"> Michelle @ A Tipsy Giraffe - A Tipsy Giraffe - Page 26

Mango Mascarpone Tart

A creamy and sweet mascarpone tart with a hint of cinnamon and mango puree swirls in a sweet pastry crust 

Mango mascarpone tart

Hey, it’s the weekend again! It seems to come around more quickly when you work weekends! My weekend is in the middle of week, that came and went by at lightning speed of course! I did spend my two days off baking though, so it wasn’t wasted. This Mango Mascarpone tart was baked a couple weeks back though, this is just the first chance I’ve had to post it up. 

Mango mascarpone tart

I made this tart because I had some mascarpone left over from a cheesecake and I had a mango that needed using up, so I got to thinking what I could bake with them and this is what I came up with. However, by the time I got around to baking it the mascarpone was past it’s use by date and the mango had gone way too soft. So I went out and bought a mango and more mascarpone, which kind of defied the whole reason I was making it in the first place but once I get a bake in my head I have to make it! And I’m glad I followed through with this tart, because it was absolutely delicious. The creamy mascarpone combined with the sweet and tropical tasting mango is just a match made in heaven. 

Mango mascarpone tart

I put a little cinnamon in the mascarpone too and I know what you’re thinking “oh there goes Michelle with her cinnamon obsession again!” and you’d be half right, but the cinnamon is really an amazing addition (I always say that, I know, but it always is!) it really compliments the mango. Try it and you’ll see what I mean, it just wouldn’t be as good without the cinnamon. The pastry is one of my favourite sweet pastry recipes, I use an egg for the liquid because I love the richness it gives the pastry and it gives it a nice, non soggy, softness that I really like. If you prefer a crunch to your pastry (sometimes I do too) or you have an egg allergy, I’ll put a note in the recipe on how to swap out the egg. 

Mango mascarpone tart

This tart went down very well in my house, my usual taste testers (my mum’s work colleagues) didn’t get a look in on this one, my mum and I polished the whole thing off ourselves! What it made me realise is I really don’t bake with mascarpone or mango enough, so don’t be surprised if you see an increase of these ingredients in my recipes because I plan to do some experimenting with them! Although I’ll have to be a bit more careful with the mango in the future, I almost lost a pinky finger slicing up this mango! 

Mango mascarpone tart

This is a nice and easy dessert to put together too. You’ll need to bake the pastry of course, but the rest doesn’t need any baking. The hardest part, as always, is the waiting time for it to chill and set. I’m not a patient person, waiting to dig in is always the hardest part! It’s just a matter of whipping the ingredients together, pouring it into the case, swirling the mango in and putting it in the fridge – easy! The filling is quite liquidy and like me you might be worried it won’t hold when cut, but it’ll surprise you – I was sure I’d messed this up when I put it in the fridge, I didn’t think it would set enough, but I was wrong! Thanks for that one science! 

Mango mascarpone tart

I’m gonna be bringing this delicious tart along to Fiesta Friday this week and hopefully bring a little mango sunshine to the part goers since most of us are still braving nasty winter weather! Nothing like a party to brighten up the day too! Especially with our awesome co hosts – Tina and JuJu

I’m just going to apologise in advance if I’m a little distracted and absent over the next couple of weeks- my mum is having a big operation today and while it’s not a risky surgery in itself it is very, very long (which is always scary) and the recovery time is going to be very long and painful. So I’ll be helping her out a fair bit and generally be fretting like the anxious person I am! Of course, maybe the opposite will happen and I’ll be blogging more as a distraction – I guess only time will tell. In the mean time though, any positive vibes and thoughts for my mum would be greatly appreciated! 

