G and I have a little girl in our lives who is very special to us. She makes us laugh, makes us cry (I was a weeping mess when I had to watch her go into surgery recently) and brings immense joy to our home.
It was her (Miss B’s) Birthday recently and I wanted to show her how much we loved her so I decided to make her something special. These recipes came from a book that was given to G by a friend/colleague when he left his last job. She knew what Miss B meant to G and thought it would be a useful gift, and she was right.
I hope you are as lucky as we are and have someone special in your life that you can create these for.
classic dog biscuits (recipe from “Cooking for your dog” by Ingeborg Pils adapted by Fiona at Food 4 Thought)
makes approximately 35 bone shape biscuits
Ingredients
225g (8oz) whole wheat flour
85g (6oz) porridge or rolled oats
20g (¾oz) shortening (pork lard)*
½ tablespoon sunflower oil
20g (¾oz) grated parmesan cheese
200ml (7 fl ozs) unsalted chicken stock
125g (4½ozs) carrot
85g (3ozs) corn kernels
Preparation
Mix flour, oats, shortening*, oil and cheese thoroughly. Add chicken stock and mix to a dough.
Preheat the oven to 160°C (320°F). Finely grate the carrots, add these and the corn kernels into the dough. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to a thickness of about 5mm (¼inch). Cut with a sharp knife to make diamonds, triangles or squares.
Line a baking sheet with non-stick paper and place biscuits on it. Bake in oven for 40-50 minutes. Turn off heat and allow the biscuits to dry out in the oven.
My tips/alterations: *The original recipe included crushed garlic which I omitted. I also substituted the shortening with butter. I added the corn because it is one of Miss B’s favour vegetables. *I found this mixture quite sticky and had to make sure that the bench was well floured when rolling it out to prevent sticking. *I used a 9cm (3½ inch) long bone shaped cookie cutter to cut my biscuits. They were slightly difficult to cut because of the vegetables. I think using a knife would be much simpler.
ease: 8.5/10.
prep time: 30mins.
cooking time: 45mins plus drying out time
total: 1 hour 15 mins plus drying out time
taste: 9/10. These were Miss B’s favourite and given they are safe for human consumption I tried them also. I can’t believe I’m about to describe a dog biscuit but here goes. They were really nice. Great crunch but still chewy the vegetables were quite sweet, everything a puppy could want in a biscuit.
would I make it again: Yes for our puppy of course.
honey dog biscuits (recipe from “Cooking for your dog” by Ingeborg Pils adapted by Fiona at Food 4 Thought)
makes approximately 24 bone shape or round biscuits
Ingredients
200g (7oz) whole wheat flour
150g (5oz) porridge or rolled oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
30g (1oz) butter
2 tablespoons honey
2 eggs
100ml (3 fl ozs) milk
flour for dusting
Preparation
Mix flour, oats, and baking powder together thoroughly. Add the butter in small flakes, plus the honey, eggs and milk. Knead together thoroughly.
Preheat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Line a baking sheet with non-stick paper.
Roll dough out to about 1cm (½ inch) thick on a floured surface. Cut biscuits into desired shapes. Place these on the baking sheet, leaving some space between them, and bake for 15-20 minutes. Turn off the heat and allow the biscuits to dry out in the oven for a further 2 hours.
My tips/alterations: *I found this mixture quite wet when I mixed it up. I added 50 g of flour and have made the adjustment to the recipe above. *I made sure that the bench was well floured when rolling it out to prevent sticking. *I used a 9cm (3½ inch) long bone shaped cookie cutter and a smaller round to cut my biscuits.
ease: 9/10. Reminded me of making scones.
prep time: 20mins.
cooking time: 20mins plus drying out time.
total: 40 mins plus drying out time.
taste: 7.5/10. Miss B wasn’t as keen on these. She ate them but only if you broke them up for her. I think it was because they were thicker and not as crunchy. I must say, I agreed with her. These weren’t as tasty as the others
would I make it again: No although these were much easier to make they didn’t taste as good. Classic is best!
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