Poochy PB&J Biscuits

With the holiday feasting upon us (it seems like everywhere you turn there’s cookies and cakes and dancing sugarplums galore), I like to spread out my baking so I don’t spread out my waistline 😉 …but how does one continue doing something they love without suffering unwanted consequences? The obvious answer is to bake for others! As those who have been around me the last 5 years in Kansas will attest to…I love baking for others, and my gnomies have reaped a multitude of benefits from my love of baking! Others who benefit – the Pooches! 😀

I decided over the weekend to create a PB&J sandwich cookie that is suitable for pooches everywhere! Even the pooches human can partake, if one is so inclined. And I do have to mention..while the dough was Mocha-approved (hmm, I should get a stamp), I’d rather have some sugardoodle dough. And while I haven’t tasted the baked product as of this post, Mocha loves these babies with a fiery passion!

Ingredients:

2/3-3/4 C buckwheat flour
1 TBSP hazelnut milk
1 TBSP creamy peanut butter
2 TBSP applesauce
1 TBSP jam (any flavor, I used raspberry)

Directions:

1. Place peanut butter, applesauce, and jam in bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on low until combined. Add in 1/2 C flour, and mix. Add in hazelnut milk, followed by more flour as needed – I used about 1/3 C more and used the rest as bench flour for rolling. You want a soft, pliable, only lightly sticky cookie dough to roll out and cut shapes.
2. Preheat oven to 400°F. Meanwhile, roll the dough out about 1/8-inch thick, on a floured surface. Cut your shapes. If you have similar shapes of various sizes you can create the window box effect. If not, it’s cool…just cut out fun shapes your pooch will like!
3. Bake at 400°F for 8-15 minutes, depending on the size of your cookie. Let cool completely, give a quality control sample to your furry friend for a 2 paws up response 🙂 Store the rest in an airtight container! If you can keep them in the house this long, they may last several weeks. I would recommend that you not PB&J them until ready to serve 🙂

Happy Baking!

Read Full Post »

“Welcome to the Boneyard” Biscuits

“…We’ve got fun ‘n’ games!” Here’s a treat for the evil sidekick that helps you pull off all your sinister plans without foil. For your ever-loving pooch, some peanut butter and flax cookie/biscuits is just what Dr. Evil ordered! These are simple enough to make quickly, leaving plenty of time to plot against your nemesis…. This recipe made 11 big ones, and 12 mini’s – but I could’ve made 12 big ones if Mocha and I hadn’t nibbled on so much dough. 😉

Ingredients:

2 TBSP ground flaxseed in 4 TBSP warm water
1/2 C peanut butter – crunchy or creamy
1/4 C agave nectar
1 tsp vanilla
1 TBSP hemp milk
1.5 C oat flour
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Place ground flax in the warm water, set aside. In an electric mixer, mix the peanut butter, nectar, vanilla, and hemp milk until combined.
2. Add in the dry ingredients and mix until it becomes a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap, in the shape of a disc, and let chill 20 minutes.
3. Roll out on lightly floured, or plastic-wrapped, surface to about 1/8-1/4 inch thick. Cut out bones with a floured cookie cutter, and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Place in fridge to chill while oven preheats to 350°F.

4. Bake at 350°F for 20-30 minutes (depending on how crunchy your pooch prefers). Store in an airtight container – and they’ll last a couple weeks (I’ve had mine for at least a week now, and they are still perfectly fine).

*For human consumption, you may want to glaze them with a simple powdered sugar and milk glaze to up the sweetness factor. They taste decent (and the dough is good, approved by both me AND Mocha), but not as sweet as I would prefer for myself. However, I wouldn’t want to give Mocha too much sweet/sugar.

Happy Baking!

Read Full Post »

PB-Omega Dog Treats

Here’s another cookie that is designed for the pooch, but I suppose a human could enjoy them as well – though I would recommend adding some nectar to them if both human and canine will be partaking.. 😉 This recipe made about 12 bones and a couple rounds from scraps. The cookie cutter I used was about maybe 2.5-3 inches long, and I rolled the dough about 1/4-1/2 inch thick. Per usual cookie dough making, I did do a quality control taste-test. It wasn’t bad, not great like a cookie filled with sweet sugary/nectary goodness, but good for a cookie that only had 1 TBSP nectar.

