At the beginning of this year, I made the decision to stick with book-themed posts rather than make my random deviations into food and photography, and, well, I’m breaking that rule here because I want to Share the Wealth.
Alligators are Zelda’s very favorite treat. She pricks up her ears every time she hears the word, and she’ll willingly walk into her kennel and sit down to enjoy one of these tasty treats. I make them twice a month, or so. One batch makes around 85, but they disappear very quickly. I like that I know what’s in them and that they don’t contain soylent dog or some equally unappetizing substance. Sure, lots of people disapprove of feeding dogs wheat, but Zelda enjoys it, and I don’t think it’s much worse for her than it is for humans (have you read Wheat Belly?).
So here goes: How to Make Alligators!
You’ll need all of 4 ingredients. You probably have them in your kitchen right now.
2 cups wheat flour (don’t substitute all-purpose)
1 cup oats
1-1/4 cups hot water
1/3 cup peanut butter
Preheat your oven to 350. In a medium bowl, mix up the oats and wheat flour:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lindsayloveshermac/15052481887/in/photostream/
Then, get your peanut butter and dump it in the bottom of another bowl (I use a stand mixer, but a spoon will probably work).
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lindsayloveshermac/15216031836/
Pour in your hot tap water and mix it until it’s reasonably blended. It’ll look kind of gross.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lindsayloveshermac/15052478248/
Next, pour in the dry ingredients and mix it all up. You’ll get a nice, thick dough.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lindsayloveshermac/15216031256/
Roll it out to 1/4- or 1/8-inch thick and cut it into the shapes of your choosing. I use an alligator cookie cutter my stepmother gave me several years ago. If you absolutely hate cookie cutters, roll it out and cut it into squares with a pizza cutter. Your dog won’t mind.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lindsayloveshermac/15238669072/in/photostream/
Put your squares or alligators or mustaches or whatever on a cookie sheet and bake them for about 25 minutes.
They come out of the oven looking almost exactly like they did going in.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/lindsayloveshermac/15052476778/
Once they’re cool, store them in an airtight container or freeze them. They’ll probably last forever in either case since no perishable ingredients are involved.
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Zelda loves them – except when I try to capture said love on video. Then, she’s totally nonchalant.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jE6sg0OfzWI
Easy, eh?
