Mutt Cookies / Aka Dog Biscuits

My dogs LOVE treats.  Quality dog biscuits are getting harder to find and also getting expensive. I wanted them to be made out of better ingredients and no other junk like preservatives.  Everytime I went to the big dog food chain store, I spent a lot of time reading the labels and spending a lot of money buying my 4 mutts cookies.  I then decided that if I could bake cookies, I easily could do that for them too. I went online looking at all the different recipes and formulated my own by tweaking a combination of several good recipes.  The outcome was a success.   I can make 3 and 1/2 lbs. at a time.  This is human grade food. If you were really,really hungry, you could eat them too!  My doggies love it. I have made this many times and I think that it is worth the time I spend on it. A "woof, woof, bark, bark, crunch, crunch" seal of approval from Rusty, Penny, Petey and Sonny Boy. 

Step 1: Make 3 1/2 Lbs of Mutt Cookies

This is a labor of love. It does take some time. It's not like making cake out of a box. It's more like making a loaf of bread from scratch.  The results are heartwarming, doggies are so happy and you are feeding your babies the best treats on the earth!

Step 2: Ingredients

3 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup rye flour
1 cup oats
1 cup cornmeal
2 cups cracked wheat (bulgur)
1/3 cup nutritional yeast
2 cups vegetable stock (water and vegetable stock cubes)
1/4 oz. packet of active dry yeast
1 cup applesauce

Step 3: Prep

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
You need the following:

 - 1 huge stainless steel bowl
 -  a big spoon to mix
 -  rolling pin
 -  2 cookie sheets and 2 baking pans (all four should fit in your oven at the same time)
(Sonny Boy can't wait for his treats)

Step 4: Combine Ingredients

In your big bowl, combine the flours, oats, cornmeal, cracked wheat, nutritional yeast, and applesauce.

Step 5: Prepare Yeast

In a small separate bowl, dissolve yeast in 1/4 cup lukewarm water.  Let it sit for a few minutes, until it bubbles.

Step 6: Make the Vegetable Broth

To 2 cups of warm water, add 2 veggie cubes and mix well.

Step 7: Combine Liquids

Mix together the yeast mixture and the vegetable broth.

Step 8: Add Wet Ingredients to Dry Ingredients

Pour broth/yeast mixture in bowl with dry ingredients. Mix well with big spoon.

Step 9: Knead

Time to really get into this - knead it (like your were making bread) for 3 minutes...about the time it would take you to sing your favorite song. The dough should be stiff like in the picture. I like kneading it in the big bowl. Less of a mess on the counter - a contained mess.

Step 10: Divide the Dough

Cut the dough into quarters. Each quarter will fit on one waiting sheets/pans.

Step 11: Roll It Out

Take one quarter of the dough.  Flour surface with cornmeal and roll out dough to 1/4" thickness.

Step 12: Cut Out Biscuits

With a knife, cut out biscuits (first and second picture, top row). Because the biscuits have sharp edges and pointed corners, I squish the corners and soften the edges so when they are baked, they will not cause harm to the dogs when they gobble them down (third picture, bottom left).
Place the biscuits on the four ungreased sheets/pans(fourth picture).

Step 13: Bake at 300 Degrees

In a preheated 300 degree oven, bake the 4 sheets/pans of biscuits for 45-50 minutes.
When done, turn the oven off and leave biscuits in overnight (or if you are doing it during the day, leave them in the oven the whole day) until the oven is cold.  This will make the biscuits bone hard.

Step 14: "Yea! It's Time for Treats!" Says Penny

These Mutt cookies can be frozen for storage. I divide the 3 1/2 lbs in half and leave one out and refrigerate the other half.  They disappear quickly because the doggies love them so much.  Oh, I forgot to mention that when you are baking these, your house will smell like you are baking bread  - nice yummy smells from the kitchen.  The doggies will know it too!