We Love Our Dogs!

We weren’t surprised to learn that Americans spent $815 million on their pets last Valentine’s Day, with one in five of us buying gifts for our four-legged sweethearts. And that’s not counting the homemade love tokens (consider the crocheted heart cap on Etsy, below). Still, if you want to win your dog’s heart, we’d suggest edible Valentines, like the heart-shaped peanut butter cookies found on the blog, See Spot Bake (recipe below).

If DIY isn’t in your DNA, visit Three Dog Bakery at Stony Point Fashion Park, or local dog bakeries like Clementine’s Munchies and Abella cakes, both available for home delivery on Facebook.

Valentine crafts for dogs? With apologies to Etsy.com and pugs everywhere.

Valentine crafts for dogs? With apologies to Etsy.com and pugs everywhere.

Peanut Butter Valentine Treats, adapted from See Spot Bake.

Peanut Butter Valentine Treats, adapted from See Spot Bake.

 

PEANUT BUTTER CONVERSATION-HEART DOG BISCUITS

½ cup natural creamy peanut butter
1 cup water
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour, plus more for dusting
1 ½ cups all purpose flour

1. Preheat oven to 350ºF.

2. Combine peanut butter, water, and oil in a bowl.

3. Combine flours; add to peanut butter mixture 1 cup at a time, kneading to form a dough.

4. Dust countertop with whole-wheat flour. Divide dough in half; roll each half evenly to ¼ inch thick. Cut using heart-shaped cookie cutter. If dough sticks, dust surface with flour.

5. Arrange biscuits on ungreased baking sheet, and bake 18 minutes until crisp to the touch. Turn treats over halfway through bake time to ensure even color.

6. Cool completely. For extra-crunchy treats, turn off oven, crack door, and leave for a few hours or overnight. Makes about 50 biscuits.

7. Melt yogurt-chips to create frosting. Pipe from a pasty tube to write on cookies.