I have been making the same dog biscuits for quite some time now; hmmm, I think, since Bear was a pup! And he will be …oh, my…9 in January!! Bad enough when the human children grow up but now the dogs had to get in on the act too! Geez! Well at least I can get a new puppy but I am far too old to have a new baby!

Anyway, I am tired of rolling out those dog biscuits that I normally make so today I thought I would try something different! I was able to use my lil wee Pampered Chef scoop to make lil biscuits: rolled each portion then stamped it with a lightly floured fork. Heaps easier, way less messier and, after a taste test from Bear and Samwise Gamgee , very well received!

Peanut Butter Drop Cookies

1 cup Natural Peanut Butter
1 1/2 cups warm Water
2 cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup Rolled Oats

Preheat oven to 350F.
Line 3 – 4 baking trays with parchment paper.

In a small mixing bowl whisk together rolled oats and whole wheat flour; set aside.

Cream peanut butter until smooth.
Add water, a little at a time, creaming well after each addition until all the water is incorporated.
Stir in dry mixture until thoroughly combined.
Scoop out and roll each portion of dough to make a ping-pong sized ball.
Flatten each biscuit with a floured fork.

Bake in 350F oven for about 30 – 40 minutes, rotating baking trays half way through baking.

Remove from oven and let rest on baking trays for about 10 minutes.
Transfer to wire cooling rack to cool completely before placing in airtight container.

Yield: 5 dozen Dog Treats

My husband bought a whack of dog treats last week as our puppy, Samwise had his first night of training lessons. Samwise is like a garbage bin and will eat just about anything!  However, Bear, his 3 year old brother, turned his nose up at all three packets of treats. We can’t have one dog getting treats and not the other so I headed to the kitchen to make Bear his own special treats…of course he is a good dog and he DOES share with his lil brother.
I do have another favourite recipe that I use but I felt a need for change; googled peanut butter dog treats and came up with this recipe from Crazycrumb.com . I liked this recipe a bit better than my old one because the dough is easier to handle and the biscuits don’t crumble so much when you break them into bite size pieces.

1 Egg, beaten
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
2 Tablespoons Bacon Fat
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese
2 cups Flour
3/4 cup Water

Preheat oven to 325F.
Line two baking trays with parchment paper.

In mixing bowl, combine egg, peanut butter, bacon fat, water,  and mozza cheese.
Stir in flour, a little at a time and continue stirring until a soft dough forms – you may have to use your hands to aid this process.
Turn out onto lightly floured surface and gather into a ball; knead a few times until smooth and uniform.
Roll out to 1/4″ thickness and use cookie cutter to cut into shapes.
Gather scraps and gently knead into a ball, flatten into a disc and re roll the dough, cut more biscuits. Try not to use too much flour on your work surface.
Place biscuits on prepared baking trays and bake for 30 – 35 minutes, until golden brown.
Remove from oven and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.

Yield:  About 3 dozen biscuits

When we first got our Lab/Shep cross we often gave him treats when we were training him. Buying wholesome treats became pretty expensive! Then I remembered seeing a recipe for Dog Biscuits in a Canadian Living magazine, not that I could remember which issue; so I googled it and was pleased to find what would become a regular for Bear.
One time I went to make the biscuits, clicked on the saved bookmark and ACK! The recipe was missing! I quickly sent off an email to Canadian Living begging them to look into it; at first I thought maybe they had found the recipe was not suitable for dogs or something but they were quick to send back a response and the recipe was back online. Now I know it would be easy to just always google Doggy Treats but sometimes when I find a recipe that I really like, I prefer to stick to the tried and true. I swore I was going to get the Canadian Living recipe up on my page ASAP so I would never have to worry about finding it missing again….a year later and well, here it is, finally on my site. The biscuits do keep well in an airtight container so  I always double the original recipe and here on my site I give you the doubled amounts.
Oh, tried and true or not, I do like to experiment a little so I have also added some add ins that Bear has liked.

Thanks Canadian Living for a great recipe for an important member of our family!

1 cup Flour
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 cups Rolled Oats
1 1/2 cups Cornmeal
1/2 cup Packed Brown Sugar
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 cup Butter, softened (I sometimes sub in a bit of Bacon Fat)
1/2 cup Peanut Butter
4 Eggs
1 Tablespoon dried Mint
2 Tablespoons dried Parsley
1 cup shredded Cheese (optional)
4 strips cooked Bacon (optional)
1 Apple, shredded (optional)

Preheat oven to 325F.
Line 4 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In medium mixing bowl combine flours, oats, cornmeal, brown sugar,  baking powder and salt; set aside.
In mixing bowl beat together butter, peanut butter; add eggs, one a time then cream until smooth.
On low speed, stir in dry ingredients, mint, parsley and any optional ingredients to make a soft dough.
Turn out onto floured surface and knead until it all comes together; divide into two portions.
Roll out one portion of dough to  1/2″ thickness and cut with bone shaped cookie cutter.
Arrange on prepared baking sheets; you can put them pretty close together.
With second portion, again roll out, but directly onto a piece of parchment paper, into an 8″x11″ rectangle.
Trim rough edges; using a sharp knife, cut into small rectangles but do not separate.
Roll scraps and cut more bone shaped biscuits.
Bake in 325F oven for 35 – 40 minutes, until golden and firm; I start checking on them at 25 minutes, removing those that look like they are cooked through.
Transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
With the 8″x11″ sheet, break along cuts to make treats to stuff into Kong toys or to have on hand when you go out for a walk.

Our Lab/Shep cross celebrated his second birthday! Last year I made him a cake for his first birthday and was left storing a huge portion of uneaten cake in the fridge/freezer. This year I got clever and made “pupcakes”; infinitely easier to store!
I used Brown Eyed Bakers recipe with a few minor alterations and the addition of a Doggy Icing to top the Pupcakes with. I also made Bear some Biscuits, a few of which I crumbled on top.

3/4 cup Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 cup Flour
1/4 cup Rolled Oats
2 teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1/2 cup Applesauce
1/2 cup Water
1/4 cup Vegetable Oil (I used Bacon Fat)
2 Tablespoons Honey
2 Eggs
1 Apple, peeled, cored and shredded
1 cup shredded Cheese

Preheat oven to 400F.
Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners.
In mixing bowl combine flours, oats, baking powder and baking soda.
In separate bowl combine applesauce, water, fat, honey, eggs, shredded apple and cheese.
Pour all at once into dry ingredients and stir just until moistened.
Scoop batter into prepared muffin tin and bake for 20 minutes, rotating halfway through the baking time.
Remove from oven and let cool in tin on wire rack for 10 minutes before turning out to cool completely.
When cool, Frost with
Doggy Delight Icing
4 ounces Strawberry Cream Cheese, or plain
2 ounces Peanut Butter
2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
In mixing bowl combine all ingredients and beat until smooth.