Whole Grain Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits You Can Eat!

Hello and welcome to the first Monday in July!  What's so great about the first Monday in July that would warrant an exclamation mark, you ask? Nothing.  Just felt like doing that.


But I did have a great weekend not having to drive anywhere and spending a lot of time in the kitchen.  Plus, Kelley and I enjoyed each other's company and even did one of the Supreme 90 workout DVDs my mom got me for my b-day. I'm more into barbell focused strength training in our garage, but this video was a great workout to mix things up. If only I could clean up all the dog and cat hair before; that drives me crazy!


Since we have Wednesday off for the 4th of July, I only made 4 meals for Kelley and me to have at work.  With the extra time, I set off to try making a few things I've been wanting to do.  I try to keep a nice stock of homemade protein baked goods to have as snacks and limit choosing packaged snacks.  Although, I do enjoy Ak-Mak Crackers and most of the Ryvita Crispbread as stand-by snacks.

I've wanted to make homemade pet treats for a while now, but always get caught up in cooking for myself or Kelley.  Then I realized I can have it both ways since dog food doesn't have to be dog food you would buy at the pet store.

Keeping the ingredient list small and the quality high, I made peanut butter dog biscuits hearts (the only cookie-cutter shape I have) with whole spelt flour, rolled oats, baking powder, milk, and natural peanut butter. Simple, toasty goodness was the result.

Kelley and I tried one. She said it wasn't very sweet (duh!) and I had to remind her it's for the animals....sugar shouldn't be present!  I would add stevia to make it sweeter, but I liked the toasted whole grain with a subtle peanut butter flavor. These tasted just like biscuits I had for breakfast as a kid; only these are homemade, whole grain, and.....for dogs.

Kelley had to hold Abby to keep her still. Guess that's how I am when there's peanut butter around...

I seriously contemplated not using as dog treats and keeping for myself instead.  There's freshly made protein cherry chia jam that would make the "heart" healthy biscuits a perfect human food. But my inner nice guy broke through and I decided to keep them for our dog, Abby, and our friend's from work dog, Chowdah. His dog means a lot to him and I think the treats will be enjoyed....maybe by them both!

Want to make tasty treats for your pet that you can eat (and enjoy) too? This is easy, the longest part is cutting into shapes, which you don't have to do.

Whole Grain Peanut Butter Dog (or Human) Biscuits

by RC Liley

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Ingredients (approx 30 biscuits)

• 1 C milk of choice; I used organic skim milk
• 3/4 C natural peanut butter
• 1 1/2 C whole spelt or another whole grain flour
• 1/2 C rolled oats
• 1 T baking powder

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large bowl, mix milk and peanut butter until well blended.

Add flour, oats, and baking powder to milk mixture.

If dough is too sticky, add flour 1 T at a time until able to handle

On a floured surface, roll dough to about 1/4 inch thickness and cut into desired shape.

Place biscuits on non-stick baking sheet and bake for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown on top.

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I think next time I will just use a pizza roller to make rectangle biscuits; they taste the same to dogs and might be easier to spread jam on for you to enjoy too.

My time in the kitchen also resulted in protein millet peanut butter bars using the recipe for Popcorn Balls from Tiana at teabagginit. Speaking of, I'd like to say congrats to Tiana for winning my Fig Food Company Giveaway! Hope you find a good choice for your free pick, Tiana! If you guys haven't already, check out her blog which has some wonderfully tasty protein recipes, good humor, and more!

I chose bars because I'm lazy and didn't feel like rolling anything. The protein cherry chia jam I mentioned earlier was another creation this weekend, and I even made homemade egg McGriddle sandwiches. When I was a "bigger boy", I used to savor these and other fast food crap all the time.  I hardly even go out to nice places now, but I had fun making this healthy version.

These things will all be discussed in further detail on future posts. But, for now, I must jet.

Q: Have you ever made your own pet treats? Did you try them yourself first?

Hopefully not if it was chicken gizzard puree.

Have a great Monday!