Fill your house with the smell of freshly baked gingerbread and treat your own adventurous dogs with these biscuits. Naturally gluten free.

Ingredients

• 300g buckwheat flour (or any flour*)
• 60g peanut butter (smooth or coarse)
• 1 apple peeled, grated, no pips
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tbsp blackstrap molasses
• 120ml water

*be aware that if you use other types of flour these biscuits will not be naturally gluten free

Method

1. Pre-heat oven to 180C, 160C Fan, 350F, Gas 4
2. Put all the ingredients in a bowl
3. Mix together to form a dough
4. Roll out the dough evenly
5. Use a biscuit cutter to cut it into shapes
6. Place onto baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes
7. Cool on a rack
8. Store in a jar or in the fridge

This is a complementary pet food for adult dogs. You can feed it to your dog anytime as a treat.

This Recipe Makes 6 Cupcakes

• 150g (5 oz) brown rice flour
• 2 eggs
• 100ml (4fl oz) milk
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 50g (2oz) Cheddar cheese, grated
• 1 tbsp ground flaxseed
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• 50g (2oz) cream cheese

Preheat the oven to 180C (350F/gas 4). Lightly grease a muffin tin.

Measure out the brown rice flour into a clean bowl and make a well in the centre.

Break the eggs into another bowl and pour in the milk and olive oil. Beat lightly together. Add to the brown rice flour and stir well. You should have a nice loose mixture. Add the grated Cheddar cheese, herbs and ground flaxseed and mix together with a spoon.

Spoon 1½ tablespoons of the mixture into each hole of the muffin or bun tin. Transfer to the preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes until the tops are a light golden colour.

Remove the cupcakes from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Once they are completely cool, spread a teaspoon of cream cheese on the top of each cupcake.

• Kcals/100g (4oz): 445
• Protein: 16%
• Fat: 20%

Top tip: If you are feeling in a particularly celebratory mood, you could pop a blueberry on top of each cupcake as an extra special treat.

Recipe from Lily’s Kitchen Founder Henrietta Morrison, 2012. Ebury Publishing: Ebury Press. P. 67 RRP £12

This is a great dish as all of the ingredients, except the turkey, are made in one pot. You could, of course, just serve this as a stew, but I love the idea of being able to make your own kibble. It does take about an hour to make, but it’s very easy, and also very empowering to make a food that always seems to be a bit of an industry secret.

Turkey is great as it’s very low in fat as well as being very digestible, which makes it useful for dogs that are allergic to the usual protein sources – lamb, beef and chicken. Turkey is also handy as it’s readily minced (unlike chicken!)

This is also a good hypoallergenic recipe as it is free from wheat. You’ll notice I haven’t included peas, which seem always to be part of a dog’s menu these days. Peas can be quite hard to digest for some dogs and therefore can make your dog quite windy.

• 200g (7oz) brown rice
• 100g (4oz) lentils
• 200g (7oz) carrots, peeled and chopped
• 200g (7oz) sweet potato, scrubbed and chopped
• 1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped, or 100g (4oz) apple puree
• 100g (4oz) whole oats
• 1 tbsp finely chopped fresh parsley
• 2 small spigs of fresh rosemary, finely chopped
• 500g (1lb 2oz) minced turkey
• 50ml (2fl oz) olive, sunflower or rapeseed oil

Put the rice and lentils into a saucepan and cover with 1.2 litres (2 pints) of water. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Once cooked add the chopped carrots, sweet potato and apple to the saucepan. Stir in the oats and chopped herbs and cook on a gentle simmer for a further 20 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180C (350F/gas 4).

Meanwhile, brown the turkey mince in a separate frying pan. You will need to keep stirring it while it is cooking to prevent it sticking to the pan, as it is very low in fat. It will take about 10 minutes to cook through.

Put half the cooked vegetable and grain mixture into a food processor with half the cooked turkey, add half the oil and blitz so that it resembles a thick puree.

Spread the mixture onto a baking sheet so that it is about 5mm (1/4 in) thick. The mixture will spread slightly so leave a bit of room for this.

Repeat as above with the remaining ingredients.

Place both baking sheets into the preheated oven for 35-45 minute; flipping it over half way through the cooking time to make sure it is cooked on both sides. (It’s important to flip it over so that it dries through.) You should have what looks like two very large cookies. Make sure that the kibble is completely cooked through, as any moist bits will go mouldy after a couple of days.

Reduce the oven temperature to 160C (325 F/gas 3), remove the baking sheets from the oven and cut the ‘kibble cookies’ into small pieces. Replace the baking sheets with the broken pieces on them into the oven for 1 hour until they are completely dry (but not burnt).

Remove the kibble from the oven and leave to cool completely. It should resemble pieces of broken pitta bread. It will keep in the fridge for 10 days.

• Kcals/100g (4 oz): 365
• Protein: 20%
• Fat: 9%

Recipe by Lily’s Kitchen Founder Henrietta Morrison, 2012. Ebury Publishing: Ebury Press. P. 47 RRP £12

Having a proper Scottish supper of haggis ‘n’ neeps ‘n’ tatties for Burns Night or just looking for an excuse to have haggis?!! Well, while you obviously want to keep your furry friend off the whisky, we’ve been trying out this lovely mouth-watering haggis recipe for dogs to ensure that your wee one can enjoy some hearty fare. Everything in moderation mind – this feast is classed as a high level reward so a little piece goes a long way!

Ingredients

• 1 carrot (grated)
• 2 tbsp oil (for greasing)
• 1 cup roasted sweet potato (chunks)
• half a cup organic liver (chopped)
• 3/4 cup red lentils
• 2 cups chicken stock (low salt)
• 1 cup kidney beans
• 1 tsp fresh rosemary (chopped)
• pinch of pepper
• 3 cups porridge oats

The sweet potato, lentils and beans are optional you can up the oats and an egg. We’ve used the above and and made without the potato and lentils and the woofer woofed 10 out of 10!

Method

In a large saucepan, sauté the grated carrot until softened. Add in the roasted sweet potato, lentils, liver, oats and stock and bring to a boil on the stove. Simmer for 10 minutes and then add the kidney beans and rosemary (add more water if needed). Oil 8 muffin or fairy cake tins or 1 loaf tin and fill with the mixture and then cook at 375F for around 30 minutes. Place foil over the bake for the first 15 minutes then uncover. Do stick a skewer in and ensure it comes out clean ie the loaf or muffins are cooked properly. Ensure your beany-meat roast with a Scottish Burns night theme is woofsome before your furry friend gets stuck in!

(Recipe inspired by Henrietta Morrison, founder of Lily’s Kitchen)

ATTENTION – if you have a tickety-boo photo of your Kerry with a Scottish Beret please send it in