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Cooking Companion by Kelly Montgomery
I have a scavenger in my kitchen. It’s not quite as bad as it sounds. He’s actually rather cute and charming. Otis, my dear Boston Terrier, follows me just about everywhere I go. But he downright stalks me in the kitchen, sitting right underfoot while I cook. (Literally. I frequently trip over him and he gives me a look like “Sheesh! Will ya watch where you’re going?”). Otis loves messy cooks. The messier the better. Lucky for him that seems to come naturally to me.
How powerful I must seem to my four-legged friend. I bring home endless bags full of food of every imaginable variety (Cheese! Peanut butter! MEAT!!) in the machine that means “go for a ride”. And then, as if that weren’t mind-blowing enough, I can do incredible things to this food with all sorts of crazy contraptions, making it even better than it was to begin with (usually). Oh, the fantastic smells I can create! And when it’s finally ready I eat it, just like that, without permission .
Thinking about all of this one day last week inspired me to cook something just for Otis. A quick Google search later and I had a recipe for pumpkin dog biscuits. They were easy and fun to put together. Apparently they were tasty too-Otis gobbled them right up. And he didn’t even have to beg.
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- 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 T. dry milk
- 1 1/3 cup unbleached all purpose flour
- 1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 t. non-aluminum baking powder
- 2 t. cinnamon
- 3 T. vegetable oil or olive oil
- 1/2 cup canned pumpkin
- 1/2 cup water + 1 tablespoon water
- Place all of the ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix on medium speed until thoroughly combined. Roll the dough to 1/4" thick and cut with a cookie cutter, knife or pizza wheel. Place treats on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 250 degrees F for about an hour. Check them occasionally toward the end of the baking time, to make sure that they are not getting too dark. Turn off the oven, and let the dog biscuits continue to dry overnight in the oven.
- When the dog treats are completely done, they will be hard, dry and crisp. They will be hard for you to break in your hands--and better for your dog's teeth.
- You can store these pumpkin dog treats for a month or so at room temperature.