HEALTHY CHARCOAL DOG BISCUITS

Words by Jenny Brown

This recipe is a legacy of my beautiful late Staffordshire bull terrier Bonnie, who passed away on the 14th of February in 2021 from cancer. Due to what I believe was her genetics, she was very allergy prone, and had many food allergies. For those who are staffy owners, (or dog owners in general) you will know that they can at times, have killer flatulence that can knock a person out. I hope this recipe may be of benefit to others.

I discovered that charcoal dog biscuits could alleviate this smelly dog farts immensely, however my girl having so many food allergies, could not tolerate commercial dog biscuits, which upon reading the ingredients rather horrified me, as they seemed to be more ‘junk food’ than a healthy treat. (I implore dog owners to read the ingredient label of any treats before you purchase).

So here it is, my grain free, healthy charcoal dog biscuit recipe. Please note the ingredients were on the allowable list for my girl, from my holistic vet.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups pumpkin puree (or similar liquid)

• 3 cups of brown rice flour

• ½ cup hemp seed flour

• 2 tablespoons activated charcoal flour

• ¼ cup dried parsley

• 2 tablespoons dried mint

• (If using Fresh herbs triple quantity and reduce liquid)

• Coconut oil spray

Method:

1. Mix everything together well, if mixture is too wet, add more rice flour and/or hemp seed flour. Consistency needs to be as dry as possible but still malleable.

2. Once mixed, spray a large baking tray with coconut oil.

3. Preheat oven to 180 degrees celsius

4. Roll mixture into balls about the size of a walnut, no larger than a golf ball. Place on the tray spaced out.

5. Once the tray is full, take a fork and spray with coconut oil and press each ball with the fork to flatten slightly.

6. Place tray in oven and bake for 30 minutes at 180, then turn oven to 120 and leave for another hour or more. The biscuits need to have no discernible moisture in them in order to keep. If there is any sponginess, leave them for longer.