I’ll always be around on Instagram and such though, and I’d love to see what you guys are up to on social media, You can find me on Twitter,Instagram,Pinterest and Facebook

 [wpcb id=”1″]

Mango Mascarpone Tart
Creamy mascarpone tart with a hint of cinnamon and swirled with mango puree, in a sweet pastry case
Write a review
Print
For the pastry
  1. 200g plain flour (all purpose)
  2. 2 tbsp icing sugar (confectioners/powdered)
  3. 120g butter, cold and cubed
  4. 1 egg yolk
  5. 2 tbsp cold water
For the mango puree
  1. 1 mango, sliced into chunks
  2. 1 tbsp sugar
  3. 1 tbsp water
For the mascarpone filling
  1. 240g full fat mascarpone
  2. 150g natural yogurt
  3. 1 tbsp icing sugar (confectioners/powdered)
  4. 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
Instructions
  1. To make the pastry, sift the flour and icing sugar into a food processor bowl. Add the cold butter and process until you have a crumbly texture.
  2. Beat the egg yolk with water and with the motor running on the food processor gradually pour egg mixture in. Process until the dough comes together. If you don't have a food processor, rub the butter into the flour using your fingers, a pastry cutter or two forks until you have crumbly texture, then stir in egg mixture to form dough.
  3. Form dough into a ball and flatten into disk, wrap in cling film and chill in fridge for at least 30 minutes.
  4. Line the bottom of a 9" tart tin with parchment paper and lightly grease the sides.
  5. Remove pastry from fridge and lightly dust surface with flour, roll pastry out into a large circle around 2mm thick. Use your rolling pin to pick up the pastry and drape over the tin, gently press pastry to line tin. Place in fridge and chill for 30 minutes
  6. Preheat oven to 190C/375F.
  7. Line pastry case with parchment paper and fill with baking beans/rice/dried beans and bake for 15 minutes. Remove beans and bake for another 10-15 minutes until light golden brown. Remove from oven and leave to cool on wire rack. Remove from tin.
  8. Meanwhile, add the mango puree ingredients to a blender and blend until smooth. Set aside - store in fridge if not using for a while.
  9. Whisk together the mascarpone, yogurt, icing sugar and cinnamon and until light, fluffy and with a bit of a shine to it. Place in fridge until pastry case is completely cooled.
  10. Spread the filling in the case evenly. Spoon mango puree on top and use a knife to swirl into the filling.
  11. Chill in the fridge for at least an hour.
Notes
  1. Store covered in the fridge for up to 3 days
  2. You can replace the egg yolk in the pastry with 1-2 tbsp of water, add a little at a time until dough comes together.
  3. If you'd prefer not use cinnamon (or you're allergic), try adding 1/4 - 1/2 tsp of vanilla extract instead (not tried this myself, but it'd be yummy I'm sure!)
A Tipsy Giraffe https://www.atipsygiraffe.com/

Sharing with…

Fiesta FridayPure Blog Love Foodie FriDIY, Freedom FridaysBake of the Week, Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Mango mascarpone tart

Banoffee Muffins

Insanely delicious and moist, these Banoffee Muffins are full of yummy banana and sweet toffee flavour – with perfect high muffin tops

Banoffee Muffins

I love smooshing words together to make one new word, which is probably why I say y’all every other sentence even though I’m painfully English! For those of you who don’t know what banoffee is – first of all, I’m sorry, because that means you’ve never had the heavenly experience of banoffee pie! Banoffee is a combination of Banana and Toffee, banoffee pie is a no bake pie with toffee, fresh bananas and whipped cream and it’s to die for. I actually have a recipe for it that I posted last year. This year though I decided banoffee would be an amazing muffin flavour and boy was I right! 

Banoffee Muffins

It’s no secret that I like to buy bunches of bananas and leave them in the fruit bowl to go brown so I can bake with them – I don’t actually like eating bananas by themselves. So I had 4 bananas getting very, very brown and I had to decide what to do with them, my first thought was chocolate banana ice cream and these muffins. I made the chocolate banana ice cream first and while it was it was delicious I couldn’t stop thinking about this muffin idea! Especially since I had a bag of Heath Toffee Bits that I brought back from America with me that would be perfect for them. So out to buy more bananas I went – supermarkets should really have a section of very ripe bananas so I don’t have to play the waiting game! I mean, they sell still green ones so why not already brown ones?!

Banoffee Muffins

These muffins were totally worth the wait though. The little bits of toffee melt into the muffin making them indescribably moist and bursting with sweetness all over. The toffee is perfectly balanced with the amazing banana flavour in every bite, the two flavours really do compliment each other in the best way. And while these muffins are incredibly moist, they’re not too dense or heavy, they have the perfect muffin texture with high, chewy muffins tops. There are also semi sweet chocolate chips dispersed throughout, to cut through the sweetness of the banana and toffee and also because I like my banoffee pie with a tad of chocolate (just the way I like life too!).

