Saturday, August 23, 2008

Time for more homemade doggie treats!

Max had finally finished the last of those Banana-Carob "Pup"scotti I made a few weeks ago just before we got Gus... I've been waiting to find some time to make a new treat recipe for both of them and today was it. Woo!

I knew I wanted a treat I could split up into smaller pieces for the pup and larger ones for Max, so here is what I came up with - Crunchy Parsley and Carrot Biscuits! And no, we didn't get more pups! Those are from a calender we got last year of little daschunds!

I like to use a variety of dry ingredients when I'm making treats for them - this time in addition to the regular whole-wheat flour I always start out with, I added brown rice flour, cornmeal and a touch of oat bran. Now for the fun stuff! I chopped up a bunch of fresh parsley (I can only hope it might freshen up their breath too... hee hee!) and shredded up a carrot to add in. Since I've learned in the past that Max loves cheesy treats, I also added just a bit of shredded cheddar cheese to entice them. To bring all of these ingredients together, I added enough vegetable broth to form a workable dough (you could use beef or chicken if you wanted... water would be fine as well) and a couple tablespoons of canola oil for texture and a little healthy fat.

I used a tiny heart-shaped cutter for Gus's snacks while I used the larger bone-shaped one for Max. And just because we already had the cutter, I also made some little dachshund-shaped biscuits... however, thinking about it now, I don't think we'll give those to Gus as that seems wrong! Max will have to get them I guess, but we'll have to make sure Gus isn't watching! The baking powder in the dough will make them puff up a little, but you can fit the biscuits fairly close together on the baking sheet and not worry about them as they don't spread much. Make sure to bake them until they are golden and firm to the touch - it is okay if the center is slightly soft though as they will continue to crisp up as they cool. I didn't know if they would reject these or not with the carrots and parsley, but Max gobbled his up in record time while Gus was a little timid. However, once he took a taste, his little heart biscuit didn't last long!


3 comments:

  1. I had to laugh at your - what was I thinking - moment with the dachsund shaped treats!

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  2. Joe, I love your puppy posts...we just lost our precious Snoopy a little over a week ago. My heart is kind of empty right now so it makes me smile to see your little guys - thanks for sharing!

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  3. Quinn - hee hee!

    Gigi - Sorry to hear about Snoopy =(

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