Meet Phoebe. See Phoebe eat. Eat, Phoebe, eat!
I was beginning to feel really guilty about cooking and baking all sorts of things and constantly telling the puppy that none of it was for her, so I finally got around to making her some baked goods of her very own. While I’d like to think that she enjoys these exponentially more than she enjoys pre-packaged store-bought biscuits and that she can taste my love for her baked into them, in reality, this is the dog who scarfs down four-day-old Chinese take-out that has been stomped into the entranceway of my apartment building, old wads of chewing gum, tufts of other dogs’ hair, and goose poop, so I think it’s safe to say that she’s not exactly a sophisticated gourmand. These homemade biscuits do, however, make me feel good A) because she gets so excited and I always love an appreciative audience, and B) because they’re made of such healthy and natural ingredients! I used unsweetened applesauce and peanut butter that consists solely of peanuts (no sugar, vegetable oils, or salt), so all the sweetness comes from the fruits and veggies themselves.
The pup luuuuuurves these biscuits. I have to admit, I tried one too. If you, um, have any extra peanut butter banana icing…I highly recommend that for human consumption (the biscuits, not so much). I probably would have eaten more of the icing if the pup hadn’t been staring at me intently with her big brown puppy eyes, waiting in eager and desperate anticipation.
- 1 cup mashed sweet potato (2-3 small sweet potatoes)
- 3/8 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 cup wheat germ
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 egg
- 3 tablespoons natural peanut butter
- 1 frozen banana
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Prick skin of sweet potatoes with a fork. Microwave on high for 3-4 minutes or until softened. Cut in half and scoop out sweet potato flesh with a spoon. Mash with a potato masher or fork.
- Stir together mashed sweet potato, applesauce, wheat germ, and whole wheat flour in a medium bowl. Beat egg with a fork and add to bowl.
- Stir until dry ingredients are incorporated and a dough has formed. Form dough into a ball and place on a lightly floured surface. Roll dough until about 1/2 inch in thickness. Cut dough with cookie cutters or with a knife and place biscuits on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake 20-25 minutes. Cool completely before icing.
- Put frozen banana and peanut butter in blender and blend until smooth. Spread or squeeze out of a ziploc bag onto biscuits (I iced each biscuit right before giving it to my dog, and kept the rest of the icing in the fridge).
- The number of biscuits will depend on the cookie cutter(s) you use. I got about 18 3.5-inch bones.
Lucky puppy!!!!!!
Love this idea!! Our little Bentley would gobble these right up. Do you think there’s an acceptable substitute for the wheat germ though?
Hmm, good question. After doing a bit of internet sleuthing, it seems that flour (whole wheat or regular), crushed corn flakes, or ground nuts are all viable options (but be careful with nuts – I knew macadamia nuts are bad for dogs, but only learned the other day that walnuts are also bad for them!). Let me know how they turn out if you make them! 🙂