NYC chefs creating dog treats using allnatural ingredients
THESE TREATS ARE something to bark about.
Dog food doesn’t have to mean canned meat by-products or drab dry snacks with unappealing ingredients. New York chefs and bakers are whipping up homemade bites for pooches using tasty all-natural additives like honey, yogurt, oats and even carob as a pet-friendly alternative to chocolate.
“Chefs are now thinking about fourlegged customers who often accompany their owners around the city,” celebrity chef Rachael Ray, an early pioneer of the homemade dog food trend, tells the Daily News. “We have the best restaurants in the world and why should that be any different for our pets?”
Ray uses real ingredients like pumpkin puree, dried peas, turkey and sweet potato in her Nutrish line of all-natural dog and cat food that she started seven years ago after being inspired by her rescue dog Boo.
Why give a dog a bone, when you can give one a beefy burger, pupcake, or pumpkin peanut butter flavored biscuit?
Feed Fido these homemade snacks from area eateries — and fetch a few treats for yourself while you’re there.
Doggie Cupcakes $2.50 each at Sprinkles Cupcakes, various locations including Brookfield Place and on the Upper East Side, visit sprinkles.com
Before the chain Sprinkles became a reality, the owner’s dog accidently got to taste test all her recipes.
“When I was developing recipes for the bakery, Honey, my Norwich Terrier, would run around the kitchen licking any crumb which had fallen from the counter,” says Candace Nelson.
“It was clear that she would need a special treat made just for her,” she adds.
Today, doggie cupcakes — made with flour, honey and a yogurt-based frosting — are sold in stores and out front at signature Cupcake ATMs at most locations so owners can grab a snack for their pooch, and themselves, on the go.
For a sweet and savory fix, owners can try the new Olive Oil cupcakes ($3.75 each). This butterless cupcake is made with extra virgin olive oil and drizzled with an orange glaze and rosemary.