Saturday, February 19, 2011

Dog Catcher in the Rye - PB Puppy Biscuits

I was torn about what to blog about this evening....  It's been one of those days.  Saturday and nothing pressing to do. So I spent most of the day in the kitchen making Streusel Scones, Cream of Bell Pepper Soup and Peanut Butter, Oatmeal & Rye Biscuits for Puppy.  Sounds like an odd dinner, No? LMAO

So after several coin tosses and a round of eeny meeny miney moe...  The Peanut Butter Biscuits won.

Dogs do not "taste" the same way we do.  In fact, they have 1/6th the amount of taste buds that humans have; about 1,700 as opposed to 9,000 in humans.  A dogs sense of smell, however, kind of makes up for the lack of taste buds.  Since, you cannot "smell" salt, nor can one "smell" sugar...  They are completely unnecessary ingredients when it comes to dog treats.  Since both of these can be detrimental to the health of your canine pal, it's best just to leave them out.

The key to a good dog treat is smell.  The more "aromatic" your dog treat, the more they will enjoy it.  Peanut Butter or Hazelnut Butter are excellent additions to these canine crunchables.  Does your dog not care for peanut butter?  That's OK, you can substitute 4 ounces of shredded Cheddar for the Peanut Butter and make Cheese Biscuits.  Neat-o Frito, huh?

Why am I so stuck on uncommon flours for my dog treats.  They tend to be whole grain flours instead of refined as wheat so often is, and they are either gluten-free or only contain minuscule amounts.  Gluten intolerance in dogs seems to be on the rise.  Otto, my previous companion, had gluten issues (it caused hot spots) so I am not taking any chances.

PB PBs 

(Peanut Butter Puppy Biscuits)

260 g (2 cups) Barley Flour
60 g (1/2 cup) Oat Flour
60 g (1/2 cup) Dark Rye Flour
235 ml (1 cup) Peanut Butter
1 Large Egg
60 ml (1/4 cup) Olive Oil
118 ml (1/2 cup) Water

Whisk the all three flours together in a large bowl.

Make a well in the center and add the remaining ingredients.

Mix with a spatula, or your hands until you have a somewhat cohesive, if mottled, dough.

Move dough to the counter and knead until smooth, if a little crumbly.

Wrap in plastic and allow to rest while you preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Roll on a rye floured surface to 1/2 inch thickness.

Cut out biscuits (I made 1 pan of small 1/2 inch biscuits and 1 pan of larger 1 3/4  inch biscuits)

Place biscuits on parchment lined baking sheets. (you can place them very close, they do not spread)

Bake small biscuits for about 20 minutes and large biscuits for 35 minutes.

Cool on racks and let your puppy enjoy after a long afternoon of chasing your niece around the yard.

Good Dog!!
~~

1 comment:

Patti T. said...

I always love reading your blog and seeing your wonderful culinary creations but what won my heart this time was that last photo. Sooooo cute!