Homemade mini donkey treats! Your mini donkey is wonderful. Maybe they’re good at corralling animals, doing fun tricks or perhaps they’ve given birth to healthy young donkeys that are a big help on your farm. Either way, you’d like to thank them for their hard work with some homemade treats. What kind of delights can you whip up for your mini donkey?
The following six treats should make your mini donkey very happy:
- Popgrain balls
- Flax Snax
- Apple and carrot treats
- No-bake cookies
- Carrot treats
- Ultimate donkey cookie
These recipes work for either horses or mini donkeys, so feel free to treat all your equestrian friends with them. In this article, we’ll tell you how to make each of these recipes, including ingredients and steps to follow.
Six Homemade Mini Donkey Treats from the Heart
Popgrain Balls
Our first yummy treat for mini donkeys is these Popgrain balls. They make for a fantastic alternative to the grain balls you typically buy at your farm supply store. Not only do they cost a lot less, but since they’re homemade, you can control all the ingredients in the treats.
Ingredients
Here’s what you need to make your own Popgrain balls for your favorite mini donkey:
- Sweet feed (3 quarts, including some kettle corn, grain, and oats)
- Vanilla (1 teaspoon)
- Salt (1/4 teaspoon)
- Water (1 cup)
- Light Karo syrup (1/3 cup)
- Dry molasses or sugar (1 cup)
Steps
- Combine your water, light Karo syrup, and dry molasses in a heat-safe bowl or container.
- Cook them until the mixture reaches 280 degrees Fahrenheit. You can use a food or candy thermometer for testing temperature. The ingredients should look somewhat cracked when they’re ready.
- Mix in your vanilla and salt, stirring until they’re incorporated.
- Now add in the sweet feed, including the kettle corn, grains, and oats. The mixture should have solidified somewhat to the point where it’s malleable.
- Grab a pan and lay out a sheet of wax paper on top.
- Use butter or another greaser for your hands, making sure they’re well-coated. Next, take the mixture bit by bit, about a handful at a time. Roll the Popgrain mix into balls.
- Add each ball to the pan. Give them some time in your pantry or even in the fridge so they set.
Flax Snax
The sweetness of these Flax Snax can be attributed to ingredients like molasses, cinnamon, and coconut oil. They’re such a tasty delight that you might feel inclined to nibble on one or two of them yourself! Don’t worry, we won’t tell.
Ingredients
Make sure you have the following ingredients when preparing mini donkey Flax Snax:
- Molasses (1/2 cup)
- Cinnamon (1/2 teaspoon)
- Baking powder (1/2 teaspoon)
- Baking soda (1/2 teaspoon)
- Coconut oil (3 tablespoons)
- Flax meal (3/4 cup)
- Flour (1 cup)
- Oats (1 cup)
Steps
- Set your oven to preheat at 350 degrees.
- Grab a big mixing bowl and add in your flour and oats. It’s recommended you use Quaker Oats for this recipe instead of the oats you might buy for your mini donkey at a farm supply store.
- Plugin your food processor and add the cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, coconut oil, and flax meal. Blend them until the ingredients are well incorporated.
- Stir in your flour and oats to the blended mix (although not in the food processor).
- Now pour in your molasses.
- Mix the ingredients together in the bowl. They should form something like a dough.
- Take a cookie sheet and use butter or Pam to grease the entire surface.
- With a spoon or your hands, take small portions of the Flax Snax and put them on the cookie sheet. Each ball should be about a tablespoon in size.
- If you feel inclined, you can even coat the balls in edible glitter.
- Put the Flax Snax in the oven and let them cook over 15 minutes.
- Now add colored sugar if you want the Flax Snax to look even more fun.
- Let them cook for at least five minutes more, perhaps 10 minutes.
Apple and Carrot Treats
These delectable and healthy treats combine the fresh crispness of apples with the tastiness of carrots. With some cinnamon, molasses, and applesauce, you sweeten up these homemade mini donkey treats even further.
Ingredients
You need the following ingredients for these apple and carrot treats:
- Cinnamon (1 teaspoon)
- Flour (1 cup)
- Oats (1 cup)
- Molasses (1/4 cup)
- Applesauce (2 tablespoons)
- Apple, grated (1 cup)
- Carrots, grated (1 cup)
Steps
- Turn on your oven and let it preheat until it reaches 350 degrees.