Banoffee Muffins

And don’t just take my word on how good these muffins are. My mum’s work colleagues are my willing taste testers and one of them referred to these muffins as “stunning and better than sex”, which is a pretty good testimonial in my book! So trust us on this one, make these muffins and everybody who tries them will be your new best friend – got your eye on a promotion at work? Pop a basket of these muffins on your boss’s desk and you’re a shoe-in…. not that I’m advocating bribery (nothing wrong with a little buttering up though, hey?). 

Banoffee Muffins

The one and only downside to these muffins is you can’t buy Heath Toffee Bits in the UK, so I’m waiting on the best friend to mail me over a few bags so I can make these again. In the mean time though I might try experimenting with toffee products I can get here in the UK, or perhaps I’ll try making my own toffee crunch. If you can’t get Heath Toffee Bits where you live and you decide to experiment with other things (which I highly encourage, even if they don’t come out perfect I’m willing to bet the experiments will still be delicious!) please do let me know how it turned out. And hey, if the makers of Heath Toffee want to send me some Toffee Bits they’d be very warmly received -wink wink-

Banoffee Muffins

A muffin isn’t a muffin with a nice high, chewy top so I can’t ever post a recipe for muffins without including how I make sure I always get one – the secret is to fill the muffin cases or holes to the top and baking on a higher temperature for the first ten minutes of baking. Because of all the moistening factors in these muffins I used bicarbonate of soda (baking soda) and vinegar as my leavening agent so they wouldn’t end up too dense, it really gives them a great lift. 

Banoffee Muffins

I’d love to see what you guys are up to on social media, You can find me on Twitter,Instagram,Pinterest and Facebook

[wpcb id=”1″]

Banoffee Muffins
Yields 12
Insanely delicious and moist, these banoffee muffins are bursting with sweet toffee and banana flavour.
Write a review
Print
Ingredients
  1. 220g plain flour (all purpose)
  2. 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
  3. 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
  4. 1 bag of Heath Toffee Bits (8oz/225g)
  5. 200g semi-sweet chocolate chips
  6. 4 very ripe bananas
  7. 125ml Vegetable oil
  8. 1 tbsp white vinegar
  9. 2 large eggs
  10. 100g brown sugar
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 230C/450F. Line a 12 hole muffin tray with papers.
  2. Add the flour, cinnamon and bicarb to a bowl and whisk to combine. Remove 1 tbsp and put in medium bowl. Set both aside.
  3. Mash the bananas in a large bowl (you can also put them in blender if you want them smooth, I like a few small lumps in mine).
  4. Beat in the oil and vinegar until combined.
  5. Add the eggs one at a time and beat to combine.
  6. Add sugar and beat to combine.
  7. Add flour (not reserved 1 tbsp) and gently beat until just combined (do not overmix).
  8. Remove 1-2 tbsp of the toffee bits and set aside, add the remaining toffee bits and chocolate chips to the bowl with the 1tbsp flour mixture and stir to coat (this helps stop them all sinking to the bottom of the muffins)
  9. Gently stir the toffee bits and chocolate chips into the muffin batter by hand until evenly dispersed.
  10. Spoon batter into muffin papers, up to the top. Sprinkle the tops with the reserved 1-2 tbsp of toffee bits.
  11. Bake for 10 minutes at 230C/450F. Without opening the oven door, turn the oven down to 200C/400F and bake for a further 10-15 minutes, until muffins are golden brown and skewer comes out without wet batter.
  12. Cool in tray for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack.
  13. Yummy served warm or cooled
Notes
  1. It's important not to over mix the batter, the less you mix it the lighter your crumb will be
  2. I used Heath bits o' brickle toffee bits, but I'm sure the milk chocolate ones would be good too
  3. Store in air tight container for 3-5 days
A Tipsy Giraffe https://www.atipsygiraffe.com/
 Sharing with…

Hit Me With Your Best ShotInspire Me Wednesday, Create It Thursday, Cook It! Craft It! Share It!Pure Blog Love Foodie FriDIYFiesta FridayFreedom Fridays, Bake of the Week

