Homemade Dog Biscuits Recipe

If you love your pets like me, what better way to show them than by making home-made treats!  You can also add other ingredients to enhance their flavor and/or to promote health (examples:  wheat germ, garlic, brewers yeast, yogurt, pumpkin, sweet potatoes, etc.).  By making your own treats, you know exactly what goes into them.  And if you have a finicky eater or your doggy has a sensitive tummy or allergies, you can customize your treats just for them.  There are tons of recipes and information on-line, so do your homework and come up with what works best for you and your dog!

You can use any shape cookie cutter you already have, or, you can purchase a dog-bone shaped cookie cutter at your local kitchen supply, craft/hobby or on-line store!

Better Than Store-Bought: Homemade Dog Biscuits

Ingredients:

½ cup water
2 eggs
½ cup cornmeal
½ cup rolled oats
3 tablespoons peanut butter
½ cup canola oil
2 cups whole-wheat flour

Combine ingredients in a large mixing bowl, then stir to combine (mixture will be thick). Sprinkle flour on a countertop and roll out the dough with a rolling pin until it is between ¼ and ½ inch thick. Using cookie cutters, cut out biscuit and place on a well-oiled baking sheet.

Bake biscuits at 400F for 20 minutes (or until hard). Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
Recipe courtesy of:  http://www.takepart.com/video/better-store-bought-homemade-dog-biscuits

My Favorite Finds #10

One of my favorite memories as a child was going to my Grandma's on Christmas eve and getting to eat her Gingerbread Cookies. They were always decorated perfectly. She even used silver dragées, which, as a child, I thought I was in Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory candy garden! Come to find out later, she didn't make them. Her sister, my great aunt, made them and sent them to her. When I "grew up" and went out on my own, I wanted to make the same cookies. I found the recipe that tasted almost the same as her's, but my cookies never did look as perfect. As I started my own family and traditions, my gingerbread cookies became a part of our Christmas! I found this recipe in an older version of Better Homes & Gardens cookbook. I use their Butter Frosting recipe as well.

Gingerbread Cutouts

Ingredients
1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg
1 tablespoon vinegar
2-1/2 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:
Beat shortening in a mixing bowl with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, baking powder, ginger, baking soda, cinnamon, and cloves. Beat until combined. Beat in molasses, egg, and vinegar until combined. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer.

Stir in remaining flour with a wooden spoon. Divide dough in half. Cover and chill about 3 hours or until easy to handle.

Roll each portion of dough on a lightly floured surface until 1/8 inch thick. Cut with a floured cookie cutter.

Bake in a 375 degree F. oven for 5 to 6 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Cool 1 minute on cookie sheet. Transfer to wire racks to cool. Makes 24 to 30 cookies.

Recipe courtesy of: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/cookies/great-plains-warriors-gingerbread-cutouts/

Butter Frosting

Ingredients:
1/3 cup butter or margarine
4-1/2 cups sifted powdered sugar
1/4 cup milk
1-1/2 teaspoons vanilla
Milk
Food coloring (optional)

Directions:
1. In a mixing bowl beat butter until fluffy. Gradually add 2 cups of the powdered sugar, beating well. Slowly beat in the 1/4 cup milk and vanilla.
2. Slowly beat in remaining powdered sugar. Beat in additional milk, if needed, to reach spreading consistency. If desired, tint with food coloring. This frosts tops and sides of two 8- or 9-inch layers.

Recipe courtesy of: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/frosting/butter-frosting/