Makin’ it with Bacon
Billy will do anything for bacon. Sit, lie down, fetch, it all suddenly makes sense when there’s a bacon treat in the offing. So when I learned from fellow Thermomix user Shelley Green that she had a really good Thermomix dog biscuit recipe with a version that included bacon, I asked her for it and made both Billy and Harley extremely happy boys!
Shelley’s Dog Biscuits
Adapted by Madame Thermomix from a recipe that uses whole wheat grains and popping corn, which are easily milled in the Thermomix (same weight; 1 minute/Speed 10). Shelley leaves out the bacon but my boys love it too much so I left it in. I also changed the order and combined some of the steps to save even more time and washing up 😉 Makes 50 – 140 biscuits depending on the size of your cutter and how thick or thin you roll the dough. Could make up to 200 training treats!
Ingredients
100 g rolled oats (use gluten free oats for a GF version)
100 g cheddar cheese, cubed
200 – 250g (3 – 5 rashers) bacon, roughly chopped or cut with scissors if you’re lazy like me!
50 g butter or oil
200 g water
100 g milk
350 g whole wheat flour (or equivalent weight of rice flour – grind your own in your Thermomix!)
150 g cornmeal/polenta
1 egg
Method
- Pre-heat the oven to 160°C (325°F/Gas 3). Add cheese and oats to TM bowl and mill 5 seconds/Speed 8. Set aside.
- Add bacon to TM bowl and chop 5 seconds/Speed 5. Cook at 100° C/10 minutes/Reverse Blade Function/Speed spoon with Measuring Cup at an angle to allow steam to escape.
- Add butter, water and milk to TM bowl and heat at 60° C/1 minute/Speed 1. Add whole wheat flour, milled oats and cheese mixture, cornmeal and egg to TM bowl. Lock lid and mix 1 minute/Dough setting or until just combined.
- Tip bowl upside down onto a silicone mat and turn base of blade to release mixture. If mixture is slightly wet leave to stand for 5-10 minutes before rolling out. Roll out to ½ inch or 1 cm thickness and cut into desired shape (2″ dog bone shapes are great; I also had American-style fire hydrants and some kitty cats). Alternatively, roll balls of dough into ½ inch or 1 cm diameter rolls and cut into bite-sized nuggets to make small training treats. Place on a lined baking tray and bake for 40 – 45 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack and store in a biscuit tin.
ThermoHubby John walked by as I was making these, grunted and said “Darn expensive dog biscuits!” so I decided to do a cost comparison. My ingredients cost me (prices correct as of August 2012) £5.05 and I made 138 biscuits. That’s less than 4 pence per 2-inch/4-cm biscuit. I looked online for comparable homemade dog treats and an equivalent bag of 30 treats costs £2.65 + P&P, which would make my 138 treats cost over £10 plus P&P. ‘Nuff said, I think!
It’s all good, edible stuff inside, and they actually taste like really good savoury biscuits for cheese – I tried one! And besides, Harley and Billy can’t get enough of them 😉
Madame Thermomix’s Top Tip:
Does your dog have sensitive skin or a delicate digestion? Substitute the equivalent weight of brown rice flour for the whole wheat flour and make gluten free dog biscuits. Grind your own from raw rice and save even more ! Make it in two batches of 200 g then 150 g and grind 1 minute/Speed 10.
“Bone” appétit ! (sorry, couldn’t resist)
Thanks Megan,I’m delighted your sausage boys loved these bacon treats. And well done for using up your rice flour – waste not, want not as they say.
Thanks for reading Why is There Air and happy Thermomix cooking!
Found these rippers today and made them for our sausage dog boys and they LOVED them!! Thanks for the recipe – makes sooo many too and so much easier to work with this dough than other recipes I’ve tried. I used rice milled up instead of whole wheat flour.
So glad your little Fudge likes these bacon treats, Marjorie! I’ll make a batch this weekend to use as #training #rewards. My boys adore them!
