Baking for my dog

This is my mutt. Well, she's really not a "mutt". She is a pure-bred Australian Cattle Dog, also called a Blue Heeler. She is 8 years old, and the apple of her "daddy's" eye. I often tell people I would worry if someone asked my hubby to choose between me and his dog. Most of the time I think I would get picked, but sometimes I wonder.

For Christmas this year my sister-in-law gave me a kit for making your dog homemade dog treats. The kit included a recipe book, a treat tin, and a couple of cookie cutters.  Today I decided to give one of the recipes a go. While out running errands I picked up a bag of Spelt flour which the recipe I picked needed.  I had the rest of the ingredients I needed here at the house.

Everything got mixed up in a food processor,,,flour, walnuts, eggs, oil, molasses, yeast. You are supposed to spread the dough out over the pan and bake it in one large piece, cutting it into bite-sized pieces later. I thought it would be more fun to cut out dog bones and bake them like that.

They baked for about 35 minutes and then cooled for an hour. They smelled interesting baking. Not bad, but nothing like a batch of cookies or a cake would smell while baking. And, not good enough to draw the dog (her name is Patches, btw) into the kitchen to see what I was up to. I tasted the dough before baking it and found it kind of bland. I hope no one is suddenly freaking out because I tasted OMG! DOG BISCUIT DOUGH!! None of the ingredients really screamed DOG to me while I was putting them together. :) I would not eat a Milk bone, btw, in case anyone is wondering.

When my hubby came home he checked out the biscuits himself, before giving one to Patches. (OMG! My husband ate a dog biscuit! Hahaha!) Said they were kind of plain tasting to him. And, what did Patches think? She really liked them. She ate two and would have eaten more but I said that was enough. She needs to go on a diet, just like her "Mommy" and "Daddy"!

I was really glad to see she liked them. I would have hated to have gone to all the trouble of cutting out all those little dog biscuits only to have her turn her nose up to them. And, she is a finicky eater. She won't eat just anything put in front of her.

I don't know if the rest of you are as crazy about your dogs as my hubby and me are about ours, but if you are, and you would like to show your love by baking some homemade treats for the furry friend in your life, the recipe is below. :)

Bobby's Brownies

7 oz. (200g) wholewheat flour

7 oz. (200g) spelt flour

3 1/2 oz. (100g) chopped walnuts

2 eggs

2 Tablespoons sunflower oil

2 Tablespoons molasses

1/2 package of yeast

water and flour as required

In a food processor, mix all the ingredients to form a firm dough. If necessary, add a little extra flour or water. Shape the dough into a ball and let it rise in a warm spot for 1 hour. (I didn't see any "rise" in this after an hour; it was a very dense dough)

Preheat the oven to 320 degrees F (160 degrees C). Line a shallow rectangular baking pan with baking parchment.

Spread the dough over the baking pan until about 1 1/2 inches (4cm) thick. Bake for 35 minutes, then let it cool for 1 hour, still in the baking pan.

Turn out the baked cake, with the baking parchment, onto a board. Remove the parchment and cut the cake into dog bite-sized pieces. Store in a paper or linen bag (I put mine in the tin that came with the recipe  book). The brownies will keep for about 4 weeks.

I hope your dog likes them as much as Patches did!