Every Dog Has Their Day
Posted by Hannah Kaminsky on Just Baking.
As my beloved dog, Isis, prepares to celebrate her 10th birthday today, I’ve come to notice that her tastes have become greatly refined since puppyhood, especially in earlier days when anything even borderline edible [And many things completely inedible, too] would end up in her mouth before we would ever see her approach. Deftly stalking her prey, many rotten vegetables, insects, plastic toys, any so on would meet a swift end via her sharp teeth and turmoiluous digestive processes. I remember that milk cartons were a particular delicacy that Isis delighted in, and even after we stopped them, they would still mysterious appear in our yard, carried in by the joyful pup herself. It took us months to figure out that she was in fact stealing them from the neighbors’ recycling bins as if they were her personal all-you-can-eat buffets!In her advancing age though, she has grown increasingly picky about her food. Only grudgingly eating her own food, it’s real meals that she craves these days. Crumbs of meat scraped from my father’s plate are the ultimate indulgence, just barely out-ranking pizza crusts. Unbelievably, not even all human food is pleasing to her refined palate now; Pretzel crumbs or lettuce leaves? Forget it. What about chunks of apple? Once a real treat that she would snap up and devour with such gusto that neither core nor seeds would remain when she had finished, but now something that she leaves on the floor, untouched. I simply can’t understand her behaviors sometimes.
For this very special birthday of hers, coming up with some sort of desirable treat was not as easy as it used to be. Afraid of a potential rejection and the shame of making something that not even a dog would eat, I almost didn’t venture to even try. Still, it’s not everyday that your darling puppy turns 10, so I sucked it up for her sake and made my best effort. It’s the thought that counts anyways, and there was no way I could sit idly by when she deserved so much more.
Ultimately, I decided that homemade biscuits should sufficiently satisfy my choosy pup. Adhering to her standard criteria for acceptable foods, I developed these snacks to be similar to pizza crusts in texture, giving her a solid crunch and dog-friendly flavor with every bite. Additional protein joins the mix by using soy flour in order to make it a more nutritionally rich treat, because who wouldn’t want their loved ones to stay healthy and happy for as long as possible? Aromatic and tempting even to me when the emerged from the oven, I was reluctant to give them all away when the time came. They are perfectly decent for humans to enjoy as well… But I don’t know if Isis would be so willing to share with me!
Dog Biscuits
-1/2 Cup Soybean Flour
-1 3/4 Cup AP Flour
-3/4 Cup Cornmeal
-1/4 Cup Dried Parsley
-1/4 Cup Canola Oil
-1 Cup Vegetable Stock
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Stir together the soybean flour, cornmeal, 1 cup of the AP flour, and parsley together in a medium bowl. Add in the oil and veggie stock, stirring well. Once fully combined, add in the remaining amount of AP flour, and keep on stirring it until all of the dry ingredients have absorbed - It may take quite a bit of mixing, agitating, and kneading, but it will all come together eventually! When your dough is completely homogeneous and only slightly sticky, use a rolling pin to flatten it out to a thickness of about 1/4 inch. Use cookie cutters to make the shapes that you want and lay them out on a silpat-lined baking sheet. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove biscuits from the oven and let air-dry overnight, or for at least 8 hours before storing in an airtight container.
Keep in mind that homemade biscuits go bad much faster than store bought, so use this as an excuse to spoil your furry friend even more than usual!
