With the weather outside dreadfully cold, we decided to spend the day making our own homemade dog biscuits. You can never have too many dog biscuits on hand, especially if you are constantly teaching your dog new tricks, or simply need something to bribe him into good behavior. Besides, I had this idea for a photograph where I would put my camera in an oven. But first we needed a good recipe for homemade dog biscuits.    

There are some great books full of recipes for dog biscuits, treats and homemade dog foods. I will post a few links at the end of this article to some of the better ones I found. For this article, however, we decided to create our own Fido Loves Wunder-Dog Biscuits: for canine super powers. These dog biscuits are mighty crunchy, smell terrific (if you are a dog), and are very nutritious. I was surprised at how easy it is to make your own biscuits, especially if you let your dog clean up afterwards.

Here is a list of ingredients:

• 2 cups – whole wheat or rice flour
• 1/4 cup – nonfat dry powdered milk
• 1/4 cup – Wheat Germ
• 1 – Egg
• A couple of globs of Peanut Butter (I prefer Teddie’s Super Chunky) let the dog clean the spoon
• I heaping scoop of Nupro (if you have it on hand, if you don’t you should)
• 2 – Hotdogs (I prefer Nathan’s or Hebrew National, unless we are in Maine, then scratch the dog biscuits and go to Flo’s instead.)
• Water to mix

All of the ingredients will be mixed together, add water as you mix until you have a thick dough, similar to pizza dough. If you add too much water add a little more flour. It is not rocket science. Dice the hot dogs before adding them to the mix, some will become part of the dough and some hot dog will hold together. The Nupro is a good nutritious supplement filled with vitamins, essential oils and liver to top it off. If you don’t have any on hand, don’t worry, add a little extra peanut butter.

After your dough is well mixed and has a thick consistency (a little more firm than pizza dough), flour your clean counter and roll out the dough to about a 1/4 inch thick. Rub a thin cout of flour on both sides of the dough to prevent sticking and use a cookie cutter to start cutting biscuits. After you cut and remove the biscuits, ball up the scraps and re-roll the dough to 1/4 inch and cut again. Keep going until you have used up your dough.

While you are pre-heating the oven to 400 degrees, place your Wunder-Dog Biscuits on a cookie sheet. I also recommend dicing up another hot dog and sprinkling the bits on the cookie sheet around the biscuits. The bit of oil from the diced hot dog will prevent the biscuits from sticking, add additional flavor and afterwards make fantastic little treats for teaching your dog a new trick.

Bake for about 30 minutes.  The key step to ensuring crunchy biscuits is to simply turn the oven off and let the oven cool while closed with the dog biscuits inside. This will dry your dog’s treats out and make them extra crunchy. That is it! Once cool, restock the cookie jar with your Fido Loves Wunder-Dog Biscuits.

There are endless combinations for dog treats and ways you can make your dog food as well. Check out some of these books available on Amazon.

• You Bake ‘em Dog Biscuits Cookbook
• The Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook: Over 100
• Cooking the Three Dog Bakery Way
• R & M Dog Themed Cookie Cutter Set

I also highly recommend ”not” putting your camera in a hot oven….