Thursday, March 29, 2012

Tuna Fudge? Oh My!

Although I enjoy cooking, I rarely bake.  We would never finish a cake, but cookies or brownies would disappear quickly, which is not necessarily a good thing.  Because I have little will power when tempted by such delicacies as fudge brownies or chocolate chip cookies, it's better not to have any in the house.  At Christmas several friends always give me batches of cookies, so my baking is usually limited to a loaf or two of a pumpkin chocolate chip bread or cherry nut bread, which I immediately freeze until needed.

Last night I baked for the dogs.  I'd posted to Facebook requesting suggestions for small training treats, to supplement the bits of microwaved turkey hotdogs that Argus likes so well.  The training method we are using for his obedience class includes the use of food rewards, lots of them, and the treats need to be small, neat, and not require any chewing.  Turkey hotdogs quartered lengthwise, sliced crosswise, and microwaved in paper towels for a couple of minutes creates small, tasty snacks, but I wanted other suggestions.  One of them was Tuna Fudge.  Directions follow -

Ingredients:

Directions:
  1. Mix all ingredients with an electric mixer until well blended.
  2. Spread mixture into a greased 9x9 cake pan.
  3. Bake covered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
  4. Store in refrigerator or freeze.

They went together quickly, and my elderly (25 year old?) portable mixer worked just fine as the batter was not stiff.   The concoctions seemed a bit too moist on top after 20 minutes, so I baked it an additional 15 minutes uncovered at 250 to dry it out a bit more.

Perfect!  Although the house smelled strongly of tuna and garlic (not a bad odor, but I did open the patio door for awhile) the dogs thought the results were justified.  I cooled the stuff, cut it into chunks, froze most of them, and kept some out (in the fridge) for training this week.  Perfect texture, for cutting/breaking into small bits for tiny treats.

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