Banoffee Muffins

King Cake Crepes

Crepes with a cinnamon filling, drizzled with cream cheese sauce and lots of sprinkles. Perfect for breakfast or dessert

king cake crepes

Click here to read full post and comment

This Tuesday, February 17th, is what we in the UK call Pancake Day or Shrove Tuesday – it’s the day before lent and pancakes are eaten to use up all the rich foods in the house ready for fasting. In other parts of the world it’s called Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday and is marked with parades and celebrations – the same principle applies, it’s about a last hurrah before the lenten season. I knew I wanted to make something to celebrate the day and decided on crepes, a very thin French pancake. When I was deciding to what to put in the crepes I was thinking about Mardi Gras and a big tradition in New Orleans on Mardi Gras is to eat something called King Cake – which is kind of like one big, round cinnamon bun with yellow, green and purple sprinkles. And so these King Cake Crepes were born! King Cake Crepes – try saying that three times fast! 

king cake crepes

In the UK we traditionally will make pancakes that are similar to crepes, but a bit thicker and with less rich ingredients, then we serve them with lemon juice and caster sugar – it doesn’t sound like much, but it’s honestly so good! I shared British pancakes on the blog last year actually. Crepes are a little trickier to make since they’re so thin, it took me a few goes to get the hang of frying them but once you get into the swing of things it becomes pretty easy – if it’s your first time making crepes, just be prepared for a few practice pancakes first! A good non stick frying pan is key here, because you really don’t want to use a lot of butter when greasing. Since crepes are so thin, you don’t actually need to fry them both sides so if you’re worried about flipping you can skip that – I like to cook them through on one side and then flip and fry the other side for 15 or so seconds to get a bit of colour on both sides. 

king cake crepes

How fun are these crepes though? I always love taking a type of food and recreating it with something completely different, it’s a lot of fun and you get all the yummy flavours of the food you love, but with different textures and ways of eating it. Now I have never actually eaten a King Cake before, but I’ve eaten more than my fair share of cinnamon buns over the years and I can tell you that these crepes really do do the flavours justice. The sweet cinnamon filling rolled up in the thin pancakes and smothered in sweet, tangy cream cheese sauce is so good, and the soft crepes, thick filling, creamy sauce make for amazing textures, particularly when you add in the crunch of the sprinkles! You’ve probably noticed I’ve used pink sprinkles here, I didn’t have any purple!

king cake crepes

Since I was only making these for me, the recipe only makes about 8 crepes (depending on how big you make them), but it’s easily doubled if you have more people to serve. Or halved if you don’t want 8 – although if it’s your first time making crepes I would keep the quantities the same because you’ll probably lose your first few while you get the hang of it! 

king cake crepes

As I said before, Pancake Day and Mardi Gras are celebrated the day before lenten season starts – traditionally Christians would fast during Lent but these days most people give up a bad habit or certain foods. I don’t tend to observe lent, although some years I do like to use the time to take up something new, kind of like a new years resolution I guess, something to improve my life or mind. I’m not sure yet if I’m going to pick something up this year. What about you? Are you giving up anything for Lent? Or are you planning on taking up a new hobby or practice? 

king cake crepes

These crepes are going to be super yummy no matter what time of year you make them – take off the sprinkles and you have cinnamon roll crepes, amazing! Whenever you decide you want crepes, you definitely need to try these ones, they’re so good! You need them in your life, trust me! 

I’d love to see what you’re up to on social media, you can find me on Instagram Twitter and Facebook 

[wpcb id=”1″]
 

  Continue reading →

Red Velvet Pancakes

Red Velvet Pancakes

Happy Galentine’s Day! No, that isn’t a typo! Those of you who are fan’s of the awesome show, Parks & Recreation, know what I’m talking about. Galentine’s Day is celebrated on February 13th and is a day for women to leave significant others behind and hang out with their lady friends and have breakfast (if your S/O is also a lady, you can bring her along too) – ladies celebrating ladies! That’s my kind of holiday – breakfast foods and supportive female friendships! And is there anything more wonderful than female friendships? Or just women supporting other women? Us ladies have got to look out for each other, particularly when a lot of the world is constantly trying to tear us down by telling us we’re too fat or too thin, we wear too much make up or not enough, be attractive but don’t have any self confidence lest you be vain, don’t be a prude but don’t be too sexual either… the list goes on! It can be hard being woman sometimes, so today is about celebrating the unequivocal love and support that empowered women give other women – from genuine compliments given without strings attached, to unwavering emotional support, to dedicated commitment to friendship, and everything in between. Uteruses before duderuses!  