Ingredients:

1/2 C Peanut Butter (creamy or crunchy, whatever tickles your fancy)
1 ripe banana
1 tsp vanilla flavor (if you use extract instead of ‘flavor’ then be aware that the extract contains a small amount of alcohol, whereas the ‘flavor’ does not – just FYI)
1-2 tsp hemp milk
1/2 C white whole wheat flour (*or use a GF flour)
1/4 C brown rice flour
1/4 C hemp flour
1/2 C spelt flakes or oats
1/2 C dried cranberries
1/4 C hemp seeds
*optional: 1-3 TBSP agave nectar or granulated sugar; 1 TBSP flaxseed oil (for extra omega action) though you may have to adjust for the extra moisture as well

Directions:

1. Cream the PB with the banana, vanilla, and hemp milk (including nectar & flaxseed oil if using). Add in the dry, and mix until combined. Wrap in plastic and chill 1 hour to overnight. *If you chill overnight, it may have to sit at room temp a minute or two to become soft enough to roll again.
2. Preheat oven to 375°F. Roll out on a floured surface and cut into shapes of your desire. Bake cookies on parchment lined cookie sheet 25-30 minutes, until hardened. Let cool completely before indulging your pooch! Store in an airtight container.

*Note: The hemp flour will give the dough a greenish appearance, but as you can see once they are baked they look normal.

Happy Baking!

P.S. I’ve started cataloging the dog treats on ‘The Pooch ate my Homework!‘ subpage under CoKiMo. I realize there are only two recipes at the moment, but I have a feeling there’s more to come. 😉

Read Full Post »

“Drive ’em Nutty” Dog Treats

This may seem like a strange recipe to have here at the Primate, since we always do human food… but any regular reader will know how much we love our pooches. And like any good mother, you want to bake healthy and wholesome, yet delicious treats occasionally for your babies. I’ve posted a canid-human duel treat – the Copper Top Pupcakes – but here’s a treat solely for those of the Canis familiaris variety. I suppose, technically you could add a little nectar to sweeten it, and then enjoy them yourselves…but I can’t vouch for that variation. Kirsche has been gobbling these bad boys up, and apparently they were also a hit for Kirsche’s dog park buddies. This recipe makes quite a bit, I didn’t count, but perhaps 4 dozen 1-1.5 inch rounds, then maybe a dozen 2-2.5 inch rounds. Of course, you could cut them into any shape you like – or like me, whatever kind of cookie cutter you have around. This recipe was inspired by my gnome-girl, Nikki from VeganVerve, from a recipe she had sent me for dog treats – but I had to improvise since Jo’s kitchen wasn’t fully stocked on all the original ingredients! 😉

Ingredients:

 

1.5 C spelt flour

1/2 C oat flour

1 C yellow cornmeal

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 C peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)

2 TBSP canola oil

1/2 C each walnuts and cashews – or 1 C total of any nuts you have around

1 C water

 

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 375°F. Mix together all flours, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a plastic baggie, place nuts, and hammer until crushed but not completely turned to nutmeal. (Alternatively, you could pulse them in a food processor..but that’s less fun). Add crushed nuts to dry mix.

2. Add in peanut butter, canola oil, and water. Stir to blend. Roll out on a floured counter, and cut into shape of choice. Place on parchment-lined cookie sheet.

3. Bake at 375°F for 30-45 minutes, depending on how crunchy you want them for your furry companion (Check at 30 min and go from there). Store them in a cookie jar/canister or other container.

Additions: You could add in some some ground flaxseed, oats, nutritional yeast, pepitas, sunflower seeds, hemp seeds…just about anything you can think of to toss in!

Happy Baking!

Read Full Post »

Happy Earth Day!!

I’m not going to write a schpeel about how going vegan is the best proven way to reduce carbon footprints, and there’s tons of recipes already on this blog to get anyone started on eating delicious vegan food. But what I do want to get everyone to do today, is help feed animals in shelters – it won’t cost you a single cent! You don’t have to do anything but click a button…which you can do while sitting in your chair! So click the button below, and help feed a hungry pooch!

Remember, we’re still going Orange for Animals…this is the simplest, yet extremely efficient way you can support shelter animals! In case you missed it…here’s the link again 😉

Happy Earth Day..for all my fellow Earthlings!!

