Dog Treat IcingHaving trouble finding a good dog treat icing? Look no further. Here are several easy options for dog treat frosting and dog cookie icing that will make your dog cookies look professional!
Photo by My Life Story in Malasia/flckr
I did a lot of searching for dog treat icing before I decided what I would use. I know that dogs can eat some sugar and it doesn’t affect their teeth nearly as much as sugar does ours. But, at the same time, I’ve always believed that sugar was inherently harmful to both people and animals. So I still wanted to keep the sugar to an absolute minimum! I also wanted to find easy dog treat icing ideas, but they needed to be as healthy as possible. I decided that I would keep the sugar to a minimum by using two methods. First, the recipes that I used were as low in sugar in possible. And second, I just used less icing on the dog treats. Have fun and experiment with different dog treat recipes until you find the ones that you and your dog like best! Here are the dog treat frostings that I use: Carob CoatingThis looks like the chocolate that you use to coat Easter eggs. In order to use it as a dog treat icing on dog treats or dog cookies, you need to melt it. The best way to do this is to use a double boiler on top of the stove.
Photo by Jessica Merz/flckr
Carob is naturally sweet. In some countries it is actually used as a sweetener. The sweetened carob coating that you buy from a bakery supplier does have some sugar, but it’s not a huge quantity. One way to get around the sugar issue is to purchase unsweetened carob chips and melt them. You would use them the same way, except that you may have to thin the melted carob because the carob chips were designed for a different purpose. Carob also has a chocolate-like flavor that is very pleasing. I found it to be a pretty good compromise for dog treat icing because it doesn’t have too much sugar and the dogs really like it! I like to substitute half carob in a recipe (for people) that calls for chocolate. Most people won't know the difference, and carob increases the nutritional value (and lowers the guilt factor) of your baked chocolate goodies! Heating the Carob CoatingCarob coating can burn easily and when it gets too hot, the consistency can change and become kind of lumpy. To prevent this, you can heat the water in the bottom of the double boiler (with the top removed) and then, when it is boiling, remove it from the heat and put the top (with the carob in it) over the hot water. The carob coating will usually melt pretty well this way. The advantage is that you won’t burn or overheat the carob.Thining the Carob CoatingSometimes the carob coating gets too thick, especially if you heat it a second time. If this happens, use 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil or shortening and mix it in with the coating. Don’t go overboard with this or your coating will get TOO soft and never harden!ApplicationThere are a couple of ways that you can apply the carob coating. You can apply it like you would frost a cake—using a non-serrated knife. Or, you can dip part or all of the dog cookie into the melted carob. Or, lastly, you can drizzle interesting patterns onto your homemade dog cookies. I just use a spoon to do this, but you can get creative with the drizzle method!DecorationsDog treat icing is sometimes just fine by itself. But, there may be occasions when you would like to dress up your dog cookies. An easy way to do this is to sprinkle chopped peanuts, bulghur, or colored sprinkles on top of the carob while it is still soft.If you use sprinkles, consider the colors that you use carefully. I found that dark colors like red and green (Christmas) do not show up very well when they are sprinkled on top of carob. Instead, choose lighter colors that will have a greater contrast.
Yogurt Coating for Dog Cookie IcingYogurt coating is very close to carob coating. You would heat it the same way, thin it the same way and apply it the same way as a carob coating dog treat icing.
Yogurt coating is white and it also contains some sugar. To color yogurt coating, you can use natural ingredients like tumeric (yellow), beet powder (red), or spinach powder (green) or food colorings. Decorate your dog treats with yogurt coating the same way that you would decorate the carob coated cookies. Except that you now can use any color sprinkles or decorations but white or pale colors like yellow or pale pink. In other words, white as a background will show off almost all the colors that you use to decorate. The key, of course, is to get a nice contrast. I like using yogurt coating for holidays like Christmas because you can really be creative with the topping. Red and green show up very nicely on white. You can make really nice gifts for people (and their dogs) using yogurt coating. Decorating dog treats or cookies for a party makes the occasion more festive. Making hostess gifts to take with you when you go to a party or picnic. You get the idea...
Candy MeltsCandy melts are wafers of white or regular chocolate that are used in making candy. It’s really easy. You just melt the wafers and then put the melted chocolate into candy molds. Chill them and then remove the hardened candy from the molds.You can use the white chocolate wafers (and the colored white chocolate wafers) to frost your dog treats. Handle these the same as you would carob coating or yogurt coating.
A word of caution, though - Do not, under any circumstances, use milk chocolate or dark chocolate wafers on your dog cookies or dog treats! Chocolate can be deadly for your dog! Please do not misunderstand. I am NOT recommending that you use regular chocolate on your homemade dog treats. Only white chocolate! (If your white chocolate is from a country outside the US, you may not be safe using white chocolate, either.) Read about chocolate by clicking on the link above to learn more. The advantage of using candy melts as a dog treat icing is that they come in a variety of wonderful colors—and you don’t have to do a thing to color them. The disadvantage to using these is that they contain more sugar than the other coatings, so, if you decide to use these, use them sparingly. Royal IcingRoyal icing is used by professionals to decorate cakes and cookies. It can be used effectively as a dog treat icing because it hardens—like a rock! That means that this homemade icing can be sent through the mail and it will stay fresh for a long time.
I found that the best way to use this dog treat icing is to apply a thin coat to the dog cookie and then decorate with dots, lines, etc. on top of that. When I just tried to put dots, lines, etc. right on the cookie, it sometimes didn’t stick very well, and the cookies certainly don’t ship very well. Royal icing can be colored easily, using the methods above. The main disadvantage is that, as you can see, it’s mostly sugar. That having been said, you can still use this for some dog treats—just don’t overdo it! To make the royal icing, beat the ingredients with your mixer until they form a stiff peak. Use the icing immediately—and I do mean immediately—as it hardens VERY fast! Also, don’t increase the amount of the recipe. Keep it small or you’ll end up throwing some of the icing away because it got too hard! Here are the ingredients for Royal Icing
Using dog treat icing is a fun and easy way to really "dress up" your homemade gourmet dog treats!
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