Tuna Blondies

In the ongoing saga to find an irresistible reinforcer for Jackie, this week I tried a recipe shared by another dog trainer, my friend Marcella Ward of Dogs Speak Dog Training. Here's a link to her recipe. Marcella calls hers Tuna Fudge, but with the minor tweaks I made to the recipe mine were more like Tuna Blondies.

I started with best quality ingredients, and made a few modifications.  Since Gunner is on a heart-healthy diet, I used pink Himalayan garlic salt, and only used a very easy teaspoon. I quadrupled the freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (I cheese from the heart), and the extra dry volume of the cheese enabled me to use only a tablespoon or so of flour, just enough to stabilize the mixture. I used a good heavy-handed 3 tablespoons of pumpkin to ward off any tummy issues.

I very generously greased the pan with olive oil, which was good because the tuna blondies came out easily without sticking to the pan. The mixture spread very thinly in a 9" x 13" dish, which made it perfect for cutting into very small pencil eraser-sized cubes after it was baked.

Initial results are very favorable! Jackie even approached me while I was cutting up the Tuna Blondies to engage me with attention-seeking behavior, which is welcome. Between the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and the tuna, this was a stinky (in a good way!) endeavor.  Gunner loves it too, and it is one of the highest value treats I've discovered for Jackie.

Starting with good ingredients:

Be sure to generously grease the pan, and don't worry how thinly it spreads, it didn't stick to the pan:

The extra pumpkin and the small amount of pink salt gave it a nice color:

The blondies lifted nicely from the pan with a spatula, and were thin enough to be cut into pencil eraser sized bites:

Jackie came 'round to investigate what the smell was:

Pearls:

• Tuna Blondies are stinky and high-value for Jackie
• Thank you Marcella of Dogs Speak Dog Training for sharing the Tuna Fudge recipe!
• Tuna Blondies modified recipe is as follows:

Tuna Blondies

     2 five-ounce cans of tuna-- 1 in oil, 1 in water, drain the water and some of the oil

     2 eggs

     1 tsp garlic Himalayan pink salt

     4 Tbsp freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese

     Flour (enough for brownie consistency, about 1 Tbsp)

     3 Tbsp of pure canned pumpkin

Mix ingredients in a bowl.  Generously grease a 9" x 13" baking pan and spread the blondie mixture very thinly into the pan using a spoon or rubber spatula.  Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees F.  Allow the blondies to cool and cut into desired pieces.  Store in the fridge for up to 1 week and in the freezer up to 1 month. Pumpkin is added because these treats can be quite rich.