Read Full Post »

Happy Birthday my Beloved!

It might be weird to celebrate a birthday for someone who has already died, but perhaps not..I mean, we do it for famous people and presidents, right? Why not someone we actually knew and loved.. so here it is. Today would’ve been Copper‘s 9th (observed) birthday…so I thought I’d bake some pooch-worthy peanut butter-filled carob cupcakes, and do a little pictography of his life with me.. hope you enjoy these photos as much as I do! I can’t help but laugh every time I see these..

In the beginning, just a few days after rescuing him…April 30, 2000 – at about 6 weeks old (according to the shelter)

Puppies grow fast, learn to high-five, and develop a face that will let them get away with anything…

Then comes the first birthday…”More cake before I lose all my marbles, Momma..”

As time goes by he’ll laugh, and he’ll mock….

..but some things never change..

He was born a dog, but died a gentleman…

Happy Birthday my Handsome Prince!

Read Full Post »

Challenge: Give $5 to Washington Humane Society

***Alrighty, the deadline is closed! And since the only two to let us know that they donated were Dad and Nikki..the winners are (drum-roll please): Dad and Nikki!!! Congratulations to them and to all the animals they’ve helped with their donations!***

I hereby challenge all of you to donate to the DC Humane Society’s effort to eliminate killing at the shelter! Let us know how much you give and we’ll reward two of you with a gift certificate to Cosmo’s Vegan Shoppe: one raffle winner, and one winner for largest gift.

Through my doggie daycare’s monthly newsletter I learned that the Washington DC Humane Society has embarked on a five year plan called the Good Home Guarantee to eliminate killing at the shelter. From their website:

The Washington Humane Society (WHS) currently operates two shelters in the District of Columbia. They are the only two open-access shelters in the DC area; meaning that no animal is ever turned away. WHS provides comfort and care to more than 20,000 animals each year through its broad range of programs and services including: sheltering, adoption, humane law enforcement, spay and neuter, humane education, human – animal programs, and lost and found services. Because of the large number of animals cared for every year, implementing the Good Home Guarantee will clearly be an aggressive undertaking for WHS – perhaps the biggest challenge in the organization’s history.

As a vegan (who loves her shelter dog more than anything) the thought that 5 million companion animals are killed in this country every year (remember the first part of Earthlings?) just because shelters are mismanaged, not because people are unwilling to take the animals, makes me sick to my stomach. When I adopted Kirsche 3 years ago I had never thought much about no-kill versus kill shelters. But it matters!

So for the DC HS to undertake a no-kill policy when they deal with 20,000 animals every year, I think is fantastic and deserves vegan support! I challenge everyone to give $5, $10, or $100. Remember, we know how many of you click on the link ;). I personally have signed up for an automatic monthly contribution of $20. Let us know in the comments that you made a donation, and send an email to innocent.primate@gmail.com with the amount you’ve given. Whoever gives the most (honor system please) will receive a special thank you gift from the Innocent Primates! Additionally, everyone’s name will be put in a hat, and one of you will be chosen at random to receive a gift certificate to Cosmo’s, too. (We know that not everyone can afford a huge donation, so we want to encourage modest gifts as well.) If you sign up for an automatic monthly gift, we’ll count a year’s total as your donation.

We’ll wait until two weeks from today (deadline: Feb. 24) to determine the winners, so everyone has time to get a paycheck :). Let the bidding war begin!

Read Full Post »

Copper Top Pupcakes

I apologize for the unexpected hiatus, but I haven’t been in the right mind to bake. My re-entry into the baking arena is going to be a two-fold mission: a dedication as well as my submission in this month’s Iron Cupcake: Earth (click here for my IC:E info post). First and foremost, I want to dedicate this cupcake to my recently departed, forever beloved pooch Copper. My Copper (aka Copper-Top) was 8 years and 9 months old, and died of a brain tumor. People often ask how I came up with the name Copper for a black lab..well, when he was a wee pup he had a copper spot right on top of his head. Thus he became my copper-topped Copper. And since my dancing, flower-smelling bulldozer loved his treats, I hope this homage cupcake does him justice and that he would’ve enjoyed it if he were here (of course, with carob instead of chocolate).

