Mary Bilyeu: Biscuit-baking bonanza

May 16—When you saw the title of this column, you likely thought I went on a binge baking biscuits — those glorious Southern-style, flaky quick breads that supplement a meal or can even be an integral part of one. (After all, what is sausage gravy and biscuits without the biscuits, right?)

Or, perhaps, you know of my complete and utter obsession with the Great British Bake-Off. Maybe you thought I was hosting my own personal version of Biscuit Week and baking beautiful batches of creative cookies?

Wrong again. Well, sort of.

I was, indeed, baking batches of cookies, otherwise known as biscuits.

But I was making them for dogs.

Yup, it was a biscuit-baking bonanza as part of Cause for Paws, through the Jewish Federation of Greater Toledo.

It's all about pampering pooches — those at area shelters, who were the designated recipients. They deserve all the treats they can get as they wait for their fur-ever homes, and I was happy to do this for them.

A bonus is that I wasn't tempted to eat any of the goodies myself, even though they were made with people-friendly ingredients. (Having sampled pound cakes, a French rhubarb tart, banana pudding, scones, doughnuts, and other treats for recent stories, I'm trying to cut back on sweets and refined carbohydrates.)

Federation had put out a call for "mitzvah makers" — good deed-doers, folks interested in a family-friendly community service project — for this baking endeavor.

How could I resist?

After signing up to participate, I was sent a kit including two recipes and a set of mini cookie cutters shaped like a cat, a paw print, a bone, a fire hydrant, a doghouse, and even a teeny tiny obediently-seated good dog.

I stirred together pumpkin, eggs, and natural peanut butter (all peanuts, no sugar, and especially no xylitol: an artificial sweetener that's toxic to dogs), then mixed in whole wheat flour. These were high-fiber, high-nutrition goodies with just a hint of natural sweetness.

I rolled out the dough and cut out lots and lots of shapes; the recipe made enough to fill five cookie sheets. It occurred to me, as I was doing the prep work, that I should make some to be crunchy and others softer, for dogs with dental problems. So I baked them for 15 to 25 minutes, depending on the batch.

I'm always happy to bake and to spoil some shelter dogs, so this was fun to participate in.

But my cats felt as though their cousins had been neglected. So perhaps the next project should be tuna treats for the kitten contingent?

They could be mouse-, fish-, and bird-shaped. Or even the shape of a glass or a pen, ready to be swatted off a table or a countertop.

But then, cats would just sit in judgment like Bake-Off's Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith, critiquing your work with a withering look and making sure you felt you'd failed in your attempt to serve them dutifully.

With dogs, you know they'll be absolutely giddy even if the treats are a tad misshapen, or if they crack a bit due to being part of a later batch for which the dough had been re-rolled.

Dogs, with their great big hearts, will feel the love that was baked into every single one of these biscuits.