Every cook needs a good recipe tester, and Miss Chloe is one of the best. In fact, she’s a peanut butter cookie connoisseur. (And yes; at our house, we call her treats “cookies” and not “biscuits.”)
Anyway.
Chloe simply adores peanut butter.
About a month ago, we ran out of her favorite brand of peanut butter cookies, sold at Tractor Supply Co. We have a little routine: When we walk through the door at TSC, I’ll say “go find your cookies” and she will pull me through the store to the correct aisle, find the gold-colored bag with the smiling border collie on it, put her paws up on the shelf, and give me a “here it is” look. But this time, we come through the door, I tell her to go find her cookies, and she just sits down and looks at me.
Is my border collie broken?
So this time, I lead HER through the store, down the aisle, and there’s the familiar gold bag with the happy border collie—same as ever. Chloe’s completely disinterested, but I buy it and we go home. What the heck?
As soon as we get home, I open the bag and hand her a cookie. She sticks her nose up in the air and turns away; won’t even take it!
Then, the light bulb goes on: Perhaps my border collie isn’t broken after all. Perhaps her mama’s not paying attention to what she’s telling me. I pull the empty bag from the trash, which is identical in appearance to the one I just bought. Flip the bags over to compare the ingredients lists.
They’re completely different.
The ground peanuts have been replaced with processed peanut butter, there’s more fillers, and a list of unpronounceable ingredients.
Chloe gives me that “I-told-you-so” look.
I dash out to the H-E-B, grind some dry roasted peanuts, come back and roll up my sleeves. My girl needs a good peanut butter cookie, and mama’s gonna make her one.
Or three dozen.
These cookies have the Official Chloe Anne O’Brian Peanut Butter Cookie Seal of Approval, and I hope you’ll give ’em a try for your pups!
Chloe’s Peanut Butter Cookies
1 cup ground roasted peanuts (no additives; supermarkets with bulk food sections will often have a grinding station for making nut butters from whole nuts)
1/2 cup organic whole wheat flour
1/2 cup organic wheat germ
1/4 cup organic rolled oats
1 tablespoon organic unsulphured blackstrap molasses (optional)*
2 free-range eggs
Preheat oven to 325° F. Combine all ingredients and 2 tablespoons water in a stand mixer and blend until ingredients are fully incorporated. Remove dough from bowl to a lightly floured work surface, and shape into a flattened disc that doesn’t tear apart (you may need to add a bit more water; it should have the texture of a chunky Play-Doh). Roll out to about a 3/8" thickness. Cut with a small cookie cutter and place cookies on a baking sheet lined with a silicone baking sheet or with parchment. Bake for 18-20 minutes until firm and lightly browned. Cool on a rack for an hour to let dry completely, then store in an airtight container. Makes about 3 dozen.
* Quality blackstrap molasses contains vitamin B6, copper, iron, calcium, potassium, magnesium, manganese, and selenium and is good for dogs in small quantities. The amount suggested in this recipe is less than 3/100ths of a tablespoon per cookie.