Let Them Eat Dog Treats!

Looking for some indoor, anytime fun that you can do with the kids?  Make your own dog treats.  There are several beautiful things about this project and the recipe shared below.  First, it's an age-diversity-friendly project; both Batman (age eleven) and Robin (age four) love being part of all the steps of baking something. Second, it's incredibly easy.  Third, it's dog treats.  If they sneeze on the dough or lick the peanut butter off the spoon they're still using to stir, who cares?  Not the dog.  If the shapes are lopsided, or the limbs of the cookie-dogs get left behind on the counter, who cares?  (In fact, Robin was really proud of his headless, tail-less dog cookie.  Batman said it looked like a table.)  It is such a lovely feeling to let go of any attempt at cookie perfection and just let them have fun.

Here is my favorite dog treat recipe:

Simple Simon's Birthday Bones

2 cups whole-wheat flour 
1 tablespoon baking powder 
1 cup natural peanut butter 
1 cup skim milk

Cooking Directions: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a bowl, combine flour and baking powder. In another bowl, mix peanut butter and milk. Add wet mixture to dry, and mix well. Turn out dough on a lightly floured surface and knead. Roll out to 1/4-inch thick and cut out shapes. Place on a greased baking sheet and bake 20 minutes or until lightly brown. Cool on a rack then store in an airtight container. Makes 30 large bones

From the Three Dog Bakery Cookbook (more on this below)

I can't speak to it making 30 large bones, because we usually double the recipe and use a variety of cookie cutters.  If you double the recipe, you can just use an entire jar of peanut butter and don't have to measure it out (yuck).  We use cookie cutters in all kind of shapes: bones, dogs, gingerbread men, partial gingerbread men . . .

And if you (or your offspring) get tired of cutting out shapes, which is pretty likely if you make a double batch, then it works just as well if you slice the dough into little squares and throw them on the cookie sheet.

The final thing I love about this recipe is that it tastes good.  Yep, we've been eating dog treats.  Well look at the ingredients.  Pretty healthy, right?  (The sneeze germs were burned up in the oven.  Really.)  It doesn't have anything weird like bone marrow or pigs' ears. Robin is a really, really picky eater.  He won't eat peanut butter.  But he loves eating these "cookies" and would happily eat a couple dozen at one sitting.  It does drive the dog crazy, though, seeing the people wandering around munching the dog treats.  She knows they're dog treats.  Don't ask me how.  She just does.

Speaking of dogs, as promised above, I wanted to mention a little something about Three Dog Bakery.  If you haven't heard of or read Amazing Gracie by Dan Dye and Mark Beckloff, you should.  It's a great dog/people story along the lines of Marley and Me, and it's about how Three Dog Bakery got started.  It is sad--I don't think I ever read the end, because you see it coming, like you do the end of Marley and Me--but it's a great book.  And that's another reason I like this recipe, because it's connected to a great book, a great business, and great people.  

So . . . Eat dog biscuits.  Be quiet.