For the dogs recipes

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuits

1½ cups whole-wheat flour

1¼ cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

¼ cup old-fashioned rolled oats

¼ cup cornmeal

¾ cup water

¼ cup safflower oil

1 large egg

2 tablespoons no-sugar peanut butter (creamy or crunchy; see note)

Whisk together the whole-wheat and all-purpose flours, oats and cornmeal in a mixing bowl. Add the water, oil, egg and peanut butter; mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until thoroughly incorporated, to form a slightly wet dough.

Generously flour your counter workspace. Turn out the dough there. Cover with an inverted bowl and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

After that brief respite, knead the dough, folding and turning until it is cohesive and slightly stiff. Shape it into a block, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 400 degrees. Have two baking sheets at hand. They do not need to be lined.

Dust the counter with flour (again) and roll the dough to a thickness of ¼-inch. Stamp out as many biscuits as you can, transferring them to the baking sheets as you work, spacing them fairly close together but not touching. Reroll the scraps once and cut additional biscuits.

Bake (upper and lower racks) for about 25 minutes until browned, dry and crisp to the touch, rotating the baking sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through.

Turn the oven off and let the biscuits dry out there for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Cool completely before serving or storing. Let the biscuits sit out overnight to get very crispy. The dough needs to rest in the refrigerator for 2 hours.

Notes: Sugar-free peanut butter is a must here, as sugar is not good for our four-legged friends. (absolutely no Xylitol, which is toxic to them).

You can use a stand mixer for this instead of stirring by hand. You'll need cookie cutters (see servings note).

Makes 36 4-inch biscuits or 50 1-inch bone-shaped biscuits

Nutrition | Per piece: 60 calories, 2 g protein, 8 g carbohydrates, 3 g fat, 0 g saturated fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 0 mg sodium, 0 g dietary fiber, 0 g sugar

Cheesy Dog Biscuits

3 cups whole-wheat flour, plus more for dusting

1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1 cup grated or shredded cheddar cheese

1½ cups water

1/3 cup safflower oil (see note)

1 teaspoon chicken bouillon base (see note)

1 large egg

Whisk together the whole-wheat flour, oats and cheese in a mixing bowl. Add the water, oil, bouillon base and egg; mix with a wooden spoon or spatula until thoroughly incorporated, to form a slightly wet dough.

Generously flour your counter workspace. Turn out the dough there. Cover with an inverted bowl and let the dough rest for 10 minutes.

After that brief respite, knead the dough, folding and turning until it is cohesive and slightly stiff. Shape it into a block, wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 2 hours.

Position racks in the upper and lower thirds of the oven; preheat to 375 degrees. Have two baking sheets at hand. They do not need to be lined.

Dust the counter with flour (again) and roll the dough to a thickness of ¼-inch. Stamp out as many biscuits as you can, transferring them to the baking sheets as you work, spacing them fairly close together but not touching. Reroll the scraps once and cut additional biscuits.

Bake (upper and lower racks) for about 25 minutes until browned, dry, and crisp to the touch, rotating the baking sheets from front to back and top to bottom halfway through.

Turn the oven off and let the biscuits dry out there for 30 minutes to 1 hour. Cool completely before serving or storing. Let the biscuits sit out overnight to get very crispy. Keep the biscuits in the refrigerator or freezer for longer shelf life. At room temperature, they will last only about 3 days.

Notes: Dogs' digestive systems are different from humans; of all the oils we consume, safflower oil is the easiest for dogs to digest.

Do not use pre-grated cheese here. Instead, grate it on a box grater before using it. In testing, the author uses Better Than Bouillon chicken base. You'll need cookie cutters (see the servings note).

Makes two dozen 4-inch biscuits or 50 1-inch oval biscuits

Nutrition | Per piece: 110 calories, 3 g protein, 14 g carbohydrates, 5 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 10 mg cholesterol, 55 mg sodium, 2 g dietary fiber, 0 g sugar

Recipe from columnist and cookbook author Cathy Barrow