This cupcake encompasses Copper’s favorite flavors (and I might add, everyone else who is in their right mind), chocolate and peanut butter. But here’s the twist…the frosting is no ordinary peanut butter frosting, as Copper was no ordinary labrador (afraid of water, couldn’t fetch one iota, and about 1/3 less in size – but he loved dancing, smelling flowers, and a good bum scratching). This is a gooey peanut butter fudgey flower atop the delicious chocolate/carob cupcake. For an optional dancing copper top (read: extra-sweet, ergo only before the dog-park variation)…enter caramel!

Ingredients

Carob Cupcakes:
1 C hemp milk
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 C turbinado sugar
1/3 C canola oil
1.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 C oat flour
1/4 C hemp flour *optional
1/3 C carob powder (or use regular cocoa powder for humans)
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Copper Tops:
1/2 C creamy PB
1.5 C powdered/confectioner’s sugar
1 tsp vanilla
up to 6-8 TBSP hemp milk

Directions:

1. Make the cupcakes: Preheat oven to 350°F and line 24 mini muffins, or 12 regular muffins, with paper liners.
2. Whisk together the hemp milk and vinegar in a large bowl, and set aside for a few minutes to curdle. Add the sugar, oil, and extracts to the hemp milk mixture and beat till foamy. In a separate bowl, sift together the flours (including hemp flour, if using), carob (or cocoa) powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add in two batches to wet ingredients and beat till no large lumps remain (a few tiny lumps are okay). *Even Mocha helped, check her with flour on the face!
3. Fill muffin cups three-quarters of the way. Bake 18 minutes at 350°F, until a toothpick comes out clean. As always, send in a scout..if the scout falls, add more flour. Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely.
4. Make the Copper Tops: Mix all ingredients together (starting with about 4 TBSP milk, then using the remaining two as consistency adjustments) with a handheld mixer. Let chill 4 hours (for slathering on top) to overnight (for piping consistency). Pipe with a flower tip (any size), or slather on for a more haphazard appearance – which Copper would don from time to time.

For the optional dancing pooch, top with a dollop of caramel!

Happy Baking!

Read Full Post »

Dogapalooza ’08

Two winters ago, Jo and I dubbed the Christmas Holiday as Dogapalooza ’06 because it was the first time we had all 3 pooches in one house together – for quite some time, it was about 1.5 weeks. It was awesome – as illustrated in our party of 5 picture. So when Jo stopped for a few days in Kansas City on her way to Alexandria, I think it’s totally appropriate that we consider this a mini-palooza for 2008. They were so good during Dogapalooza End-of-Summer Tour ’08…although the mailman didn’t seem to take too fondly to Kirsche’s barking. She can be a bit booming…but we still love her, I mean seriously, who wouldn’t? 🙂 And the pooches seem to love all the baking and cooking that was going on..bits falling on the floor, getting scraps of veg and whatnot..so here’s a bit of the Mini-Dogapalooza ’08 for everyone to enjoy.

And the pooches love helping their humans in the kitchen – they all have a specific specialty. Mocha is best at quality control during the initial stages, making sure only the best goes into our creations…

Copper likes to make sure no scraps get wasted in transport from chopping to stove…

And Kirsche is best in a general supervisory capacity!! She makes sure Small and Medium don’t slack on their jobs, and is there at a moments notice to fill in when either falls short of the duties required at each station.

Happy petting of the pooches!!! Who knows when the next Dogapalooza will be coming to a town near you!

Read Full Post »

New Sidebar Category: Pet the Pooch!

I just wanted to showcase a new category I’ve created for our four-legged compadres!! ‘Pet the Pooch!’ will be links to places that offer eco-friendly pet items like hemp collars, leads, and toys. Also, I’ve linked to a website that can help you locate pet-friendly lodgings on your travels!! I just booked Jo and Kirsche a room to stay in (through said website) on their drive across the country. This way, when Kirsche get’s sleepy she’ll have a place to stay!

Or when Princess Mocha wants to get a new collar, she’ll know where to do her shopping!

And Copper is always on the look out for new toys, what male isn’t??

As Jo and I discover more great sites that cater to our furry companions, we’ll be sure to add them to the list…

Read Full Post »