Monthly Archives: February 2013

A Darned Good Dog Biscuits Recipe

Cookie dogs!

There’s nothing like a snowy day to make me want to bake. This weekend we still had plenty of bread in the house due to my recipe testing over the past couple of weeks. However, my dog treats supply was pretty low.

I’ve had a great dog biscuit recipe for maybe two decades, and it’s always been a big hit. I haven’t made them since I switched our lab Abby to a biologically appropriate raw diet a few years ago to help her recover from months of medical misdiagnoses. The medications prescribed by six different vets took a toll on her, but once I got her on real food she perked right up. She’ll be 13 soon.

I was giving Abby jerky for treats until I found out that just about all chicken and duck jerky is made in China and that dogs are getting sick and dying from eating it. No one has determined exactly what the Chinese are doing to the jerky to make it poisonous and it doesn’t seem to be a high priority to the pet food world.

I still feel raw meat and bones is the best food for dogs — they are carnivores and can’t digest all the garbage fillers that are put in most commercial dog foods. But Abby eats really well and I figure a dog cookie a day is not going to tip her cart. Plus our African Grey parrots, rat and horse love these treats as well. Actually, they are pretty tasty and make the house smell like baking bread!

I use organic ingredients, most of which can be bought on the bulk foods isle at Wholefoods. I mix up a batch (this recipe will fill up three cookie sheets with biscuits), bake, then put half in her cookie jar and the rest in a big baggie in the freezer. These will last months in our house if I don’t go crazy giving them away to friends.

I used to have dog bone shaped cookie cutters, but they wore out and I haven’t replaced them. Now I just cut the dough into squares using a pizza cutter. It’s much quicker and I don’t have to keep re-rolling the leftover dough.

"Cookie Dog" Biscuits

Healthy ingredient dog biscuits your dog will love.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 pkg yeast
  • 1/2 cup warm water
  • 2 cups broth chicken or beef
  • 1/2 cup milk or half n half
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup fat tallow, lard, butter or bacon grease (too salty?)
  • 2 cups all purpose flour
  • 2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 cup cornmeal
  • 1 cup wheat germ or bran
  • 2 cups bulgar (cracked) wheat
  • 4-5 cups whole wheat flour

Instructions

  • In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let sit for 5 minutes. In a large bowl mix broth, milk, fat, honey and egg. Add the yeast water and mix well. Add in other ingredients other than the whole wheat flour, one by one, mixing well. Add wheat flour 1/2 c at a time until dough is no longer sticky and can be handled. Roll dough 1/2" thick and cut into pieces or with cookie cutter.
  • Bake at 350° F for 45 minutes. Turn off oven and leave cookies in over for a few hours, until they are cool and dry. Store in a cookie jar or tin. You can freeze what doesn't fit.