This recipe came to me from a friend named Roberta. I have made a few changes, because that is what I do. They will be noted so that you can make the original recipe, if you prefer. I did not ask Roberta if I could adapt and publish this recipe, so, bygones Roberta.
This would be a great activity to do with kids because it is simple, and can be made quick-and-easy or slow-and-craftsy.
It is not messy. It makes a lot of biscuits so not only will your dog love you, but you can also cozy up to the neighbourhood dogs and (not literally!) their owners – because who else do you actually SEE these days.
One more note. My dog is a super fussy eater. He is suspicious of food. Rarely accepts a treat from anyone but us and often refuses things I expect him to like. So when Roberta brought a charmingly wrapped bag of these for my dog, I anticipated a socially awkward moment when Farley turned up his nose. But he gobbled them up. In short, chances are very good your dog will like these, though they don’t include traditionally appetizing doggy ingredients except for a small amount of peanut butter.
I could prattle on for yonks, I suppose, but I am not selling anything here, and the salient facts are now stated so lets get to it.
INGREDIENTS
3 cups whole wheat flour
2 cups quick oats
1/4 cup wheat germ (I consider this optional)
1/2 tsp salt (Roberta’s recipe uses garlic powder, but garlic is not recommended for dogs)
1 + 1/4 cups water
1/3 cup creamy peanut butter
1 large egg.
OPTIONAL GLAZE (Not part of Roberta’s recipe)
1 Tbsp (heaped) smooth peanut butter
2 Tbsp hot water
METHOD
Preheat oven to 275 degrees
Mix all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Now, blend the wet ingredients in a blender.
Add wet to dry and mix well, first with a spatula, and eventually with your hands, as the dough is dry and stiff.
Roll out half of dough on a lightly floured board to about 1/2 cm thickness.
You can use a fancy cookie cutter – a bone, a squirrel? – but I just trim off the rough edges, cut the sheet into rectangles of an appropriate size for my 7 kilo dog, and then use my fingers to pinch them into an approximation of a dog bone. As shown below…
Now with regard to the glaze. I have a lot of time on my hands, and I thought these biscuits would benefit from an extra burst of peanut butter flavour. So I mixed peanut butter and hot water into a thin slurry and dabbed it on the top of the cookies with a pastry brush.
One hour in the oven on parchment paper, then cool and store in an airtight container for three days (immediate supply) and freeze or gift the rest. Let me know how your dog likes them please.
