Absolutely The Quickest & Easiest Way To Make Fresh-Baked Dog Treats! (Review Of Dog Biscuit Starter Kit From Cooper’s Treats)

For baking fresh and healthy treats for your dog, the Dog Biscuit Starter Kit from Cooper’s Treats is definitely your best option.

Why?

Because it’s the fastest way that I’ve ever made fresh-baked treats for my dog. EVER!

With the Baked Dog Biscuit Starter Kit from Cooper’s Treats, you can make your own healthy dog treats incredibly fast.

• No gathering individual ingredients.
• No running to the grocery store to buy things.
• No mixing and measuring.
• Just add water!

You’ll see in the pictures that I actually got the Doggie Deluxe Box instead — which includes the contents of BOTH of the Cooper’s Treats starter kits: the baked treats version AND the frozen treats version. But that’s overkill if you simply want to make fresh-baked treats for your dog. You really only need the Baked Dog Biscuit Starter Kit (and it’s half the price).

What’s Included

The Doggie Deluxe Kit (pictured) comes with 2 jars of biscuit mix, 2 jars of pupsicle mix, 2 bone- and paw-shaped silicone molds, 1 silicone lick mat, 3 bone-shaped cookie cutters, and 1 squeaky dog toy.

Again, you DO NOT need the Doggie Deluxe Kit — unless you want to make the frozen version of Cooper’s Treats (Pupsicles), as well.

The Baked Dog Biscuit Starter Kit from Cooper’s Treats comes with 2 jars of the biscuit mix (1 in Turkey & Cinnamon flavor, and 1 in Beef & Cheddar flavor), plus 3 bone-shaped cookie cutters in different sizes.

If you’re thinking of trying the DIY frozen dog treats at some point, you’ll want to read my review of Cooper’s Treats Pupsicles first.

Why I Like The Biscuit Mixes From Cooper’s Treats

First of all… I will go so far as to say that it would be IMPOSSIBLE for me to whip up a batch of fresh-baked dog treats any faster than I can when I’m using the Cooper’s Treats Dog Biscuit Mix.

You see, these are pre-made DIY dog treat mixes in a jar that you just add water to.

Easy peasy!

Not only are these homemade dog treat mixes quick & easy to make — they’re also healthy for your dog:

• They include only a handful of ingredients.
• They’re all-natural ingredients.
• They’re made with real meat.
• Each baked dog biscuit from the Cooper’s Treat Biscuit Mix is about 15 calories.
• They’re made in the USA (all ingredients and manufacturing).

I like to be fully aware of what I’m feeding my dogs – and have a clear understanding of the ingredients that are in their dog food AND in their treats. One of the biggest reasons I was attracted to Cooper’s Dog Treats Mixes was because of their ingredients.

Cooper’s Dog Treat Mixes don’t contain any salt, sugar, preservatives, artificial colors, or artificial flavorings.

Here’s what is in Cooper’s Treats:

Turkey & Cinnamon Biscuit Mix Ingredients: Whole wheat flour, freeze-dried turkey, whole grain rolled oats, nonfat dry milk, whole egg protein, and cinnamon.

Beef & Cheddar Biscuit Mix Ingredients: Whole wheat flour, freeze-dried beef, whole grain rolled oats, nonfat dry milk, whole egg protein, cheddar cheese powder, and dried parsley.

No skills are necessary. You do not need to have any prior experience making dog treats… or even baking… or anything like that. (But take note of my dog treat baking tips below!)

Everything you need is included – from the healthy and meaty powder mix to the cookie cutters. The only things you’ll need are a cookie sheet to make the dog biscuits on, a small bowl for mixing, and some water from the kitchen faucet.

Reasons To Keep These Pre-Made Mixes On Hand

• They’re great for winter months — or any time of year that you feel like baking and making your house smell good.
• They’re perfect for those times when you want to provide some unique dog treats that would be a change from your dog’s usual treats.
• Any time you want to make special treats for your dog, but you can’t (or don’t want to) make a trip to the grocery store to buy all of the ingredients, you’ll appreciate having these pre-made dog treat mixes on hand. Just open a jar of Cooper’s Treats Biscuit Mix, add water, and you’ll have all-natural dog treats in no time!

My Experience Making Cooper’s Baked Dog Biscuits (+ Tips!)

I’m not much of a baker in the kitchen, so I’ve experimented a bit and made several batches of Cooper’s Baked Dog Biscuits at this point.

I’ve got some tips for you…

Thick vs. Thin Dog Biscuits

The 3 bone-shaped cookie cutters included are super sturdy – a really good bonus item in the kit! However… don’t do what I did at first with them.

I thought you were supposed to “fill” the entire height of the cookie cutter with the dog treat mix. Wrong! You won’t get many individual dog treats that way — just a few really thick ones. TIP: Press the “dough” into a very thin layer first – and then use a cookie cutter to make really thin dog biscuits. 

