Happy Balls

Ever since my sweet Angel had her cancer scare (which resulted in surgery) I have become a crazed woman to prevent this from happening ever again.

I started researching and found a lot of it is “supposedly” food based.  I say “supposedly” because I take everything I read online with a grain of salt.  However, I was going to buy what Google was selling and start making my own dog food and dog treats.  So where could I go to find a plethora of recipes?  Pinterest.  Of course. 

I found a moderately easy recipe and decided to give it whirl.

So cute and professional looking right???

I decided to make some slight changes to the ingredients.  Everything (food wise) I obtained from Trader Joes so everything was budget friendly.

It started out great.  I even felt smug about how fabulous and amazing these treats would be/look.

Well my dough didn’t cut into the cute heart and unicorn shapes as I expected. Instead it turned into a gob of a mess so I decided to settle for balls.

I have now deemed these “Happy Balls”.  They may not look pretty but my dogs go CRAZY for them and I get that warm fuzzy feeling knowing I made them from scratch for my fur babies.

Happy Balls

(note: These keep for about a week.  I ended up only using 1/4 the dough and froze the rest.  Takes about 24 hours to defrost in the fridge to use later)

Ingredients

• 2 slices turkey bacon, diced 
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 2 large eggs 
• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 3 cups whole wheat flour, or more, as needed
• 1 tbl spn flax seed

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray a baking sheet with coconut oil spray (available at most stores and Trader Joes)
• Heat a large skillet over medium high heat. I used coconut oil and slowly increased the heat to prevent smoking.  Add turkey bacon and cook until lightly browned, about 6-8 minutes; set aside.
• In a medium sized bowl add pumpkin puree and eggs and beat with a flat cooking paddle for about 1-2 minutes. Gradually add old fashioned oats and 2 1/2 cups flour, beating just until incorporated. Add an additional 1/4 cup flour at a time just until the dough is no longer sticky. Add bacon and flax seed.  If there is any left over coconut oil in frying pan feel free to also add to the mix!
• Working on a lightly floured surface, knead the dough 3-4 times until it comes together.  You can try rolling with a pin and using cookie cutters but this did not work for me.  So I opted to make 1 inch balls.  Line baking sheet with balls about an 1 1/2 inches apart.
• Place into oven and bake until the edges are golden brown or balls seem lightly browned. Usually 20-30 minutes. 
• Let cool completely.