Recipe: Peanut Butter Biscuits

We're all feeling the pinch of the economy. Pet care can be incredibly expensive. With our extensive training (not to mention the fact that my pups are four-legged vacuums and will do anything for a scrap), we always seem to be in short supply of treats. We've tried a variety of brands, and even improvised with things around the house like raw carrots and crackers. Rowan has a pretty sensitive stomach and reacts poorly to all the added preservatives and fillers present in many "cheaper" products. What's a tight-budgeted Missy-of-three to do? Experiment with homemade recipes!

I think I've really found a winner with these Peanut Butter Biscuits. Many recipes I found called for all kinds of crazy ingredients and things I've never even heard of, which would surely send me running to health stores and racking up the bill. Finally I found one with just a few simple ingredients I already had on hand and a simple, short process. No weird added stuff, no fillers, no mess. And the best part? I calculated the cost compared to store-bought treats, and even the dirt-cheap Walmart treats cost twice as much! One batch of these treats, when using generic brand ingredients (except for the peanut butter - Choosy Missys choose Jif), cost just a little over $1 to make! And they are so much healthier, and if I may say so, my dogs go crazy for them!

So here we go:

Ingredients
-2 cups white flour (you can do 1 cup wheat and 1 cup white if you want to be a tad healthier)
-1 cup oats (not instant)
-1 cup water
-1/2 cup peanut butter (I like crunchy PB so there's an added texture in the treat)
-2 tbsp oil (I use extra virgin olive oil, but you can use any kind or butter)

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Combine water, peanut butter, oil, and oats in a medium bowl.

Add flour a little at a time to make a stiff dough. Sprinkle some flour on a cutting board or countertop. Roll out dough and cut with cookie cutters of your choice (I use a bone shaped one I got at Target). Place on ungreased cookie sheets and bake for 20-30 minutes or until golden brown and crispy.

Yield depends on your cookie cutters and how thinly you roll the dough. Mine yields 4-5 dozen. Do not leave unattended or they will vanish. =) 

Thief.

I have also tried substituting 1 cup chicken broth for the water, an additional cup of flour for the oats, and 1/2 cup cooked rice for the peanut butter for a Chicken And Rice Biscuit. The batter is a lot stickier and you'll need to keep flour on hand to sprinkle over your dough and rolling surface as you go. Yield is also slightly less, usually 2-3 dozen. Reduce cooking time slightly for this one. You can view the original recipe here.

Licking the spoon is the best part.

 What recipes do you and your dogs love? I would love to try them and write about them. Share the wealth!