“We need to remember what’s important in life: friends, pancakes, work. Or pancakes, friends, work. Doesn’t matter, but work is third.” – Leslie Knope (kind of)

Red Velvet Pancakes

I thought about baking something for Valentine’s Day but I don’t really care for the holiday, but Galentine’s Day I am all over! And what better way to celebrate than with red velvet pancakes? They’re full of love and yummy goodness! I wanted to cut them into heart shapes but my heart cutter seems to have gone walkabouts, so questionable rounds it is! And you can’t have red velvet without cream cheese, so it has a sweet cream cheese topping to really push it over the tasty top. 

Red Velvet Pancakes

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day and that doesn’t stop being true on special holidays, these red velvet pancakes will definitely be a winner for your loved one(s) whichever of the two loved filled holidays you’re celebrating – or both! I do encourage you to try celebrating Galentine’s Day though, it doesn’t have to be on February 13th – just any morning you and your lady friends can get together and enjoy breakfast foods and good company – and you’ll totally impress them with these yummy pancakes! I won’t be offended if you choose to make these for Valentine’s Day breakfast though, your S/O will be a very lucky person! Valentine’s Day also happens to be my cat’s birthday, which is it’s own reason to celebrate

Red Velvet Pancakes

 

And hey, if you’re single this Valentine’s Day and not too happy about it, these bright and delicious pancakes will be sure to cheer up your morning and make the day ahead a lot easier! Although I do feel obliged to tell you that you are awesome and you don’t need another person to validate how awesome you are, so treat yourself this weekend and celebrate you, you deserve it! P.S. It’s totally okay to want somebody to share life with you in a romantic way though, just know you’re wonderful by yourself too! 

Red Velvet Pancakes

Now, let’s talk about these pancakes – they’re soooo good. They’re moist and fluffy with a wonderful vanilla flavour and that subtle hint of chocolate – it really is like eating red velvet cake for breakfast, but in a less frowned upon form than a big slice of cake (I fully support cake for breakfast though). And the sweet and tangy cream cheese topping drizzled all over compliments the buttery sweet pancakes perfectly, this really is a mouth watering breakfast or brunch. And the colour is just so fun and festive, they’re sure to make you and your loved ones smile – what a fun, special breakfast for the kids too! 

To make these amazing pancakes buttermilk is an absolute must, there’s no way around it I’m afraid – but worry not, it’s easy to make your own, just add 1 tbsp of lemon juice or white vinegar to each 500ml of milk, whisk and let stand for 5-10 minutes, then you’re good to go! The acidity combined with the bicarb/baking soda is what makes these pancakes so fluffy, and it also gives you that unique red velvet taste! These pancakes have red food dye in them to make them a fabulous bright red, but the first hint of redness comes from the acidity of the vinegar reacting with the cocoa powder – you can make red velvet without need for dye at all (it just won’t be very bright!). 

Red Velvet Pancakes

I only wish my photos did these pancakes justice, my photography skills were lacking more than usual when trying to take these I don’t know what it was! I bought a tripod and a wire shutter release for my camera and this was my first time using them, I think I just need to get the hang of them a little better maybe. I also need a better staging area, but that’s always been true! I’ll get there eventually, I’m sure. In the mean time, you’ll just have to make these pancakes yourself so you can fully appreciate them in all their glory – see what I did there?!

Red Velvet Pancakes

I’m going to bring these delicious pancakes along to Fiesta Friday today to celebrate Galentine’s Day with all those wonderful people (if you’re not a lady, you can have some of these pancakes as a Valentine’s treat instead!) So happy Galentine’s Day y’all and happy Valentine’s Day for tomorrow. An extra special Galentine’s greeting to our wonderful host Angie and co-hosts this week – Suzanne and Sue 😀

I’d love to see what you’re up to this weekend on social media, you can find me on Instagram Twitter and Facebook 

Also, if you liked this post, why not enter your email address into the subscription box on my side bar to get my future posts directly into your inbox!

