Thursday, January 21, 2010


Biscuits


I love to cook. Really. At night, I often curl up in bed with a cookbook, reading it like a novel. I have cooked dinners for family, dinners for friends, for old palates and young ones, for the famous and the shy, never tiring of the process nor the effort. Always, when I am happily about the business of cooking or baking, Edward and Apple are with me. Dozing on the kitchen rug, sitting by the stove, smelling the aromas, hoping for a taste. They are wonderful companions for any chef.


A couple of weeks ago, much to their surprise, all the measuring and stirring, the beating and kneading, the delicious smells floating through the air, were all exclusively for them. For you see, I made homemade dog biscuits for the very first time. So much fun to make, and so easy. The biscuits had to dry in the oven overnight, and at breakfast the next morning I must confess that I was rather amusingly nervous as I waited to see if Edward and Apple approved of my creations. Edward sniffed his. This was something new, after all. He looked at Apple. Then he grabbed his fat biscuit and dove under the table, followed immediately by Apple. They both munched away, sending satisfying crunchy sounds up to my ears. I was thrilled.


If you have dogs and love to cook, I encourage you to give these a try. The recipe is quite easy and it makes a gracious plenty of biscuits. I’ll be making more tomorrow and am considering adding a bit of grated carrot to the mixture. Edward loves carrots.


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Dog Biscuits


Ingredients:

3 1/2 cup all-purpose (or unbleached) flour

2 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup cornmeal

1/2 cup skim milk powder

1 tablespoon (or 1 package) dry yeast

3 1/2 cups lukewarm chicken or meat broth


1 egg beaten with about 2 tablespoons water (for egg wash)


Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.

Grease cookie sheets. (I baked them on parchment paper, so I skipped this messy step.)


Mix together all dry ingredients.


Dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm chicken or meat broth. Let yeast broth mixture set 10 min. Then stir in flour mixture until a soft dough is formed. If the dough is too sticky you can add more flour.


Roll resulting dough out to about 1/4" thick. Pull dough apart into biscuit sized pieces and brush them with egg wash.

Bake on greased cookie sheets at 350F for 45 min. Then turn off oven and leave in overnight to finish hardening.


NOTE: As I said, these make quite a lot of biscuits. I put some in a plastic bag in the refrigerator until the dogs finished the ones in their biscuit jar. They would also freeze well. Just let them thaw overnight.


Painting above: Winter Sunshine, 1940 by Phillis Walters


29 comments:

  1. How absolutely dear--baking biscuits for your dogs! If I had a dog, I would dig into your recipe...spending time in your kitchen sounds divine.

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  2. Archie and Dougal send you a big thank you for this lovely recipe - they're looking forward to their first batch! Leigh

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  3. I'll have to make some of these for Jack and his friends. I love the painting- full of sunshine and such a familiar scene- a dog under foot. Although, Jack is always at attention- watching for anything that falls.

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  4. You are such a good Mommy. I have a friend that has made biscuits for my pups-but I have not. But I will now-using this recipe. I give them a bit of grated carrot with their evening meal, so I like that idea. Thank you Pamela-a nice little project for the weekend.

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  5. Hi Pamela,

    At the moment we are without a dog, but I am sure they would be so much nicer than the store bought.
    My daughter has just made some gingernuts and the aroma wafting up the stairs is wonderful.
    I am going to go and sample a biscuit with a cup of coffee.

    Hope your week is going well.
    Hugs
    Carolyn
    ps. I love to cook too and read and look at recipe books.

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  6. When I grow up, I want to be just like you, Pamela! :) But, alas, I don't believe I'll ever grow up.

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  7. How great! I have got to forward this to my daughter and daughter n law!!

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  8. Now this is a good idea!...I love to bake but have not baked much recently because Mr O and I are watching our weight (watching it climb:) ...now if I get the urge to bake I can make some cookies for Kaja:)..Perfect!

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  9. Homemade dog biscuits! What a wonderful idea, Pamela.

    I wonder if I can find a recipe for homemade kitty cat treats?

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  10. Wilf and Digby strongly approve of this post and shall shortly be trying out this recipe.

