And they look fan-freaking-tastic.
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
- Add 1-2 tsps charcoal to 1 cup flour.
2. Mix until completely combined.
3. Add 1 tablespoon peanut butter and 1 egg to ½ cup pureed beets. Mix.
4. Add wet mixture to centre of flour mixture.
5. Mix together by gradually pulling in the flour as you stir.
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.
8. Grab your silicone skull molds.
9. Place them on a baking sheet.
10. Pour ¼ of the batter onto each mold.
11. Spread it with a frosting spatula or knife so it fills each skull cavity.
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
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.
Recommended Products
I'm an Amazon affiliate some I get a few cents when you buy something I've linked to.
Nutrition Information
Yield 160 Serving Size 1Amount Per Serving Calories 4Total Fat 0gSaturated Fat 0gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 0gCholesterol 1mgSodium 2mgCarbohydrates 1gFiber 0gSugar 0gProtein 0g
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.
Peg
What a fun and interesting dog treat recipe. I bought the molds off temu😬, So stinking cute,the pups loved the finished product. Used pumpkin puree,and to thin a bit, plain kefir. Made them crispy for ease of storage and the dogs love crunchy. Thank you Karen for a fun recipe 💀🖤
Karen
Aren't those molds great?! I didn't think to check Temu. Although I can say I've ordered a few Temu things and sometimes they look the same but aren't the same quality. Like, I bought some cutlery shaped like garden shovels and they're hilariously thin. But I got a mason jar sealer and it's great! ~ karen
Lynn
Lip has the COOLEST mom ever. Looking forward to hearing how many dogs come trick-or-treating at your house once the word gets out!
Robin Willoughby
I’m gonna DO this! It’s different than so many dog treats and I’ve already ordered the skulls cause that’s the best part!! We have 7 dogs from Scottish Deerhounds down to Chinese crested and they are gonna LOVE these!
I do enjoy your blog SO much and have been a fan for years!
Thanks for all the laughs and info!
Karen
Thanks Robin, enjoy! I meant to mention, the stickier the batter is the harder it is to get them in the trays BUT they also bake into better treats that way. ~ karen!
Linda in Illinois
Awesome love it 💀
Karen
Thanks! They turned out way better than I even hoped. ~ karen!
Mark
So fun! I was hoping these were human treats but the charcoal gave it away...
Sabina
These are awesome! I love making my own dog treats. You can buy food safe desiccant packets for storage. Since moving into a house with just crawl space instead of a real basement I’m learning to deal with having more humidity and moisture in a home than I’m accustomed to. I put them in my spice jars to prevent clumping.
Karen
Good thinking on the food safe packets. ~ karen!
Saphira
"All silicone molds are oven proof". Sadly that's not the case. Already had a VERY smelly kitchen twice.
Karen
Hi Saphira! It's possible that what you had was not silicone. There are other materials that look and feel like it, but are not silicone. Actual siicone molds really are oven safe up to something like 430 F. ~ karen!
Randy P
Brilliant and great fun...... not unlike the author. You will be the hit of dog Halloween!