Red Velvet Pancakes with Cream Cheese Topping
Yields 12
Delicious moist and fluffy red velvet pancakes with a sweet and tangy cream cheese topping
Write a review
Print
For the pancakes
  1. 250g plain flour (all purpose)
  2. 40g cocoa powder, sifted
  3. 70g caster sugar
  4. 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
  5. 1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda (baking soda)
  6. 1/4 tsp salt
  7. 2 large eggs
  8. 280ml buttermilk
  9. 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  10. 1 tsp white vinegar
  11. 100 unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled (plus extra for greasing griddle)
  12. Red food colouring, approx 1tsp gel
For cream cheese topping
  1. 100g cream cheese
  2. 100g icing sugar (powdered/confectioners)
  3. 1 tbsp milk
Instructions
  1. Put the flour, cocoa, sugar, baking powder, bicarb and salt on a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.
  2. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, buttermilk, vanilla and vinegar. Add butter (it can be warm, but not hot) and whisk again to combine.
  3. Pour the egg mixture into the dry ingredients and whisk to combine well. Add the food colouring, how much you add depends on what type you use and how bright you want it, add a little at a time until you get your desired colour. The colour of the pancakes will turn out pretty much the same colour as the batter, so it's a good indicator.
  4. Heat griddle/pan on a medium heat/flame and grease with a little butter. Pour batter on griddle, use about 1/4 cup batter per pancake, and cook for about 1 and a half minutes, when the edges are bubbly and starting to look dull, flip and cook for another 1 and a half minutes.
  5. Keep pancakes in warm oven while cooking rest.
  6. To make the topping, put all ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine. Pour generously over stack and serve
Notes
  1. Pancakes will keep well wrapped in the freezer for up to 2 months
A Tipsy Giraffe https://www.atipsygiraffe.com/
 Sharing with…

Fiesta FridayFoodie FriDIY, Super Saturday, Sweet and Savoury Sunday, Motivation Monday, Frugal Crafty HomeHit Me With Your Best Shot, Inspire Me WednesdayCreate It ThursdayCook It! Craft It! Share It!

 

Tuna Catnip Kitty Treats

Tuna Catnip Cat Treats

I’m shaking things up a little here on Giraffes Can Bake today, today’s yummy treat isn’t for our tummy’s but for our feline friends’! I saw this recipe for Tuna Catnip Kitty Treats on Joy the Baker a few weeks ago and I knew I needed to make them for my baby! It’s Gryff’s birthday (full name: Gryffindor Severus, pictured above… and several times below!) on Saturday – yep, he’s a Valentine’s baby, and I like to spoil him whenever I can. I’m not going to try and pretend I’m not a crazy cat lady, but I also don’t have any shame over it!  A fair warning to you here, this is going to be a pretty photo heavy post – I mean, you can’t have too many cute cat photos can you?!

Tuna Catnip Cat Treats

I love Gryff like he was my own child, he is my own child, so he gets birthday presents on his birthday just like any kid – and this year he turns 4 years old! And my sweet 4 year old boy deserves some yummy homemade treats, he’d happily eat birthday cake but I figured these would be a little better for him! Now, people who have met Gryff will probably roll their eyes at me calling him “sweet” because, well, he’s a beast cat! He’s gotten a lot more mellow in his old age, but he’s still a bit feisty – I have quite a few scars from him trying to kill my arms! But he’s a sweet boy when he wants to be – he snuggles me at night (even if he pushes me out of my spot on the bed) and he gives me kisses on command (you guys are now probably realising why I’m single haha). He’s also a greedy boy and he’s technically on a diet, but since he lost 5lb (he used to weigh 17lb!) I’ve become a bit lenient with it. Still, he shouldn’t be having too many treats so he’ll be sharing his birthday treats with the other kitties in the house. 

Tuna Catnip Cat Treats

 

(the above kitty is Piper, she used to belong to my older sister but she didn’t get along too well with my sister’s eldest son so my mum took her in. She’s very sweet to us humans, but the other cats can’t even look at her without being told where to go!)

