Over the last year I've been experimenting with baking and trying my hand out at the oven. Some recipes that turned out well I've shared like pizzas, sponge cake, ... but some I'm still figuring out. Need to get that Rum Rich Plum Cake recipe down to pat.
Anyway, a downside to all that wonderfully smelling baking was the dogs giving me doleful looks and I feeling all guilty for withholding that piece of cake. So I figured I'd make them something that they can eat. Yep, I thought it was that simple.
Online research found me some quick and easy recipes but it also brought up questions like - is flour(maida) good for dogs?, what could I substitute for flour?, how could I make healthy treats?,... This took me more time to figure out. After a fair bit of reading and talking to various people, here's what I found out.
Plain Flour(maida) is bad for dogs and best not given. It can be substituted with whole wheat flour, however some dogs are allergic to gluten (and it seems the number are rising) so you need to try it out and see how your dogs fair.
Another option is coconut flour. Until recently I had heard only good things about coconut products for dogs (google coconut flour for dogs), however recently I heard of one Vet who said it's not good for dogs. My vet though says it's good. So well, you figure.
From what I read though coconut products seem to be working wonders in most dogs. My Cuckoo loves coconut, (you should see her excitement when she hears us breaking them) and she's not had an issue with it yet. Of course I give it moderate amounts. That said, getting coconut flour wasn't easy and I'd been hunting for it until Vidya tipped me off about Heather's Coconut Flour recipe. That one was easy to make at home but I didn't get much flour out of it.
The last option as of now that I've found is oats. Oats come in various forms like rolled oats, quick oats and instant oats. According to the book 'On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen' by Harold McGee the main difference between the types of oats is their texture, thickness and cooking times. They can usually be substituted for each other as all oats have the same nutritional value.
Each type of flour also has it's own unique properties, oat flour contains an essential fatty acid GLA (gamma linolenic acid) that's important in the body's production of favourable eicosanoids (PGE1 - prostaglandins). Oats is also proven to lower cholesterol and reduce the risk for heart disease. Coconut flour on the other hand is a good source of protein, iron, fiber and it is 'low-carb'. Coconut also contains the fatty acid Lauric acid, which boosts the response of the immune system in the body.
Something to keep in mind for all substitutions is that each flour has different properties and so the quantities you need will vary and cooking times will change. You'll have to try and test your way to the right proportions. Also some flours don't work all by themselves, like oats used alone will not hold together and rise well so it's best to use it in combination with other flours.
If you'd like to read more about flours and dogs, Susan Leisure's article 'What Type of Flour Is Good for Dogs?' is a good start point.
After all that research and figuring out, I went hunting for recipes that had coconut flour and oats. I decided to start out with The Fonte's Paleo Dog Biscuits Recipe with Carrots & Coconut, but I found a few others too that I liked and pinned for later.
I made some changes to the original and added oats, here's my take on it.
How to Make Carrot, Oats and Coconut Dog Biscuits
Ingredients -
(makes around 200 gms)
225 grams crudely chopped carrots
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup coarsely ground oats
1/4 cup fresh coconut
2 eggs
Coconut oil
Method -
1. Preheat oven to 175 C.
2. Grind the coconut and carrot to a smooth paste.
3. In a bowl mix the paste, oats and coconut flour well.
4. Add eggs to the flour mixture and mix thoroughly.
5. Pour the mix into a piping bag. (I improvised with a washed milk packet)
6. Prepare a tray with greased butter paper. (Best to use coconut oil for this if you have it, else use sesame or olive oil)
7. Pipe little blobs onto the tray keeping enough distance between the biscuits. The size of the biscuit is up to you. I wanted them small as that way I can use more of them while training without giving the dogs too much of it.
8. Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until the tops get golden brown.
9. Remove and allow it to cool on a wire rack.
10. Remove the lil cookies from the paper and store in an air tight jar.
Note: I did try to make them crunchy by drying them out as much as possible but they just got soft again. I think it might have to do with the egg but I'm not sure. Do you know?
My dogs loved the cookies and they are working like a charm while training. They're depleting fast too, which might not be a bad thing considering that I don't know how long biscuits with eggs last outside of a fridge.
Update: The biscuits/cookies lasted about a week in an air-tight jar before I started to see fungal growth. Storing them in the fridge is one thing I can do to make them last longer. Anything else you'd suggest?
Have you baked for your dogs? What's your take on coconut flour and oats? Any favourite recipes I should try?
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