Homemade Dog Treats

These homemade dog treats are a great activity to do with kids in the kitchen.   Measuring doesn’t have to be exact…a little flour spilled here or there won’t make these crunchy dog snacks any less tasty!   Not that I’d know…but my Dad would.   I keep these in a cookie jar on the kitchen counter & he thought they were cookies.   It got a good laugh the next morning when he asked me what exactly was in the cookie jar 🙂 INGREDIENTS: 1 cup chicken or beef stock 1 cup bread or all-purpose flour 2 cups whole wheat flour 1/4 cup non-fat dry milk powder 1 1/2 tsp yeast WHAT TO DO: Using the dough cycle on a breadmaker, load ingredients according to manufacturer’s directions & prepare.   Or, make dough the old-fashioned way…put yeast in about 1/4 cup lukewarm water & allow to get bubbly (about 10 minutes).   Mix flours & dry milk powder.   Add chicken stock & yeast and knead until bread is springy.   Cover, & allow to rise until doubled in size. After your dough has risen, or the bread machine beeps and tells you your dough is finished, roll it out onto a cookie sheet to 1/2″ thickness.     This is a great job for kids…the thickness is approximate! Now, depending on how much time you have, you can continue in one of two ways.   If you want to finish quickly, use a pizza cutter or pastry cutter to score your dough into strips, then go the other way and score them into little squares.   Once you bake them, they will break apart easily along the lines. If you are more ambitious, you can use mini-cookie cutters to cut out cute shapes.   Place them on the cookie sheet to bake. Whichever method you choose, once your shapes are cut/scored, cover the cookie sheet with plastic wrap & let rise in a warm place about an hour. Bake at 325 degrees for 1 hour.   When they are all baked, turn off the oven, & leave overnight.   In the morning, you will have nice, crunchy dog treats!   Store in an airtight container.