I know making homemade treats seems like a lot of effort to go through when there’s plenty of store bought treats you can buy that cats love, but these are really simple to make with very few ingredients. They have tuna for protein, an egg and some olive oil for good fats and soft fur, catnip for that extra kick and flour to bind it all together. While cats didn’t evolve to digest gluten most can process it just fine, however if your cat does has a gluten intolerance of course you’ll want to use a gluten free flour (such as oat flour, like Joy uses). And with that you have yummy treats that cats love – I had lure them onto the backdrop with catnip to start with, but once they had a taste of the treats they couldn’t get enough! Because these have egg and tuna in, you’ll want to store them in the fridge. 

Tuna Catnip Cat Treats

I can’t help but wonder what is in catnip that just drives cats crazy! I bought a 1oz tup of dried catnip (which ends up being A LOT  of catnip) and opened it up last night and I was surrounded by 7 cats instantly, they then spent the night rolling around in it and eating it. I opened it upstairs just for Gryff first of all and at first he looked intrigued and then when he realised it was catnip he came running up with giant eyes and stuck his face in it! Whatever it is, I’m very thankful for it – not only does it make these treats irresistible to the kitties, it provides lots of entertainment for us humans too!

Tuna Catnip Cat Treats

Tuna Catnip Cat Treats

(the above kitty is Elsa, my mum brought her home from her work’s yard after the cat that lives there had kittens. I warned her about bringing home the kitten of a probably feral cat, but it turned out okay because Elsa is the mushiest thing ever!)

I don’t even feel guilty for not sharing a human treat today, because look how happy these kitties are! I’m sure plenty of you have cats you love too, so you can still benefit from this recipe. Maybe one day I’ll make some doggy treats too, for you weird dog people (just kidding, dogs are fine I guess!). I’m gonna bring these along to Fiesta Friday this week too, it’s about time we brought our furry friends along to the party I think!

Tuna Catnip Cat Treats

This recipe does make quite a few treats, I had a second batch in the oven when I took these photos so that’s not even all of them. We have 8 cats here so we shouldn’t have a problem using all these up, but if you only have 1 or 2 you might want to halve the recipe since they’ll only be good for about a week. And while these are very kitty friendly of course, they are still treats and should be given fairly sparingly like you would any other treat – tuna is perfectly safe for cats to eat but only in small quantities due to the small amounts of mercury that may be present. Also, for male cats, too much fish in their diets can cause a build up in the urethra and cause blockages – always makes sure your cats have plenty of fresh water around to keep them hydrated, even if you feed them wet food! A healthy kitty is a happy kitty! 

Tuna Catnip Cat Treats

Tuna Catnip Cat Treats

If you haven’t had enough of cat photos, come follow me on Instagram  for, no doubt, more photos (and other things I get up to!). You can also find me on Twitter and Facebook 

Also, if you liked this post, why not enter your email address into the subscription box on my side bar to get my future posts directly into your inbox!

Tuna Catnip Kitty Treats
Delicious treats for your feline friends!
Write a review
Print
Ingredients
  1. 5oz can tuna in water, drained
  2. 160g flour
  3. 1 large egg
  4. 1 tbsp olive oil
  5. 1 heaped tbsp dried catnip
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 180C/350F, line a baking sheet with parchment paper
  2. Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until the form a dough, dough will be pliable and not too sticky.
  3. Roll into 1/4 tsp sized balls and place on baking sheet
  4. Use a cocktail stick or skewer to press a cross into the balls, this ensures even baking.
  5. Bake for 10-12 minutes until dry to touch and slightly browned
  6. Cool completely before sharing with kitties
Notes
  1. Store in airtight container in fridge for up to 7 days
  2. Swap out the tuna for canned salmon or cooked, shredded chicken!
  3. Be sure to use gluten free flour such as oat flour if your cat can't process gluten.
Adapted from Joy the Baker
Adapted from Joy the Baker
A Tipsy Giraffe https://www.atipsygiraffe.com/

Tuna Catnip Cat TreatsTuna Catnip Cat Treats

 

Sharing with…

Hit Me With Your Best Shot, Project Parade, Inspire Me Wednesday, Create It Thursday, Foodie FriDIY. Fiesta FridaySuper SaturdayFrugal Crafty HomePure Blog Love