Healthy homemade biscuits for furry friends

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This article was published 31/07/2018 (2965 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Puppy season kicked off last month, with posts on social media and a flood of photographs and videos filling up my feed. My friends and their friends and, it seems like, everyone else’s friends, are adopting puppies and dogs of all ages. At the farmers market, the cute-o-meter is off the charts with wiggling fur bundles causing human traffic jams.

It makes sense. There is more time to manage a new member of the household in the summer, when the days are long enough for training sessions and snow doesn’t intrude on walkies.

When I’m invited to meet a newly ensconced pup, I arrive with a package of DIY dog biscuits. I first made them for our dog Dylan, who struggled with food allergies and a touchy tummy but never said no to such a biscuit. I make them with healthful grocery store ingredients and, while I certainly could eat them, they don’t taste delicious to me. To dogs, however, they are scrumptious.

There are a few particulars about the ingredients I use: sugar-free peanut butter, because sugar is bad for dogs; only safflower oil, because it is easy for dogs to digest; and no pre-grated cheese, because the bagged kind is often coated with cornstarch or another additive that is not ideal for canine digestion. Because the biscuits contain no preservatives, they can get mouldy in a few days, so I keep them refrigerated.

The accompanying recipes yield lots of biscuits, especially when you are baking treats sized for the little guys. You can freeze the treats in zip-top bags and take out a dozen at a time, or portion the dough into quarters and freeze each section separately. Roll, cut and bake as needed.

I have found that most dogs are not so picky about their biscuits. Morty, our miniature schnauzer, has decided he is not that into my cheesy biscuits, yet he scarfs down the peanut butter ones. Our mixed terrier Louie happily runs off with — and guards for hours — any biscuit offered. Some dogs might be wary of a new treat, but don’t give up hope. Eventually, they’ll find the biscuits irresistible.

You can produce these biscuits quickly, blending the few ingredients by hand or in a stand mixer. The dough is flexible and easy to handle. When it seems too wet, add more flour. You can reroll scraps. Pastry standards for our four-legged friends are forgiving.

I like to use bone-shaped cookie cutters and have them in big- and little-dog sizes. Of course, any cookie cutter will work; sometimes I skip that step and simply use a ruler and knife to measure and cut two-inch squares.

Once the biscuits are done, turn off the oven and let them dry out on their baking sheets as the oven cools. I often let them sit out on the counter overnight, to crisp up even more. A crunchy biscuit is a good biscuit.

Every new puppy owner will face trying moments — a favourite pair of shoes devoured, trash cans upended, howling at sirens. Bring a bottle of wine and your bag of treats to ease the transition. While you are visiting, teach the dog a trick; I opt for the high five. Then, give that dog a bone.

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits

36 servings — makes three dozen 10-centimetre (4-inch) biscuits or 50 2.5-centimetre (1-inch) bone-shaped biscuits

Sugar-free peanut butter is a must here, as sugar is not good for our four-legged friends (and absolutely no Xylitol, which is toxic to them).

Dogs’ digestive systems are different from humans; of all the oils we consume, safflower oil is the easiest for dogs to digest.

You can use a stand mixer for this instead of stirring by hand. You’ll need cookie cutters (see servings note).

Let the biscuits sit out overnight to get very crispy.

MAKE AHEAD: The dough needs to rest in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Ingredients

1½ cups (375 ml) whole-wheat flour

1¼ cups (375 ml) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

¼ cup (60 ml) old-fashioned rolled oats

¼ cup (60 ml) cornmeal

¾ cup (180 ml) water

¼ cup (60 ml) safflower oil

1 large egg

2 tbsp (30 ml) no-sugar peanut butter (creamy or crunchy)

Whisk together the whole-wheat and all-purpose flours, oats and cornmeal in a mixing bowl. Add the water, oil, egg and peanut butter; mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until thoroughly incorporated to form a slightly wet dough.

Generously flour your counter workspace. Turn out the dough there. Cover with an inverted bowl and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

After that brief respite, knead the dough, folding and turning until it is cohesive and slightly stiff. Shape it into a block, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for two hours.

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 400 F (205 C). Have two baking sheets at hand. They do not need to be lined.

Dust the counter with flour (again) and roll the dough to a ¼-inch thickness. Stamp out as many biscuits as you can, transferring them to the baking sheets as you work, spacing them fairly close together but not touching. Reroll the scraps once and cut additional biscuits.

Bake (upper and lower racks) for about 25 minutes until browned, dry and crisp to the touch, rotating the baking sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through.

Turn the oven off and let the biscuits dry out there for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Cool completely before serving or storing.

Cheesy Dog Biscuits

24 servings — makes two dozen 10-centimetre (4-inch) biscuits or 50 2.5-centimetre (1-inch) oval biscuits

Do not use pre-grated cheese. Instead, grate it on a box grater before using it. You’ll need cookie cutters (see the servings note).

Tip: Let the biscuits sit out overnight to get very crispy.

MAKE AHEAD: Keep the biscuits in the refrigerator or freezer for longer shelf life. At room temperature, they will last only about three days.

Ingredients

3 cups (750 ml) whole-wheat flour, plus more for dusting

1 cup (250 ml) old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup (250 ml) grated or shredded cheddar cheese

1½ cups (375 ml) water

1/3 cup (80 ml) safflower oil (see headnote)

1 tsp (5 ml) chicken bouillon base

1 large egg

Whisk together the whole-wheat flour, oats and cheese in a mixing bowl. Add the water, oil, bouillon base and egg; mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until thoroughly incorporated, to form a slightly wet dough.

Generously flour your counter workspace. Turn out the dough there. Cover with an inverted bowl and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

After that brief respite, knead the dough, folding and turning until it is cohesive and slightly stiff. Shape it into a block, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 375 F (190 C). Have two baking sheets at hand. They do not need to be lined.

Dust the counter with flour (again) and roll the dough to a ¼-inch thickness.

Stamp out as many biscuits as you can, transferring them to the baking sheets as you work, spacing them fairly close together but not touching. Reroll the scraps once and cut additional biscuits.

Bake (upper and lower racks) for about 25 minutes until browned, dry and crisp to the touch, rotating the baking sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through.

Turn the oven off and let the biscuits dry out there for 30 minutes to an hour. Cool completely before serving or storing.

— Washington Post