Barley Bites

Barley Bites

Our love for our dog Fin knows no bounds. On our European vacation—the trip of a lifetime—we laid in bed each night muttering to one another about how much we missed our dog. Yes, of course we missed our family and of course we were happy to be on vacation. But boy oh boy, did Finley's name get dropped more often even than the phrase, "I could go for gelato right now."And who came to the airport to pick us up? My sister... but she brought Fin along and videoed our mutually high-pitched, furious tail-wagging reactions.

So it should come as no surprise to you that when Ryan and I made a trip to Austin Homebrew Supply for a little foray into brewing (a story for another day), we were wondering how Fin would be a part of our homebrew experience.

Giant bag o' grains after steeping for about 2 hours...

Turns out, you make beer with grains. Not news to you?

Grains smell amazing, and brought me back to hanging out in the barn as a kid while my grandfather grained the cows. Happy memories.

At this point in the beer brewing process, there are no hops or alcohol involved. And it turns out the spent grains you use to flavor the beer in the first stage of brewing can be used in myriad recipes. We found recipes for breads, cookies, and—best of all—dog treats.

An awesome local brewery called Hops and Grain makes dog treats called Brew Bites. How cute is that? Really cute. Oh, and their beer is amazing too, so it's fun for the whole family.

In our house, I kept calling our homemade dog treats "barley bites," and Fin and her buddy Axel seemed to enjoy them quite a lot. I tried one and... while they needed a little bit of cinnamon perhaps, pretty tasty nonetheless.

Fin and Axel are pretty excited to try their first Barley Bite. Gotta love eager taste-testers!

Barley Bites
Ingredients:
4 cups spent grains from beer brewing (NO hops—hops can be toxic to some dogs!)
1 cup peanut butter
2 eggs
1-2 cups flour

Prep time: 10 minutes
Total time: approx. 4 hours

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Mix all the ingredients in a large mixing bowl until they hold together well (it will be very crumbly). If it's too dry, add a little water or some of the liquid that has drained out of the grains after you're done steeping them.

Dump the mixture onto the baking sheet lined with parchment, and press it firmly into a layer that's about 3/4 inch thick.

Score the baking sheet with a knife to make square or rectangular treats* and bake for about 45 minutes. Remove the tray from the oven and break apart the treats. Lower the temperature to 225 degrees and bake the treats until they have dried out, about 3 hours**. Can be stored in an airtight container for about two weeks. If you make a huge batch, throw some in the freezer!

*If you're feeling ambitious, try cutting out shapes—but be warned, this dough is very thick and the shapes may not work out very well. You'll notice my final product looks pretty crumbly. Cutting into squares saves a little time and will leave you with more full-sized treats.

**The treats need to be completely dried so they will be crunchy and not get moldy.

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dog biscuits II: peanut butter crunchables

When I mention that I spend a couple hours of my free time once in a while making dog treats for my dog (and organic, for that matter), my words are usually met a grandiose roll of the eye. "You make treats for your dog???" they ask, as if I've just explained that yes, I've always had this second nose, and no, I'm not endowed with a superhuman olfactory sense.

The truth of the matter is, it's cheaper to make 'em than to buy 'em--for $8, you can buy a 1-pound bag of "all natural" dog treats. However, you've got to carefully read that label for any kind of funky fillers. But for about $2 at home (or less, possibly), you can make two pounds of treats with pantry staples.

Besides, making them at home is more fun. I enjoy being in the kitchen, but baking is a skill I'm still...um... working on (stay tuned later this week for my olive oil cake adventure). Why not practice on my canine cooking capabilities and spare Ryan the joy of playing guinea pig once in a while?

And how cute are those cookie cutters? I found them at Hobby Lobby for less than 50 cents. An unnecessary, but really cute, detail for homemade dog biscuits, especially for such a small price tag. 

Here's one of my--I mean, Fin's--favorite new recipes.Peanut Butter and Oatmeal Dog Treats (People: don't be afraid to try one, they're super tasty!)
Adapted from Petville

Biscuits:
1 cup water
1 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup cornmeal
1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup skim milk
1/2 cup peanut butter
3 cups whole wheat flour


Egg wash:
1 large egg
2 tbsp. milk

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325.

Bring water to boil in a small saucepan. Add oats and butter; stir together and let sit for ten minutes. Then stir in the cornmeal, sugar, salt, milk, and peanut butter. Mix thoroughly. Add the flour, one cup at a time (you may not need the entire amount) until a stiff dough forms.

Knead dough on floured surface until smooth, about 3 minutes. Roll to 1/4" thickness and shape with cookie cutters, or simply cut into squares. Place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment--no need to space out too far, since they don't spread or rise. Ready the egg wash (mix egg and milk together), then brush onto biscuits with pastry brush. 

Bake for 35-45 minutes or until golden brown. Cool completely, then toss one to your pup who's been anxiously waiting! Store in an airtight container for a couple of weeks or so. 

For a tropical twist, reduce the peanut butter to 1/3 cup and add one very ripe, mashed banana. Fin says yum!

These should turn out nice and crispy, but if they're on the soft side (it happened to me...) try adjusting your cooking temperature or time. You can also let them cool in the oven--they'll get dried out and will offer a nice crunch for your canine compadre. 

Fin knows where I've been keeping the new homemade treats, as does Ryan since I repurposed the human cookie jar for our dog, and now when I walk in that direction she starts doing her newest trick: the Fin Spin! 

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