Doggy Birthday Cake

 

Yesterday was our little doggy's first birthday... Well, at least we think it was...

When we adopted Paisley from the shelter (shout out to North Shore Animal League in Long Island!), they had noted on her paperwork that her guesstimated birthday was April 3rd. We then took her to the vet who told us, based on the amount of teeth she already had, that she was about two months older than we thought... putting her birthday at February 3rd.

So, February 3rd it is!

Over the course of the four months that Paisley has been living in our home, she's already given us enough laughter to last a lifetime. I couldn't let her birthday go by without making her a 'cake'!

I posted the above picture of my peanut butter doggy cake on Twitter and a friend asked that I share it on Beta's Bites... so here it is!

The recipe comes from this book, which you can purchase on Amazon here (it comes with three adorable little bone-shaped cookie cutters!):

This particular cookie is found on page 42, and is called 'MacDuff's Peanut Butter Holiday Shortbread.' Paisley totally loveddddd it!

Below I've posted the recipe as it reads in the book, but I'll tell you how I made the cake pictured above. I quartered the recipe for the cookies, rolled out the dough, and used a large, heart-shaped cookie cutter to make two cookies (you can't see it in the picture, but the 'cake' actually has two layers). I then baked them on foil in the oven for the recommended 15 minutes at 400 degrees. When the cookies were cooled, I spread half a tablespoon of peanut butter to stick the two layers together on top of each other. I then used another dab of peanut butter to stick a little treat on top for additional decoration.

We then sang her Happy Birthday (of course) and let her have a small piece of the 'cake'... The whole thing would be too much even for a large dog!

MacDuff's Peanut Butter Holiday Shortbread

INGREDIENTS

Makes about 55 biscuits using a small cookie cutter

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 Tbsp baking powder
• 1 cup peanut butter (smooth or chunky) 
• 3/4 cup milk

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine flour and baking powder
2. In a small bowl, whisk peanut butter and milk until smooth
3. Make a well in the flour mixture and gradually stir in peanut butter mixture until well blended 
4. Use hands to work dough into 2 pliable balls. The warmth from your hands will help make the dough more workable. 
5. Knead each dough ball on a floured surface, about 2 minutes
6. With a rolling pin, roll dough between 1/4" and 1/2" thickness. 
7. Cut with K-9 Biscuit Cutter and place on a baking sheet, lined with foil. 
8. Bake 15 minutes at 400 degrees
9. Cool on a rack and store in sealed, plastic bags in the refrigerator.