Homemade Herbal-Cheesy Dog Crunchies!

by Janice Zazinski, Beloved Companion Animal Massage
(Arlington, Mass.)

Adapted from Bakingdom's recipe. Daisy goes bananas for these and they're good "high value" diversions from the scary Halloween decorations in the neighborhood.

They're vegetarian, so I sampled one or two as well ...

Makes 4 to 5 dozen (depending on size and thickness)

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour
1 1/2 cups oat flour (whirl instant oats in food processor or blender until flour-like consistency)
1 cup (4 oz) shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
3/4 cup (3 oz) shredded Parmesan, or similar, very sharp grated cheese
1 beaten egg
about 1 cup liquid (chamomile or nettle herbal infusion -- add the spent nettle leaves to the dough -- or vegetable broth)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the flours in a bowl or food processor. Whirl/stir in the cheeses.

Add the wet ingredients until thoroughly combined and you have a ball of dough that's not too wet, similar to pie crust dough.

Roll out small batches of the dough (works best on a silicone pastry mat) to about 1/4 - 3/8 of an inch thick.

Cut into any size square you like -- I made them about 1/2". It's easy to cut them into tiny squares with a metal bench scraper.

Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper -- they can be very close together as they barely spread.

Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until quite firm and deep golden brown. If they're not cooked enough they get soggy while being stored. They should be very brown and crunchy.

If you don't use parchment, spray the pan with nonstick spray.

You can also use whole wheat flour or white flour in place of the brown rice. However, the brown rice flour gives them a very crunchy texture.

You can also freeze half the dough.