- thortful has collaborated with the RSPCA to create festive recipes for your dogs
- Over half of Brits (53%) plan to make Christmas extra special for their pet
- Nearly a quarter (23%) are planning to give their pet a Christmas meal this year
Christmas is a time for joy and coming together as a family, but we all know that this year is going to be harder for a lot of families as they deal with the cost-of-living crisis. Millions of Brits will be searching for ways to cut down costs while still making this a magical time for everyone, whether you’ve got two legs or four. One way to cut back is with festive cooking recipes.
Proving we’re a nation of animal lovers, a poll of pet owners in the UK revealed that we love to treat our furry friends at Christmas. Over half (53%) of Brits are planning to make Christmas special for their pet, and nearly a quarter (23%) are planning to give their pet a Christmas meal this year.
With this in mind, greetings card marketplace thortful has partnered with the RSPCA to create a delicious selection of festive Christmas treats, recipes and snacks for your favourite furry friend.
So why not get everyone in the kitchen and make some treats for your four-legged friend yourself? On the menu, there are pooch-friendly mini festive puddings and doggy stocking filler biscuits – perfect for your pooch this Christmas!
Pooch-Friendly Mini Festive Puddings
Spoil your pooch this festive season and give this festive pudding recipe a go:
Ingredients:
- 60g of peanut butter (Warning! make sure it’s xylitol-free so it’s dog safe)
- 7 tablespoons of whole-wheat flour
- 1 egg
- 1 pot of coconut or soy yoghurt
- 1 handful of dried cranberries
How to make mini festive puddings:
- Start off by preheating your oven to 175°C.
- In a small pan, slowly soften up the peanut butter. Make sure not to overdo it otherwise you’ll end up with burnt peanut butter… yuck!
- Take off the heat and slowly stir in your flour until there are no lumps or visible flour.
- Crack in the egg and mix together to form a dough.
- Sprinkle a dusting of flour on a nearby surface and roll the dough into small bite-sized balls using your hands. Place them onto a baking sheet as you go.
- Bake in the oven for around 25 minutes or until you think they look golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and leave them to cool.
- When you’re ready to dish up, pour some yoghurt on top along with a handful of dried cranberries.
Doggy Stocking Filler Biscuits
As a part of the family, our dogs deserve a stocking on Christmas morning, too.
Ingredients:
- 250ml of water
- 1 mashed banana
- 1 egg
- 1 tablespoon of honey
- 600g of whole-wheat flour
- 1teaspoon of baking powder
How to Make Stocking Filler Biscuit
- Start by preheating your oven to 180 degrees Celcius and lightly grease two large baking sheets, making sure to get every nook and cranny.
- Mash up your banana into a large bowl and combine your water, mashed banana, egg and honey.
- After that, it’s time to stir in the whole-wheat flour and baking powder, which should leave you with a dough
- Beat the dough on medium speed in an electric mixer until you feel like all the ingredients are properly mixed together.
- Flour a nearby work surface and knead the dough until it’s not sticky.
- Roll out your dough around 1/4 inch thick and then use your favourite cookie cutter to cut it into small shapes. For extra festive fun, go for something like Christmas trees or snowmen or there’s always the classic bone shape!
- Once you’ve used all the dough, place your shapes onto the baking sheets.
- Pop into the oven until they’re looking a lovely light brown in colour, normally about 20 minutes or so.
- Turn off the oven and leave them for another 3-40 minutes until they become dry and crisp.
- carefully take the baking sheets out of the oven, letting them cool for 10 minutes before moving them onto a wire rack to fully cool.
- Now your pooch can crunch on their new favourite biscuit!
Christmas Dinner Leftovers
Everyone loves a Christmas dinner, and that goes for animals too. But which parts of a Christmas dinner are actually safe for animals to eat?
- Turkey – The staple and centrepiece of a Christmas dinner, you can feed a little leftover turkey to your dogs and cats as long as it has been de-boned, and no gravy has been poured over it.
- Pig in blankets – While you might think pigs in blankets are safe for pets, being made from processed meats means they’re not suitable for animals as they have high salt and fat content.
- Stuffing – Unfortunately, due to being high in salt and other artificial ingredients, stuffing isn’t animal friendly. Any leftovers should be eaten by yourself (that’s what leftover sandwiches on Boxing Day are for).
- Brussels sprouts – Love them or hate them, Brussels sprouts are a quintessential part of a traditional Christmas dinner – but if you’re not a fan, you can leave any unwanted sprouts out for badgers and foxes to enjoy.
- Carrots – Leftover carrots can be fed to dogs. Foxes and badgers also enjoy nibbling on carrots. Maybe that’s why these critters can see in the dark so well!
- Peas – If you’ve got any leftover peas on your plate, these can be left out for badgers and foxes.
- Potatoes – Whether you prefer your potatoes boiled, roasted, baked or mashed, birds and badgers will also enjoy feasting on them around Christmas day too.
To view the full collection of festive recipes, please visit here.
A spokesperson at thortful said “we’re really excited to launch our charity partnership with the RSPCA – at thortful we love our furry friends, and we know our customers do too. Obviously, we believe that all animals deserve love and care all year round, but we know that this winter will be a tough one for lots of people. But together, we can help make Christmas a better time for everyone and that’s why we’ve launched festive recipes that you can make at home for your pet. Our research has shown over half of pet owners plan to make Christmas special for their pet, and our mission is to ensure that the festive season and beyond is fun for all the family.”
To get involved and do an extra good deed to make it onto Santa’s nice list in time for Christmas, every time you buy a thortful RSPCA Christmas Card, they will give £1 to the RSPCA. Click here to see the full collection of RSPCA Christmas cards.
