Pet owners now baking homemade dog treats for their pets having been inspired by The Great British Bake Off.

It has helped to reinvigorate interest in baking across the country and inspired a new generation of chefs.

Among the converts to baking for their pets is Brendan Lynch, a finalist in the BBC’s Great British Bake Off series in 2012.

He said he starting cooking for his dog Monty, a labradoodle, after researching shop-bought pet food online and finding the ingredients in such products “quite shocking”.

“Monty is our first dog and before we got him we did a lot of research into dog food and treats. We found that there are a great deal of additives in off-the-shelf supermarket products.

“Dogs and cats, just like us, develop allergies and reactions to additives over time, and there is definitely much less scrutiny on what goes into treats and animal foods generally.

“I decided that I was better off making my own. I am in control of what is going in and Monty likes it. In any case I enjoy baking for him as well.”

Recipes posted by Mr Lynch, 65, on his website include one for chicken liver and bacon dog snacks, which he says are intended, “as with chocolate cake for humans”, as an occasional treat.

^{Brendan Lynch, a former Bake Off finalist, with his dog Monty (Caroline Strange)}

His contribution adds to a growing catalogue of recipe books for dogs, including the Healthy Hound Cookbook, a collection of 125 dog food recipes published in May, and In the Dog Kitchen, due to be published in October.

Dogs Trust, the welfare charity, even included a recipe for lamb cupcakes in a recent edition of its magazine Wag, under the title The Great British Bark Off.

Jane Hogan, a businesswoman from Newcastle who set up the Dog & Pup Store, an online pet retailer, earlier this year, said she was surprised to find that “bake your own” dog-food kits instantly became her most popular products.

“We offer bake your own treats and birthday cakes from a small independent bakery, and they outsell all the big brands on the store,” she said.

She added: “The thing that non-dog owners might not understand is that dogs are family, and they’re treated no differently than other family members. So for people who have dogs in the family it is absolutely natural that they should be included in everything.

"Many dog owners celebrate their dog’s birthday - an occasion which really does require cake.”

Jessica Hardisty, 30, a public relations executive from Lytham, Lancs, baked a birthday cake earlier this year for her puppy Rory, a Patterdale-Bedlington cross, having been inspired by watching The Great British Bake Off, which is currently in its fifth series, with her family.

The cake’s ingredients, based on a recipe she found online, included carrots, dog biscuits and peanut butter. It was topped with cottage cheese 'icing’.

She said: “I’ve got a four-year-old daughter and she loved baking, so we decided that we would bake a cake for Rory for his first birthday. He ate it, but I don’t think he was overwhelmed.

“The Great British Bake Off is something we both watch and baking is something we enjoy doing together. Lots of people have been inspired by the programme and dogs are part of the family so why not take it a step further and bake for your dog?”

Robin Hargreaves, president of the British Veterinary Association, welcomed the idea of including pets in family activities but warned that common ingredients such as chocolate, raisins, grapes and coffee can be toxic to dogs.

“It’s also incredibly important to remember that home-baked cakes and biscuits should be an occasional treat balanced with the right diet and exercise to ensure that your pet stays fit and healthy,” he added.

Brendan Lynch’s chicken liver and bacon dog treats recipe

Ingredients

250 grams/8ozs of lean bacon rashers – cut into thick strips

450g/16ozs chicken livers – cut up roughly

450g/16oz plain or wholemeal flour

150g/6ozs of fine cornmeal

250g chicken stock

Glaze

60g of tomato ketchup

1 large egg white

(Whisk the egg white and ketchup together to make a thick glaze, and set aside). Line two baking sheets with non-stick parchment.

Method

Preheat oven to 125C/260F/Gas3. Cook bacon in large pan over medium-high heat until fairly crisp. Remove from pan and pat with paper towels. Keep half of the bacon fat in the pan and add cut-up chicken livers. Fry for 5 minutes or so during which some liver paste will form. Set pan aside to cool slightly.

Put cooked bacon into a food processor and spin to form a coarse meal. Now add the cooked chicken livers and grind again to form a paste. Next add the fine cornmeal to form a coarse pâté mixture.

Add the flour to form a coarse paste. Finally add the chicken stock that will now give you soft dough. Take the dough from the processor and knead it to form a smooth ball.

Put dough between two sheets of non-stick parchment and roll it out to about 1cm/3/8”. Then use a small cutter to cut about 46 treats.

Bake for one and a half hours at the above temperature, and then lower to 100C/200F and bake for another two hours. Take biscuits out of the oven and brush with tomato ketchup glaze before baking for another 20 minutes.

Allow to cool on a rack and store in an airtight container.

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