Yesterday was my dog’s birthday so we celebrated her today with homemade dog biscuits in one of her favorite flavors: peanut butter. This recipe is from a family friend named Nancy, and I just added a few of my own flourishes since we were baking the treats for a special occasion.
Homemade Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits
Yields 6 dozen, depending on biscuit size.
Ingredients:
2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/4 tablespoons baking powder
1 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup milk (plus an extra splash or two if your dough comes out a bit dry like mine did)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400°F.
Combine the two types of flour and the baking powder in a large bowl.
Whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, and baking powder.
Measure out the peanut butter in a separate bowl and add the milk. This step is especially messy and gooey, and I think if you have children without peanut allergies, they might enjoy helping out! Mix the peanut butter and milk by hand for a few minutes until it becomes smooth and shiny.
Gooey peanut butter and milk.
Gradually stir the peanut butter mixture into the flour mixture. I incorporated the peanut butter into the flour in three batches, stirring the flour with the sticky peanut butter until it began to look “sandy” each time, then adding some more.
This is the "sandy" dough you end up with.
Knead the dough in the bowl for a few minutes. My dough was a bit dry and crumbly, and needed some extra splashes of milk to come together properly. So add milk if you need to.
If your dough is a bit dry, like this, add some milk.
After a little milk and kneading by hand, the dough looks like this. The color is better in this picture as well.
Roll out the dough onto a floured surface. If you skipped the gym on the day you make these dog biscuits, don’t worry, you’ll get a great arm workout kneading and rolling out this dough! I found that the first rolling was the best (of course) and then any subsequent rolling out of the dough needed a bit of prodding. This dough is not the same as cookie dough, so expect it to be a bit stubborn after the first rolling.
Cut the biscuits with whatever cookie cutters you like. I used mini heart and diamond cutters, alphabet letters, and a bone.
This recipe yields many yummy treats.
Place the biscuits on baking sheets covered with aluminum foil and bake them in the oven for 15 minutes.
All ready to be baked.
Cool the treats on wire racks, then you can decorate them!
I used a simple powdered sugar icing that my dog loves. Just combine powdered sugar with a little milk until you get a thick, shiny, and smooth consistency. I dipped a few of the treats into the icing halfway and allowed the excess to drip off. I placed them on the aluminum foil baking sheets and garnished some of the iced dog biscuits with crumbled dog treat pieces I had in the cupboard. Allow the icing to set for about 30 minutes, then the dog biscuits are ready to be eaten!
My dog loved these homemade dog treats and I was rewarded with many slobbery kisses!
