THE BAKING HAS BEGUN...

It was totally dark this morning when I began pulling ingredients and utensils out to bake some Christmas cookies.  Not just any cookies, but special cookies for the Girls (Dottie & Olive).  I am aware that some people might think that a person would have to be out of their head to bake cookies for their dogs, but I'm okay with that! 

I ran across a simple dog biscuit recipe made with peanut butter, bananas, oatmeal, cornmeal and eggs that sounded so good the Girls might think we were giving them some of our treats!  The recipe below makes a few dozen treats depending on the size of your cutter.  Today I doubled the recipe and that's what is pictured above:

3/4 cup water
1/4 cup oil
2 eggs
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/4 cup peanut butter (I use creamy)
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups flour (I use regular all purpose flour)
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal + more for rolling
1/2 cup oats (any type) + more for rolling

I use a mixer.  Blend the wet ingredients together and add to the dry ingredients and mix well.  Turn out onto lightly floured counter or board and add enough additional oats, cornmeal and flour to make the dough stiff enough to roll without sticking.

I roll or pat the dough to about 1/2" thickness and then sprinkle oats over the top and press them in gently.  Cut out biscuits with cutter of your choice and transfer to a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or non-stick foil.  I take a fork and poke the top of each biscuit lightly to make 4 little holes for decoration.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes and flip the biscuits over and cook a few more minutes (15 minutes for me).  Remove to a rack to cool.

Note:  If I don't put oats on top of the biscuits I will make an egg wash (1 egg + a small splash of milk beaten with a fork) and brush it over the tops of the biscuits before baking.  This gives them a shiny glaze.  I like the look of the oats...more natural looking. 

The biscuits have natural ingredients and I'm sure if they were left out too long at room temperature they could spoil.  I freeze most of the biscuits and leave out just enough for about 4-5 days.  These make cute gifts for your furry friends and they will love you so much for making them especially for them.

Enjoy your day.....Barb