Us Brits, we do love our Sunday roasts, right? We love a good gravy, the kind that pools on our plate, our much-loved roast potatoes, and of course a yorkie (or two)! I feel though that, more so than other meals, dogs have their noses just a few inches higher in the air, their ears go "whoop", up they go the second they hear the word 'chicken'. They loiter, they edge closer to the table, and in some cases just spend the duration of your Sunday meal giving you that stare... the one that pulls on your heartstrings - "go on, hooman... just a slither". You may slip your leftovers under the table, you may scrape it into their bowl. But stretch it and make it go the extra mile and bake it into treats!
I remember I thought to do this last christmas because I had some bacon left over from some cooking and if there's something my dog loves, its pork. So I developed a dog-friendly recipe for him and he went mad for those little treats! I recently roasted a chicken and had lots of skin and picky bits left on the carcass so what's better than chicken skin biscuits? Mmmm yum. Even if you don't have a dog, you are bound to have one in the family so why not give them a festive gift too for being such a good doggie?
This recipe does contain flour with gluten so if your dog is sensitive to gluten, this recipe works just as nicely with oats, blended to a flour. You can also add a spoon of whole oats for texture. If you are using oats, add a little water/stock at a time until it becomes a smooth dough.
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups plain flour
- 1/2 cup chicken stock, water, or leftover gravy
- 1 egg
- 1 cup (approx 85g) finely chopped meat scraps (I used mostly chicken skin)
Here you could add finely chopped, carrot, sausage, bacon - anything that your dog likes to eat. Beef works well, a bit of crackling (just try to scrape any soft fat out before adding) ...
Put the flour, liquid and egg in a bowl. Mix to a smooth dough. Add a little flour if its too wet, add a little water/stock if its too dry. Finely chop any scraps that you will be adding and add to the dough. Squeeze it, push it, rip it, cut it into the dough. Bring the dough together into a smooth ball. Lightly flour your surface and begin to roll with a rolling pin. Aim for a thickness of roughly 1-2 cm. Once all your pieces are cut and put on a baking tray lined with baking parchment, bake in a preheated oven at 190 degrees celsius for approximately 15-18 minutes. Baking time will be dependant on your thickness, size and fillings. The biscuits should come out, hard and golden brown - so aim for that!
Making the dough for these treats took no more than 5 minutes, 10 minutes tops! It couldn't be easier to make your pups a lovely little treat. And what a thoughtful addition it is to your family Christmas hamper!
Don't forget you can use your chicken carcasses to make fresh stocks, instead of using shop-bought stocks - you can freeze them in bags or containers and keep them in the freezer for up to 3 months. Add to your chicken stock with trimmings from your roast, such as carrot skins and ends, onion skins, the outer leaves of leeks, cabbages! You have it all, so do use it and stretch it just that bit further. Having a Sunday roast is a wonderful family tradition, that gets everyone round the table, eating and enjoying food cooked together. But a roast is also a fantastic opportunity to use up the last few bits you have laying around after a busy week. Turn it into something useful. And remember - use your food waste bins for any food that doesn't quite make the cut.
Thank you for reading,
Gina ~ The Noo Noo Project
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