No calorie Christmas cookies!

Alatariel75

Well... they're not exactly no calorie, but it won't be you eating them

I love making Christmas cookies. I don't actually like eating them, I'm not a fan of sugar cookies and I'd rather spend my calories on other things. But I have all these adorable Christmas cookie cutters!

So I'm making Christmas dog treats for my puppy, my parents dogs and my other dog owning friends

I'm tweaking this recipe and adding some parmesan cheese and red and green food dye so they're festive:

Bachelor Dog Treats

From: Sherry Yard.

Note: Yard suggests small cookie cutters such as this 3-inch dog bone, but you can use larger cutters and bake the cookies a few minutes longer. She also notes that her dog has a highly trained palette and prefers Wildflower honey (She's joking, of course; there is all of 1 tablespoon of honey in these cookies.).

Yield: About 3 dozen small cookies

4 eggs, divided (2 for the dough, 2 for the wash)

1 ounce vegetable oil

1 tablespoon honey

8 ounces chicken stock

10 ounces whole wheat flour

5 ounces all purpose flour

3 ounces cornmeal

1 cup peanut butter

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. In a large bowl, whisk together two of the eggs, the oil and honey. Whisk in the chicken stock.

2. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the whole wheat flour, AP flour and cornmeal. With the mixer on medium speed, slowly pour in the chicken stock mixture, then add the peanut butter. Mix until the dough comes together, about 1 minute.

3. Divide the dough in half. Roll out each ball of dough approximately ½ inch thick. Cut into desired shapes using small (3 to 4-inch) cookie cutters. Place on baking sheets sprayed with cooking oil.

4. Whisk the remaining two eggs and brush the egg wash lightly over the cookies. Allow to dry for 10 minutes and brush with the egg wash a second time (the second wash is optional, but gives the cookies a darker brown color). Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies.

nutmegoreo

Love this idea! I love baking but really can't eat that much. I hadn't really thought about cooking for the dogs (or maybe just too lazy when there's ready made stuff).

CurlyCockney

Ohh that sounds nice! I make liver cake treats for Diva, but they are high-value rewards for when she's learning a new job or when she comes back to me after running in the park off-lead.

I use this recipe https://hearingdogs.org.uk/training-our-puppies/dog-treat-recipes/liver-cake/ but instead of cutting it into 12 pieces I cut it into lots of finger-nail size pieces with a pizza cutter - she's only a small dog and as she has access to all public buildings I don't want her to fret about maybe having to poop! I put the pieces back into the oven on a slow setting overnight to dry them out and store in an air-tight container, as when I've frozen them they go mouldy before she's eaten them.

bioklutz

I made dog biscuits a few years ago and it was fun to give out as gifts! I ended up using rice flour because I was worried about passing them out to friends/neighbors and one of the pets having a sensitivity. One of my neighbors told me she didn't get a chance to give any to her dogs because the cat ate them while everyone was asleep!

I also made dog "blondies" one year. It was basically boiled and mashed sweet potatoes, egg, and canned salmon and maybe a little flour. OMG they dogs went crazy for that!

amusedmonkey

I have a dog who loves food as much as I do. We taught him to behave around cookies, but the way he looks at people eating them is heartbreaking. Christmas is especially tough for him because everyone is eating and he isn't allowed. This is a great idea. Whenever we have visitors for Christmas he could get his own cookie!

By the way, can cornmeal be substituted? It's not a common item around here, but I might find it if I hunt for it if it really is necessery.

Alatariel75

amusedmonkey wrote: »

I have a dog who loves food as much as I do. We taught him to behave around cookies, but the way he looks at people eating them is heartbreaking. Christmas is especially tough for him because everyone is eating and he isn't allowed. This is a great idea. Whenever we have visitors for Christmas he could get his own cookie!

By the way, can cornmeal be substituted? It's not a common item around here, but I might find it if I hunt for it if it really is necessery.

Polenta or semolina is fine to trade for cornmeal!

amusedmonkey

Thank you! Semolina it is. I have mountains of it.

GottaBurnEmAll

I'm not going to lie. Substitute veggie broth for the chicken broth, and I'd eat those.

Lounmoun

When we had dogs we made them dog treats for Christmas.They would have loved these.

WinoGelato

AngryViking1970

HA! I know what our Elf on the Shelf is doing tomorrow. Hilarious.