Trooper’s Trophy Best of Breed Brownies

photo courtesy of Jill Wagner Photography

This is recipe is for our good buddy Trooper (GCH Yukon’s Easy Trooper RN).  He loves it when his mom bakes brownies but sadly cant have them because there is chocolate in them.  Chocolate is toxic to dogs.  So here is a safe alternative for Trooper and all his 4 paw pals to enjoy.

Carob does not contain theobromine or caffeine and is a safe alternative to Chocolate.

• 1/4 cup vegetable oil or bacon drippings
• 3 1/2 Tablespoons carob powder (Health food stores like Whole Foods sells this)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup honey
• 1/2 cup yogurt (I use nonfat vanilla)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla
• 2 1/2 cup whole wheat flour (I use the white whole wheat because it is ground finer)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• Frosting (recipe below)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and grease an 8″ baking pan.  Combine oil/drippings and carob powder with 1 cup water in saucepan and bring to a boil then remove from heat.  Allow liquid to cool back to room temperate.   Mix in the honey, yogurt, eggs and vanilla.  Then mix in the flour and baking powder.  Spread batter in the prepared baking dish and bake for 30-35 minutes until the brownies start to pull away from the pan’s edges.  Cool to room temperature, frost (recipe below), and cut into squares.

*Store in air tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or freeze.

Carob Cream Cheese Frosting

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 3 Tablespoons carob powder
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla

Combine ingredients and beat til smooth.  Frost room temperature treats.