For my next batch, I followed the instructions to a tee and made really thin cookies using the smallest-size cookie cutter that was included. (You get the most baked treats per jar this way – 2 dozen.) The only downside is they’re super thin and crunchy… which means more crumbs when your dog is eating one.

For another batch, I wanted to make a dog treat that fell somewhere in between thick and thin. So I made semi-thick dog bone shaped treats using the medium-size cookie cutter that’s included (filling the cookie cutter just over half-way to the top). I baked them 5 minutes LESS than the instructions said. The end result: They were slightly crunchy on the outside and they held together really well on the inside – kinda chewy. That’s exactly the way I like my own cookies, so I consider this a win. And no crumbs!

Working With The Biscuit Mix

In my experience, it is slightly awkward working with the “dough” after mixing the Dog Biscuit mix with water.

After mixing it up with a fork, I used my hands to smash the dough flat – so I could then use the dog bone-shaped cookie cutters to make individual dog biscuits. But the dough just stuck to my hands as I was pressing. (My husband also made a couple batches of the Cooper’s dog treats, pictured here.)

TIP: Put flour on your hands first! Also, the wetter the dough is, the easier it is to work with. You could get your fingers wet before working with the dough – which helps a bit, but it’s not as good as using flour. And don’t forget dip the cookie cutters in flour each time, too!

Prepping The Cookie Sheet

I (clearly!) don’t bake a lot. And when I do, it’s usually low-fat stuff – so I don’t use a lot of oils and sprays. I rarely prep or spray my pans — I use parchment paper on a cookie sheet most times.

The first time I made Cooper’s Biscuits, I used a piece of parchment paper as the surface to flatten and cut out the individual dog biscuits. TIP: Use waxed paper for this step instead! 

During the prep, when I noticed the dough sticking so firmly to the parchment paper, I figured I probably shouldn’t also bake the dog biscuits on the parchment paper. I guess I was wrong.

Without parchment paper (or any type of cooking spray on the cookie sheet), my first batch of dog biscuits stuck to the pan. Using a sturdy spatula to get underneath the cooked biscuits didn’t help much — the entire bottom layer each dog biscuit remained firmly stuck to the pan. TIP: Spray some PAM on the cookie sheet first!  

TIP: You’ll have the best experience if you flour your hands, the countertop, the cookie cutters, AND the dog treat mixture itself prior to flattening the dough and using the cookie cutters. And don’t forget to put cooking spray on the pan, too!

Here’s the official video from Cooper’s Treats showing how quick & easy it is to make the Baked Dog Biscuits:

---

(For what it’s worth…I didn’t discover the instruction video until after I had made several batches.)

The Bottom Line

Using a pre-made mix like Cooper’s Dog Treat Mixes is definitely THE easiest way to make homemade dog treats! 

These meat-based powder mixes save a lot of time and energy:

• You don’t have to waste time running around to various stores in search of natural, healthy (and affordable!) ingredients to make homemade dog treats. The best ingredients for the best flavor have been found and put into Cooper’s Baked Biscuit Mixes.
• You don’t have to buy all of the separate ingredients yourself and then wonder where you’re going to store the remaining ingredients that are leftover… until the next time you decide to make dog treats. The research and the leg work has all been done for you!
• You don’t have to mix and measure lots of ingredients and then hope that the treats will turn out to be a consistency that works and a flavor that your dog will enjoy. Cooper’s Baked Biscuit Mixes create the perfect dog treats every time!

The only “downside” I can think of is the fact that these baked dog biscuits can be a little messy to make. However, if you watch the instructional video first (unlike me!), you will see how quick & easy (and NON-messy) Cooper’s Treats are to make. Plus, the convenience trumps the little bit of mess that I experienced anyway! (Super simple steps and a pre-made mix are hard to beat.)

---

Some may think that the price (just under $30 a box for 4 dozen dog treats) sounds like a lot… but it’s not really. It comes to about 60 cents per dog treat AND you get the reusable cookie cutters AND you get the personal enjoyment of making them yourself. This is the same price you’d pay for dog cookies at pet stores and far less than the price you’d pay for a gourmet dog treat that’s fresh baked ($1.50 to $3 apiece!) — and it’s exactly what other companies are charging for their DIY dog treat mixes.

As for flavors…

While my dogs seem to like the Turkey & Cinnamon ones best (I think it’s the Cinnamon that captivates them), they couldn’t get their nose out of the kitchen no matter which flavor I happened to be baking at the time. (Alex, the owner of Cooper’s Treats says that Beef & Cheddar is the most popular flavor.)

For what it’s worth, I will be adding Cinnamon to my dogs’ homemade treats from now on — because it makes the kitchen smell nice. And my dogs love it!

Here’s more about why I like Cooper’s Treats, the story behind this dog-loving company, the products they gave me to review, and my all-time favorite homemade dog treat recipes.