SmartPak Monday Morning Feed: DIY Pumpkin Pony Treats
With fall being in full swing, we all know that means it’s time for pumpkin EVERYTHING. Here’s one pumpkin recipe that your horse will absolutely love!
This was written by Jamie Magallanes and was originally published on the SmartPak blog.
It’s finally fall y’all! It is my favorite time of the year! The weather starts to cool down, the leaves change color and there just seems to be something magical in the air. It’s also my favorite time of the year to bake. Obviously, it’s pumpkin spice everything season, so why not let our four-legged friends join in on the fun! I’ve come up with these delicious (or so I’ve heard) pumpkin spice oatmeal cookies for my horses. I hope yours enjoy just as much as mine do!
Ingredients:
- 4 cups whole oats (quick oats or old-fashioned work well too)
- 1 can pumpkin puree
- 2 cups water
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 ¾ cup whole wheat flour (or regular flour works too)
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp nutmeg
Optional ingredients:
- 1 tbsp honey or molasses – just gives a little extra sweetness and helps bind some of the ingredients together.
- Dash of turmeric – read about the great health benefits of this one here!
- Chia seeds – also has some great health benefits from omega 3’s!
- Sugar free apple sauce, shredded apples, shredded carrots, or mushed banana – this just adds a bit of extra flavor! Maybe if your horse is extra obsessed with a particular flavor, I would add that!
Equipment:
- Mixing bowl
- Mixing spoon or hand mixer
- Measuring cups/spoons
- Cookie sheets
- Spatula
Directions:
Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees and get in the baking mood by lighting a fall candle and sipping on your favorite fall beverage! (Pumpkin spice latte not required, but highly encouraged)
Step 2: Gather all ingredients, a large mixing bowl, your mixing spoon, and measuring cups. You will also need a greased baking pan or sheet.
Step 3: Mix the pumpkin and water together well. At this point the mix will be quite gooey and look more like baby food but keep going! Then add the flour, oats, and spices. Lastly, add the optional ingredients of your choosing. If you had in anymore “wet” ingredients such as applesauce or banana I would recommend cutting the amount of water or pumpkin used. Otherwise, the mix will be too wet at the end.
Step 4: The mix will still be somewhat of a wet mixture, so I found using my hands to make balls wouldn’t work. Using a spoon, I dropped spoonfuls of the mix onto a greased cookie sheet and that seemed to work great. You can make them as large or as small as you like! My horse loves to do tricks for treats, so we always usually give a couple at a time, therefore I tend to make mine small so she can feel like she’s getting lots of treats! I also didn’t care about the shape of them really, but feel free to make it more “pretty” by using a cookie cutter or template of some sort.
Step 5: Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until done. I prefer my treats to be a little crunchier, so sometimes I will leave them in longer. At 20 minutes they are done but still a little soft for my liking. Usually, at 25 minutes the edges will start to brown a little bit, which I prefer. This recipe will yield about 36 cookies but will vary depending on the size you make them!
Step 6: Let the ponies enjoy! Also seems to be toddler approved as my son would take a bite before he shared any!
Go SmartPak and go riding!