- Grab a bowl. Add in your molasses, applesauce, apples, and carrots. You need one whole small apple and about two carrots for this recipe.
- Stir the ingredients until they’re mixed.
- Take the mix and grab a handful, rolling it into a ball shape. Each ball should be about an inch. Keep doing this until you run out ofthe mix.
- Prepare a baking sheet, covering it in parchment paper.
- Line the baking sheet with the apple and carrot balls.
- Put them in the oven for at least 20 minutes. Leave them in for 25 minutes if they haven’t turned golden brown.
No-Bake Cookies
In the summertime when you don’t feel like turning on the oven, these no-bake cookies save the day. Your mini donkey will love them, and you might, too! It’s okay if you snack on them. You have to make sure they’re ready for your donkey, after all.
Ingredients
Dig through your pantry for these ingredients for these no-bake equestrian cookies:
- Apple chips, crunched (1/4th the bag of chips)
- Granola or unsweetened puffed wheat (3/4 cup)
- Uncooked oats, old-fashioned or quick (1 cup)
- Milk (3/4 cup)
- Powdered sugar (3/4 cup)
- Sun butter or peanut butter (1/2 cup)
Steps
- Take a big bowl and add all your ingredients except the milk, sugar, peanut butter, and oats. Stir everything together.
- Now pour in the above ingredients, saving the oats for later. Stir again until everything is mixed.
- Now you can put in your oats.
- Cover a baking sheet with wax paper.
- Take about a teaspoon of the mixture and put it on the baking sheet, repeating until you’re out of “cookie dough.”
- Leave the cookies to firm up. You can also give them a short time in the fridge to help them along.
Carrot Treats
These carrot treats are different from the ones we covered before because they don’t have any apples in them. They’re also loaded with even more carrot. We suggest baking both these treats and the apple ones for your mini donkey at some point!
Ingredients
A lot of the same ingredients used in the prior homemade treat recipes also come in handy here. They are:
- Sweet feed or mini donkey feed (1/2 cup)
- Flour (1 cup)
- Oats (1 cup)
- Molasses (1/4 cup)
- Vegetable oil (2 tablespoons)
- Carrots, grated (2 cups)
Steps
- Turn on your oven and let it preheat until it reaches 350 degrees.
- Put your molasses, vegetable oil, and carrots into a sizable bowl. To get two cups, you need about four big carrots.
- Turn on your mixer and blend the ingredients together. You can also do so by hand if you don’t have a stand mixer, but it’s going to take a lot of elbow grease due to the molasses and its stickiness.
- Now pour in your donkey feed, flour, oats, and salt, stirring further either by hand or with a mixer. You should have something that’s like dough with a sticky texture.
- Take the mix a handful at a time, rolling each bit into a ball that’s an inch. A scooper can keep your hands dry and un-sticky.
- Take a clean, unused baking sheet and cover it in parchment paper. Put each of the carrot treats on there.
- Give them some time to cook in your oven, between 20 and 25 minutes. They should be golden brown when they’re done.
Ultimate Donkey Cookie
Anything with the word “ultimate” in the name sounds like a fitting treat for your mini donkey. That’s why you’ve got to try making this cookie at least once. It’s packed with ingredients your mini donkey adores.
Ingredients
Get ready to make the Ultimate Cookie with these ingredients:
- Vegetable oil (2 to 3 tablespoons)
- Oats (2 ½ cups)
- Honey or molasses (1 cup)
- Apple (whole)
- Carrot (whole)
Steps
- Set your oven to preheat so it reaches 325 degrees.
- Take your whole apple and grate it. Repeat the same with your carrot.
- Dump your ingredients, including the apple and carrot, into a large bowl. Stir everything together.
- Place the cookies on a baking sheet so each one is about a spoonful big.
- Bake them in your oven for at least 30 minutes, 40 minutes max. They should turn golden brown when they’re done.
Conclusion
The next time you’re training or you want to surprise your mini donkey, you don’t have to go to the farm supply store to do it. Instead, you can make them any of these six delicious homemade treats. Packed with healthful but tasty ingredients, your mini donkey will surely gobble these goodies up in no time!
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