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  11. Dear Pamela, There is so much to this post. First, I do so like the painting of the 1940s - so close to my own childhood. Secondly, as one who does not cook, but who loves to eat good food, I do wish I could experience the aromas of your kitchen which must be divine. Lastly, homemade dog biscuits are a first for me - what a superb idea. Could this be the beginning of a new enterprise?

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  12. What a good idea, Ted is in for a treat!

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  13. Hello P&E,

    The Dog Star and now dog biscuits! Pity I don't have anyone to try these on.

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  14. Sounds like a fairly easy recipe and since I cool all of Wallace's food anyway I could safe a good deal on all the store bought biscuits I buy. I can see adding different ingredients to it also as wallace really likes peanut butter too. Its good for their coats also. I may have to illiminate the cornmeal though. I'm not sure if he would have the same reaction to it as he does with kibble with corn in it. He seems to scratch alot from corn. Anyways, there are so many goodies you could add to make them there favorite cookie recipe.
    Already, the newest member to our family knows the word cookie and comes running. She is only 8 weeks old. Doesn't take them long, does it?

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  15. Please excuse my spelling errors. When I went back to read it, it was too late to correct. Oh well, you know what I meant to say. Heheh

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  16. oh gosh, I'd love to cook in a kitchen with Edward and Apple - how lovely that must be...

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  17. Lucky Edward and Apple they are well loved.

    Pamela I too cannot turn the page of a calendar until its date. I can write in it before hand, I just can't turn the page to it for no reason.

    xoxox

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  18. My husband's boss had a beloved lab. One year I made dog biscuits (included the recipe and the bone cookie cutter) for his holiday gift. This normally reserved man came across the room at the holiday party and with tears in his eyes said no one had ever given him a more thoughtful gift. Made my holiday!

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  19. Wow Pamela, I am so astonished at this that I don't quite know what to say! I can barely keep husband and children in cakes and biscuits, let alone think about the dog, who luckily, is the left-over dinner king.

    However, it did put me in mind of a lovely cookbook which I use frequently, called "I Love Food" by (wait for it) the Lady Laird of Ballindalloch Castle. The final chapter is called "woof!" and has 3 dog recipes - Doggie Chocolate Crunch, The Honey Bone and The Cheesey Bone, with accompanying shots of her many spaniels and terriers. It's published by Heritage House, and she has a website at www.ballindallochcastle.co.uk

    More power to your elbow, as we say!

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  20. Tara and Bailey will eternally thank you for this! :)

    Funny,this would have been a great twist on the Theme Thursday of bread today!

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  21. Huh, who'd a thunk you could make your own doggie biscuits? Thanks for sharing!

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  22. I am an old and experienced maker of dog biscuits, - Caspar loves them, and they smell delicious baking! I'm sure Edward and Apple are very appreciative.

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  23. When it is Angel's birthday I make her fav liver flavour "birthday cake" with chews on end as candles. I shared the video last Feb 25th of the occassion where the cake was put in the middle and the hounds came up one at a time to share the chews and then finally piled in nose to nose with one another.

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  24. Ernie & I thank you and Edward for this yummy biscut recipe. I make all of Ernie's food & treats (using all the recipes I have for Benny)so it's always nice to have a new recipe :-)
    Love the Winter Sunshine painting♥

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  25. Greater love has no woman than that she bakes dog biscuits for her dogs.

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  26. That painting must have been done of me and my dog. I work in the kitchen and she keeps me company under my feet. (She is also white in fur) Thanks! for this recipe.

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  27. Your lucky babies! Oh, I am sure they were in heaven.

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  28. Home made dog biscuits? An excellent idea! How happy Edward and Apple must have been to have special home baked treats from your kitchen:)

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  29. Hi, Pamela! What a great post! Thank you for sharing your recipe with us, too! I will bookmark it for a time in the future when we hope to have a dog again...

    Apple looks the spitting image of my beloved childhood dog, a Puli...

    And you know I love that handsome Edward!

    xo Melissa

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I love to read your comments! Each and every one! Though I'm always reading your comments, I may not respond in the comment section. If you want to write me directly, you may do so at pamela@pamelaterry.net. Thank you for reading!