Rainy Days and Cookies



How dare you let me out in this weather...

Here in Dallas, we graciously accept whatever rain we can get, but on weekends like this one when there are so many outdoor festivals going on, it gets a little boring. Even Charlie isn't a fan of the weather, and when went to check on him after letting him outside, he makes sure to let me know how much he doesn't care for the wet by sitting in the wicker chairs.To fight the cabin fever blues, I decided to make cookies, both human and canine.

The human cookies I cheated on, we had a bag of the Betty Crocker Chocolate Chip Cookie mixes on hand so I went ahead and used it. While of course cookies from scratch are the best, I think these are the next best thing if you don't feel like dirtying the whole kitchen up. Most of the time people don't even know the difference if I bring these to events! As always, you can customize it easily to suit your preferences, I often throw extra chocolate chips or mix it up with butterscotch or white chocolate. It's a great way to get that homemade taste without the mess, and its SO much better than those refrigerated ready-made doughs.



Cute puppy themed shapes for cute pups!



Unfortunately the concept of keeping the kitchen clean by using the mix was defeated by making cookies for Charlie and Luke.We usually get just a giant box from Costco, but sometimes its nice to do something nice for the pups since they love these ones so much. Its also a good opportunity to really KNOW whats going into their treats since its all being done from scratch. I love the recipe because its so flexible and easy to customize to your dog's tastes; and if you're REALLY curious, you can try some yourself. Click Read More at the bottom to check out the recipe.

Chuckie's Favorite Dog Biscuits
2.5 cups flour (whole wheat or regular)
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 large egg, beaten
2 Tbs flavoring (you may need more depending on the what seems like the alignment of the stars)
      - I use low sodium beef stock or drippings if I have any, but I've also heard of people using other low sodium stocks or juice from a tuna can.
Optional:
1-3 Tbsp Peanut Butter (or more as desired)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and very lightly grease a cookie sheet if you don't have a nonstick pad.
2. Mix the dry ingredients (flour and garlic powder) together in a medium sized bowl, then add the flavoring, egg, and milk to the mixture and mix well. It should be almost like play-dough in consistency.
• You may need to add more flavoring (beef stock in my case) to create a softer dough. I really haven't found the system yet since every time I make these its different.
3. At this point feel free to add the peanut butter and parsley if you're using them, being careful not to change the consistency of the dough too much with the amount of peanut butter.
4. After a thorough mixing, roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface to about 1/4 inch and use a cookie cutter or knife to cut shapes out.
5. Place on your cooking sheet and bake for 30- 40 minutes depending on how thick you rolled the dough out. Be sure to keep an eye on it so they don't burn!
6. When they're done they'll be firm to the touch and slightly puffed up (this may not happen with all of them).
7. Let them cool first, then spoil your pup with these (presumably) delicious homemade treats!