ingredients

1 cup flour (wheat or oat)
½ cup pureed canned beets (reserve the liquid)
1-2 tsps Activated Charcoal (1 teaspoon gets you very very dark cookies, 2 tsps gets you jet black)
1 egg
1 tablespoon peanut butter (natural is best)

Instructions

Mix flour & charcoal until an even colour.
Mix wet ingredients together.
Mix dry & wet ingredients together pulling in flour gradually.
Once a sticky dough has formed add enough reserved beet liquid to make a pourable pancake like batter.
Place the molds onto a baking sheet.
Pour a blob of the mixture onto the silicone molds and scrape the top with a frosting spatula to push the mixture into the holes.
For CHEWY dog treats bake for 15 MINUTES at 350 F.
For CRUNCHY dog treats bake for 15 MINUTES then turn the oven off, letting the treats dehydrate in the oven overnight.*

Notes

BAKING

* If you want crunchy treats but don't have all night, you can also bake the treats for 1 full hour at 350 F. They'll be very crunchy when cooled.

STORAGE

Chewy treats need to be refrigerated because of their high moisture content but they're GREAT for older dogs or dogs with sore teeth.

Crunchy treats can be left in an airtight container in a cupboard for a few weeks, but they need to be crunchy all the way through with no discernible moisture.

Storage

A chewy treat will be cooked after 15 minutes but remember chewy treats have more moisture and won't keep as well. If you want them to keep for more than a few days, refrigerate them.

A crispy treat will have no moisture and won't mold. If they are crunchy all the way through they'll have a much longer shelf life than the chewy treats. This means they can be kept in an airtight container on the counter for weeks.

Either crispy or chewy treats can be frozen indefinitely.

See this Kong filler recipe on my website if you prefer no bake treats.

Is Your Dog Farty?

Activated charcoal treats are good for gassy guts.

Obviously I'll be bagging a bunch of these as a Halloween treat for Lip's crew of canines; Sterling, Boo Boo, Charlie, Quinny, Levi, Zuzu and Major.

They're just a standard, run of the mill gang, but these treats I predict will have cult-like status in no time.

Today I Made Black Skull Dog Treats

Ingredients

Instructions

Substitutions