Happy Thermomix cooking with Why is There Air!
So glad your little Fudge likes these bacon treats, Marjorie! I’ll make a batch this weekend to use as #training #rewards. My boys adore them!
Happy Thermomix cooking with Why is There Air ?
I made a batch today and Fudge my little westie loves them
Thank you for sharing this information, Charlene. I leave it up to my readers to decide how much bacon to feed their dogs. As with anything, moderation is key, even for dogs!
Bacon is actually toxic to dogs.. Foods rich in fat, like bacon, can lead to the disease pancreatitis in dogs. Once a dog has developed pancreatitis, their pancreas’ become inflamed and stop functioning correctly.
Hi Britt! Welcome to my Thermomix world! I think you’re the first to actially ask and I’m delighted you did. I made a batch last spring (over 6 months ago) and there are a few left in a metal tin. Billy and Harley enjoyed them just a few days ago so I believe they will safely keep several months in an airtight container. Enjoy!
Hi,
I am only a new Thermo user and not sure if this has been answered before but how long do these dog biscuits keep for?
Thanks
Britt
Hi again, Niki. I have [quite successfully] made a batch of these delicious bacon and cheese dog biscuits this week and am happy to confirm that the original weights of polenta and whole wheat flour, plus all the rest, are correct. My bowl was about 2/3 full and I was easily able to mix all the ingredients together in the bowl in the allotted time. Phew! I’m pleased with that, I have to say.
As you mention in your original comment, perhaps you did somehow zero out the scales while you were weighing in your flours. Or maybe there was a nasty little elf in your kitchen that day? I know there has been one in mine lately, messing up my husband’s dinner 😉
I will be intrigued to hear how your next batch comes out, using rice flour and your husband’s biltong. Sounds yum! Anything with a strong taste and smell appeals to my Billy and Harley, so I bet your furry friends will appreciate them. You might note that the TM31 weighing scales will automatically revert back to zero after about 15 minutes if you haven’t tared them yourself. This can happen if you get distracted by a phone call or an email or a dog needing to go out while you’re in the process of weighing your ingredients, or even if you are using them constantly during that time (as when weighing individual meatballs in a large batch, one after another) but haven’t pressed the scales button. Appliances such as our friend the Thermomix have their own programmed logic which sometimes doesn’t match our own 😉
And it’s lovely to hear from you via the blog, Niki. You may recall that we were in touch by email back in August 2013 when I introduced you to Ana, your Thermomix demonstrator. I’m delighted that you are using your Thermomix and making some of my recipes from the blog – it’s what blogging is all about!
Many thanks again for your comment, sorry for the consternation it caused you, and best of luck with the next batch. Cheers and happy Thermomix cooking!
Hi Niki, thanks for your comment.
I believe there was a misunderstanding about the phrase “equal weights” in the text before the recipe; all I meant to say was that if you want to grind your own flour from whole wheat grains and/or popcorn, use the same weight of ingredient as called for in the recipe. In other words, start with 350 g of whole wheat grains to get the required 350 g of wholewheat flour, and grind 150 g of popcorn to get the required 150 g of polenta. Sorry for the confusion!
As for the total quantity being too much for the TM bowl, I don’t believe it is because these are the quantities I used originally and had no problems. I totally agree that there is no point in a Thermomix recipe where you can’t use the Thermomix as stated! For the sake of checking, I will make a new batch this week and let you know the verdict. My boys could use some treats!
Many thanks for reading Why is There Air. I apologise for any inconvenience caused and I hope your dog or dogs enjoyed the treats in the end. I’ll get back to you about the quantities and if they prove to be incorrect, thanks for your time spotting the eventual error.
Watch this space for the answer!
