Homemade Dog Biscuits

A good friend of mine (Jani) got me a great book for my birthday back in March. It's a cookbook full of recipes for homemade dog biscuits called "You Bake 'Em Dog Biscuits Cookbook" by Janine Adams. Since our Tomas is a bit on the chubby side I decided to try making their low-fat carrot biscuits and see how he liked them. The biscuits are all made from ingredients people normally eat. I made a double batch of the recipe and all I needed was a food processor to chop the carrots with and to mix in the egg whites, chicken broth, and applesauce. I combined the carrot mixture with the flour mixture by hand. I used various cookie cutters I found in a kit at Bed, Bath, and Beyond and baked about 4 dozen cookies.

Low-Fat Carrot Biscuits:

4 Cups whole wheat flour, plus more as needed

1/2 Cup oat or wheat bran (I used actual oats)

1/4 Cup non-fat dry milk

1/2 Cup ground carrots (9 to 10 baby carrots)

1 Cup non-fat chicken broth

1/2 Cup unsweetened applesauce

2 Egg whites

1. Preheat oven to 375F

2. Combine flour, oat bran, and dry milk in a large bowl. In a food processor, grind the carrots. Add the chicken broth, applesauce, and egg whites to the food processor and mix. Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture and stir into a soft dough. Knead it in the bowl, adding up to a half cup more flour, as needed, to make the dough less sticky. Turn out onto a floured surface and sprinkle the dough with flour. Roll to 1/4- to 1/2-inch thickness and cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Prick each treat with a fork, to prevent it from puffing up too much. Place the treats on a baking sheet covered with greased or non-stick foil and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the tops brown. Store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.

The dough:

The cookies after baking:

Taste tester approved!