This recipe is complements of our Web Author who is a graduate of the New England Culinary Institute. The recipe originated from a Harley riding Bakery Chef & Instructor who had a soft spot in his heart for dogs. He and a handful of students would bake them in shapes of bones, or cats each year and sponsor a Dog Bone Sale to raise funds for the local ASPCA. In his copious spare time he and his students would also volunteer to walk dogs and visit with cats just to help ease the burdoned staff at the ASPCA, and have a great time with the animals. The Chef eventually developed an allergy to flour but that's another story...these cookies are loved by our Web Author's two Shih Tzu's, and resident "Mixed Breed" (photos proudly appear below) and any other dog we've offered them to...so feel free to try the recipe on your favorite canine. The recipe has been modified from the original with the addition of molasses which seemed to really endear it to the Shih-Tzu's...
This recipe is in Dog Bone Fund Raiser size, you can safely but uniformly scale it down to suit your needs, probably divide all ingredients by six for home use. Baking time remains the same, bake until done.
Mix the yeast, molasses and warm water and allow a foam to form this tells you that the yeast is living and will perform for you.
1 oz. yeast
2 Qts. plus 1 Cup warm water ( 90 degrees )
1 Cup molasses
Measure and mix dry ingredients together while your waiting for the yeast to proof (foam)
4 lbs. 3 oz. All Purpose Flour
2 lbs. 8 oz. Whole Wheat Flour
14.5 oz. Lite Rye Flour
1 lb. 4.5 oz. Corn Meal
2 lbs. 8 oz. Bulgar Wheat
8 oz. Dry Milk
2 teaspoons Salt
23 oz. Cheddar Cheese shredded
12 Cloves of Garlic chopped fine (not twelve whole heads)
When the yeast mixture has formed a foam and the dry measured and mixed together, add the dry ingredients to the yeast mixture and mix as you would a bread batter. A strong mixing machine with a dough hook is useful here unless you enjoy the meditative state of kneading. (personally I love machines) Grease a large bowl and place mixture in it and cover with plastic wrap then place in a warm quiet place until it has risen. It won't double in size like bread but it will rise somewhat. Turn it out onto a floured surface and roll it out with a rolling pin to about a 1/4 inch thick. (It's helpful to divide the dough and work in smaller batches here unless your looking for a work out...)
Use cookie cutters to cut out various shapes and place on a greased or parchment papered cookie pan. Use the mixture below called and egg wash to brush on top of the cookies before baking.
EGG WASH (Be sure to cut this mixture down if you are not making a full batch of cookies)
Mix well with a fork or whisk and use a pastry brush to coat tops of cookies.
1 cup plus 4 tablespoons milk
4 eggs
Bake between 300 and 325 degrees until golden brown (we don't like to give a time because all ovens are not alike but about 10 to 15 minutes, but watch closely just to be safe).
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