Here’s an interim reply from Niki:
Thanks for getting back to me. Doggies loved the treats which I was surprised at, as they have been spoilt as my husband manufactures biltong (south African style dried meat) and they get loads of offcuts. I did take a photo of the lump of dough beside the bowl and the problem is kinda obvious lol. However; as in Thermomix fashion, I weighed directly into the bowl, I was only aware of the volume of ingredients once I started to put the biscuits together. I feel I must have done something wrong or zeroed my scales part way through weighing in the 350g (I mixed rice flour and some wholemeal flour I wanted to use up). I think I may try measuring the ingredients out separately next time just to be sure! Next batch will probably contain biltong instead of bacon anyway.
Really appreciate the reply – love your blog and have successfully made many of the recipes already.
Niki
Oh surely this cant be right? With the quantities stated, there was far too much to fit into the bowl of the TM and the mix was very brittle and dry. In the text before the recipe it mentions grinding equal quantities of wheat and corn grains although the recipe itself says 350g wholewheat flour and only 150g polenta. I used rice flour and it was very clear that the polenta and oat/cheese mix was not going to fit into the bowl 🙁 I ended up mixing by hand and adding more egg and water which kind of defeated the purpose of using the TM in the first place. I weighed directly into the bowl so have I inadvertently done something wrong or are the quantities wrong?
I found my doggie biscuit cutters on good old Amazon… I have to agree that there wasn’t a huge choice but I got what I needed. And I must agree also with the specialist cooking shop person who recognised that it’s not a weird request at all!!
LOL you’re right, Sharon, these “dog” biscuits smell good enough to eat – and it’s all good, human-grade ingredients so let me admit that I’ve tasted them myself! They’re actually quite delicious and I have a good mind to adapt the recipe somewhat and make it into a human-style cheese biscuit 😉
By the way, I had a slight amount of trouble finding a bone-shaped biscuit cutter. The guy at the pet shop actually said it was the weirdest request he’d had! Thankfully a specialist cooking shop came to my aid–they said I wasn’t weird at all! 😉
Thanks so much for this recipe–just made these last night. I plan to surprise my dog-loving friends with a little Christmas gift for their fur-kids. Can’t wait to see their faces! Hope the little critters like them. They smelt so good while they were baking it was all I could to hold back from tasting them myself!
Hi Debbie, thanks for your question. I am not yet very good at finding raw substitutes but you might try grinding brown rice into rice flour in your Thermomix and trying that? Let me know how it works! Check out quirkycooking.blogspot.com for Jo Whitton’s vast experience in ingredient substitution; she might have some ideas for your Cavvy with skin issues. Good luck!
Hi Lauren, thanks for reading and commenting. I’m delighted your friend – and her dog – love my Thermomix dog biscuits! But because this is a Thermomix recipe blog, my recipes are to be made in the Thermomix. Looks like your friend needs to get herself one 😉
She can adapt the recipe herself like making a cake batter or cookie batter to mix the ingredients together and then bake. Should be simple enough.
Hi, do you have a raw/paleo alternative ingredient for the ‘whole wheat flour” and “cheddar cheese”?
I have a Cavvy with skin issues – wheat is not good 🙁
Cheers
Hiya, tried these for my dog, and gave some to my friend for her dog, she would now like the recipe, however she does not have A Thermomix, would you be able to give me this recipe but with out the adjustments for the thermomix. Thanks 🙂
Tee hee hee! I’ve tried these dog biscuits & you’re right Helene, they’re delicious. All human grade ingredients, and yummy, too. Bon appétit !
Yay oh yay!!! I was hoping someone would do a good dog buiscuit recipe for Thermomix. And these photos are outstanding. Love, love, love the recipe AND the ‘snoutcam’ photos 😉 As I was reading I couldn’t help thinking… “oats… cheddar… bacon… um… what’s not to like?” I would love to eat these myself! What a super nibbly to keep in the pocket for dogs and humans on walkies. Great post!
Thanks, Nora! Our four-footed boys keep us busy and it’s only fair that we keep them healthy. I’m so glad Shelley shared her recipe!
Harley and Billy are absolute cuties and seem to very much enjoy their treats! What a great idea using your thermomix to make dog biscuits and you proved it’s half price from bought ones…