Penny of Love Homemade Treats

The following “Chew This!” column has been reprinted from “The Courier-Times”, Sunday, May 5th 2019 edition. By: Blaise Doubman

Penny of Love
Blaise Doubman

I would love to introduce everyone to my fur baby, Penny. She will be a year old this coming May 18th and she is such a sweet little baby. I have always loved Shelties and I honestly can not remember my life without one. When I was really young, Chloe was my first fur baby. She had a personality unique to her that is for sure! She was a little bit of a loner, did not really want to be held or petted much and just kept to herself. She had short legs and a broad bottom. She was so sweet and so shy. After she passed away, Macy entered our lives. She was total opposite of Chloe! Macy was larger, 49 pounds exactly, louder and required a lot more attention. She did not want to be left alone and always wanted to be the center of attention! Ha! She was a handful at times, but we would not have had it any other way. She passed away when she was 12 years old and there was a span of about 3 months where I did not have a fur baby. Time passed and I kept waiting for the pain to subside, but it only got worse. Things were bad.

After awhile I agreed to go with my family to see a new litter of Sheltie puppies. I told myself I would let one of them pick me, if it was meant to be. If not, I would just return home and wait for another sign that I should have another fur baby. Well, none of the Sheltie puppies wanted anything to do with me, except one! It was a little baby girl Sheltie that had, what looked like, 2 black eyes. I held her and she licked and licked and licked my fingers, my face and just simply did not want me to put her back down. When I would put her down, she would cry and cry. I held her the entire time my family and I were there looking at the puppies. She would look me in my eyes, lick my nose and want me to hold her against my chest, which she still does to this day. I knew immediately that this was a sign, this puppy had picked me! A few weeks later we went back, picked up our little girl and named her Penny. Penny also has a personality of her own! Spoiled rotten is how most people describe her! Ha! Has a mind of her own, does what she wants, when she wants, loves being held and loves being center of attention. I dedicate this newest recipe to Penny and to your fur babies! These treats are fabulous and delicious!

Penny of Love Homemade Treats

Dogs love these perfectly delicious homemade treats! For a crunchier treat, microwave 4 biscuits at a time on a microwave safe plate for about 60-90 seconds. Let cool before feeding to your fur baby. You can also microwave all the treats, allow them to cool and store them crispy in an airtight container.

1 cup beef broth
¼ cup smooth peanut butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 ½ cups white all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup wheat germ
¼ cup cornmeal

Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl mix together the beef broth, smooth peanut butter and olive oil.

Add in the white all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, wheat germ and cornmeal. Be sure to mix everything until very well combined. Use clean hands for this if necessary.

Roll the dough out onto a lightly floured surface, using a lightly floured rolling pin, until the dough is about ½-inch thick. Using a lightly floured cookie or biscuit cutter, cut out desired number of treats. Place onto a parchment paper lined baking sheet.

Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, until browned. Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely at room temperature.

Ask and Answer: A lot of people have been wondering about my favorite recipe for a strawberry pie. Personally, I keep it simple by making a homemade pie crust and then filling it with a mix of cleaned whole strawberries that have been tossed with strawberry glaze. You can find recipes for my homemade pie crust as well as homemade strawberry glaze on my website at http://trailblaise.com Keeping it simple is generally best with this type of summer pie.