Bunny Cookies

Every one in a while, I end up making food for somebody non-human, especially at Christmas time. As I've already mentioned, I made dog cookies for Pop's best friend, Clyde, as well as more bikkies for Bat's best friend's best friends…

This year, I also made bunny cookies…that is to say, treats for the bunnies in the house of my young friend Asteroidae and her family. It took a little prying to be sure what was permitted in their diet, but eventually I had a batch of decadence for lagomorphs.

Oddly enough, when it's baking, it smells good enough for people to eat…I may have to try it sometime as a basis for an energy bar, or something like it. 

Nevertheless, for the bunnies…

It began with oat flour. It ended with bliss. 

Bunny Cookies

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups oat flour (you can make your own by blending the dickens out of a couple of cups of regular – not instant – oatmeal)

1 cup fresh spinach 

1 medium carrot, finely grated

1 small apple, chopped into small pieces

1 medium banana, smooshed*

Directions:

Preheat oven to 300º F.

If you have a food processor†, combine everything but the oat flour and puree it. Add in the flour, mix well. Spread out on an oiled parchment on a cookie sheet, to about 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) thick or slightly thinner. Bake about 45 minutes, or until golden-browned on top and crusty. 

Remove from oven. Cool a few minutes, then cut into centimeter-square pieces or smaller (it will still be sticky in the middle, so you may need to use a wetted knife to cut). Spread the pieces out on the cookie sheet, place back in oven, and bake another 20 minutes, or until they are completely crusty and beginning to darken.

Remove from oven, allow to cool completely. Store in solid container, in refrigerator or cool dark place.

* I realize this is not actually a technical term used in polite cooking society, but, seriously, go ahead and smoosh your banana in its skin & then just cut or tear off the end & squeeze it out like toothpaste from a tube. Or, you can peel the banana first and then smoosh it in the dish.

†Without a food processor, I recommend using a hand-blender to puree the fruits and vegetables. Barring that, you will want to add water to the mix in a regular blender, then strain it back out using a sieve or colander lined with a coffee filter, until most of the water is removed and the mixture is thick and pasty. Once that is done, mix in the flour by hand. Or with a wooden spoon or spatula, if you prefer. It's kind of a sticky dough, so I used a silicone spatula.  

Liver Treats For Dogs

Not everything I do in the kitchen is for my own tummy. Sometimes, I get all radical and decide to make something as a gift… and then there's the occasional day slaving over a hot stove just to make a quadruped happy. Usually it's for the dog. Cats… they're too difficult to please, except with stuff they're not supposed to have, like salty canned tuna and other such sins. But dogs… well, dogs are usually just happy to eat something they think was people -food. We've made a habit of dehydrating sweet potato slices for our Labrador retriever, because he seems to think they pass for sinful. But sometimes he craves something supremely stinky. That's when we break out the liver.

I was given this recipe by a member of the extended family, last winter. The Bat made a single batch of it, using beef liver, & the dog went nuts for the treats. They're really great if cut into very small (1 cm or smaller cubes), especially if you need training treats! 

One thing to keep in mind, though, is that the kitchen – indeed, the entire house – will smell like liver for several hours after you finish baking them, so, if you aren't fond of that aroma, be sure to set all fans blowing out! And bar the doors, because stray dogs might find it too enticing…

Liver Treats

Ingredients:

1 pound raw liver (any kind), pureed

1 Tablespoon garlic powder (or less – amount optional)

1 Tablespoon oil

1 cup flour (any kind)

1 cup corn meal

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350⁰

In a blender or food processor, puree liver (you may have to do this in stages, to make sure all chunks are gone). Add garlic powder (if desired) and oil.  Blend thoroughly.  Pour into mixing bowl. Add flour and corn meal.  Mix all ingredients completely. Spread on a cookie sheet or jellyroll pan. (I line a pan with foil and oil it.)*

Bake at 350⁰ for about 25 minutes. Cool and cut into pieces. I divide into bags and freeze.* The pieces 

thaw very quickly or the dogs will eat them still frozen. They care not!

HINT: In order to divide the “bread” into small pieces, use a pizza cutter shortly after removing from the oven.

*In this case, the "I" is Bat's BFF, Jackie, who gave me the recipe which I then copied nearly verbatim.