Going to the Dogs

The first half of February was completely filled with cookies. One daughter sold over 350 boxes of Girl Scout cookies. We picked up 32 cases on February 2 and still have a few boxes left to mail out to family nationwide. The other daughter sold Doggie Do-Right Biscuits, to benefit World Wildlife Fund and the Northeast Animal Shelter.

One very generous dog-loving friend ordered 10 packs of biscuits for her dog and her dog-in-law. Well, with an order like that, ziplock bags just were not going to be enough. A quick trip to the fabric stash revealed some dog fabric! Purchased for the dog-loving daughter but never used. On the Monday after the blizzard, when I knew I had to get the biscuits out or they'd never make it to California in time for Valentine's Day. So I measured the bags of biscuits and the box they had to fit in. And I whipped up a couple of these bags. Simple construction, unlined, sewn mostly with the serger. They're a bit long for a lunch bag and a bit small for a grocery bag, but they served their purpose and maybe the recipients will find them nice enough to save or to use to wrap a present for another dog.

The verdict on the biscuits is in already.

" "WOOF, WOOF, lick, lick, slurp, WOOF, WOOF" a thousand licks more from Macy. She is not a treat dog, but she is going crazy for your Doggie Do-Right Biscuits. Thank you and I LOVE the bag."

"My cookie order was spot on, but I just wanted to tell you how much my pup enjoyed the peanut butter dog treats.  She’s very picky about food in general, but wolfed these down with no delay.  Thanks!"

So if you have a dog that you want to make treats for, try this recipe. It seems even dogs appreciate fresh, top quality ingredients. I used uncured bacon (no nitrites) and all-natural peanut butter without any added salt. The recipe is adapted from one that came with a bone-shaped cutter, from the days before we even had kids. We used some fun shapes, too. A pig for the bacon biscuits. A peanut shaped cutter for the peanut butter biscuits. I took a pair of pliers and bent an egg-shaped cutter to make the peanut shape. Or you could make little balls and press them with a fork so they look like peanut butter cookies for humans.

Doggie Do-Right Biscuits

2 Tbsp butter

4 Tbsp fat (bacon grease, plain peanut butter or more butter)

2-3 strips bacon, finely minced, optional

1 egg

3 cups whole wheat flour, plus some for rolling

½ cup non-fat dry milk powder

½ tsp. salt

1 ½ tsp wheat germ

1 ½ tsp nutritional yeast (not baking yeast)

2/3 cup cool water

Cream butter, fat and egg until well blended.  Blend in the minced bacon, if using.

Stir together the flour, milk powder, salt, wheat germ and nutritional yeast.

Add flour mixture and cool water alternately to wet mixture. Knead 2-3 minutes.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface to ¼” thick. Use cookie cutters or a pizza cutter to cut out shapes.

Bake on an ungreased baking sheet for 25-30 minutes.

Allow to cool thoroughly before letting your dog in the kitchen.