I had a vision of a wreath shaped as a dog head, on the front door, decorated with colourful dog leaf treats.  Making the treats wasn’t difficult, but the wreath part got way out of hand. I used a coat hanger to make the shape of the dog’s head, then tried to shape twigs around it. No dice. I enlisted Andy to get me materials to make a form that I could cover and then wrap the treats around- he came up with  pipe insulation – brilliant! All systems were go. But then things got busy and I couldn’t find the time to string the leaves.  Plus, this little lamb forgot to put holes in the cookies before baking them, so he rescued me again with the drill!   At Thanksgiving I had my brother’s girlfriend, The Man, and two nieces helping. Finally, I had glorious strings of leaves to wrap around the wreath. But you know what? It just did not look great in the end.  It was ok – but not something I’d hang on the door. And not something I care to share on this blog, either!!  But a big thanks and shout out to the family for helping me out!

Despite the epic wreath fail – the autumn leaf treats are beautiful, and the dogs loved ‘em!

Here’s the recipe:

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup unbleached flour

1/4 cup dry milk powder

3/4 cup water

1/4 cup applesauce

Step #1: Wet Ingredients. In large bowl or food processor, add applesauce and water. **Add ingredients to colour or food colouring.

Step #2: Dry Ingredients. Add the dry ingredients and blend just until dough forms. Do not knead too much or they will end up puffy.

Roll out with rolling pin. You want these fairly thin. Use your leaf cookie cutters and cut away.  I ordered a set on amazon for $6 bucks or so.  I’ve seen some at craft/bulk stores too.

Bake at 250 for one hour. Keep your eye on the green and yellow ones in case they start to brown – take them out early if they do.

Green Leaves – add pureed spinach to colour or dog friendly green food colouring during Step #1.

Red – brush with beet juice after they are done baking. Two coats.

Yellow – add some turmeric to colour during Step #1.

For brown – Bake the Elvis Pocket Treats.

xo/J