We Coloradans love our dogs. About four in 10 households here have at least one dog, so chances are that if you don’t have a pooch of your own sprawled out on the kitchen floor, you know someone who does. Whip up a batch of this simple dough in the food processor and a couple of hours later, you have a sweet, breath-freshening holiday gift for your hound-loving pals. This is also a fun activity for kids. The adults in our group made tiny bones by hand while 4-year-old Chloe rolled out dough and used cookie cutters to shape treats for the dogs in the ‘hood. – Dana Coffield
Good Dog, Bad Dog Biscuits
Jerry Traunfeld, chef at The Herbfarm Restaurant in Woodinville, Wash., and author of “The Herbal Kitchen: Cooking With Fragrance and Flavor,” says he would like to think these treats appeal to his pooches because they’re healthy, but admits it probably has more to do with the peanut butter. Depending on the size of the treat you shape, expect to make 2-4 dozen biscuits.
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup dry nutritional yeast (get it in the supplements department at a natural grocer like Vitamin Cottage or Wild Oats)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 cup parsley sprigs, gently packed
- 1/2 cup peanut butter, preferably unsalted
- 1 egg
- 1 cup water
Directions
Preheat the oven to 275 degrees. Whirl the oats, flour, garlic powder and parsley in a food processor until finely ground. Add the peanut butter and process until combined. Add the egg and water and process until the dough forms a firm ball that spins around the blade. Turn the dough out onto a board and knead briefly. Pinch off a piece of dough (a size corresponding to the size of your dog) and roll it into a cylinder. Use your fingers to form it into a bone shape, pressing a fingertip into each end to create “sockets.” Arrange the biscuits on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake the biscuits for about 2 hours, or until they are lightly browned and quite dry. Cool and store in an airtight container, out of paw’s reach.
