Happy Valentine’s Day: Bronuts Edition
Ever since I bought the original doggie donut for Emmett back in the day, I’ve been trying to figure out how to reproduce the results. Donut in shape but granola in texture, crunchy, dog-friendly perfection. I’ve done zucchini donuts and banana donuts and granola bars, but this latest incarnation is my closest yet to perfection.
Here’s how:
I started with a recipe I found online here, and made just a few modifications:
Cupid’s Bronuts
-(based on Coconut Granola Bars for Dogs by Lisa Fortunato)
Step one: Assemble the ingredients.
- 2 1/2 c rolled oats
- 1/2 c flaked coconut
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp flaxseeds
- 1/2 c peanut butter
- 1/2 c agave syrup
- 1 c Fido’s Frosting or greek yogurt (optional)
The shorter the list, the better, I say.
Step 2: Mix the oats, coconut, flaxseed, and cinnamon in a bowl. Watch for spectators.
Step 3: Combine peanut butter and agave syrup in a small cup and mix up with a fork (I use Pam in my cups before putting in sticky stuff, and it helps quite a bit.)
Step 4: Stir the peanut butter/agave mix into the dry ingredients. You can use a mixer if you want, or you can be lazy like me and just stir it with a fork. That works just fine.
Your helpers may begin the cleanup process at this point.
Step 5: Press your mixture into a well-greased (or Pam’ed) donut pan. This recipe made exactly enough to fill my 6 donut pan.
Step 7: Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before trying to get them out.
These are peanut-buttery perfection as is, with a minimum of ingredients: no wheat, no gluten. If you stop at this step, they are also shareable with the humans.
The Fido’s Frosting is a yogurt based, sugar free royal icing substitute for dogs. I of course tasted it. I do not recommend it for people. It is totally unsweetened and tastes kind of like, um, paste.
However, the dogs don’t mind. Poured on top of donuts, it performs the requisite transformation into a true Bronut. Air dry, sprinkle on some coconut or sprinkles or chopped up beef jerky, and you have one lovely dog treat on hand for your furry Valentine.
One always runs the risk of not having said treats on hand for the actual holiday, however, if one leaves them unattended on the counter for an hour or so. In that case one might be deprived of getting to photograph the actual eating of said treat, but given the fact that not a single oat remains as evidence, one can assume they were in fact well-received.
I would have LOVED to get a picture of one of these on your nose, Brody. Good thing it’s a holiday of love.
Besides, there’s always St. Patrick’s Day.
