77. Mock Starbucks Cranberry Bliss Bars

A favorite during the holiday season, Starbuck's Cranberry Bliss Bars are a little taste of heaven. Now you can make these delectable treats at home...

55. Dog Treats | Gifts for Pet Lovers

PEANUT BUTTER BONES

INGREDIENTS

1 package dry yeast
1/2 cup lukewarm water
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup milk
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 cup chunky peanut butter
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rye flour
1/2 cup rice flour
1 egg
2 cups all-purpose white flour

DIRECTIONS:



Preheat oven to 325 ° F (165 ° C).

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in water. In a large saucepan, mix together the potatoes, milk, molasses, stock, and peanut butter. Heat, stirring frequently until boiling. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Add yeast mixture. Gradually blend in the egg, wheat, rye, and rice flours. Add enough white flour to form a stiff dough.

Transfer to a floured surface and knead until smooth (about 3-5 minutes). Shape the dough into a ball and roll to 1/2-inch (12 mm) thick. Using cookie cutters, cut out biscuits. Place on ungreased baking sheets, spacing them about 1/4-inch (6 mm) apart. Gather up the scraps, roll out again, and cut additional biscuits.

Bake for 45 minutes. Let cool overnight. Makes several dozen bones that freeze well--and have the consistency of pizza crusts, a favorite snack for most spoiled dogs!

PEANUT BUTTER 'N HONEY OAT CRUNCHIES
Corn, Wheat, & Yeast Free

INGREDIENTS

1/4 cup honey
1 cup crunchy peanut butter
2 cups chicken broth or water
1/3 cup peanut oil 1 cup rolled oats
1 cup oat bran
3-4 cups oat flour

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350 ° F (180 ° C).

In a small dutch oven or large saucepan, combine honey, peanut butter (try to find a brand that has no added suger, salt or other ingredients; ideally it should only contain peanuts), chicken broth, and peanut oil. Heat, stirring often, until mixture begins to simmer. Remove from heat. Stir in rolled oats and oat bran and let cool until lukewarm -- or cool enough to work with. Gradually blend in oat flour, adding enough to form a stiff dough.

Transfer to a floured (oat flour or rye flour) surface and knead until smooth (about 3-5 minutes). Shape the dough into a ball, and roll to 1/4-inch (6 mm) thick. Use a mini-cookie cutter or cut into small squares. Transfer to ungreased baking sheets, spacing them about 1/4 inch (6 mm) apart. Gather up the scraps, roll out again, and cut additional biscuits. If the dough becomes too crumbly to work with after a few rollings, sprinkle with a little water to bind it together and knead it for 30 seconds or so.

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and turn over. Bake for an additional 30 minutes, or until golden brown on both sides. After you finish baking all batches of biscuits, turn off the oven, spread all the biscuits in one baking pan and set them in the oven to cool for a few hours or overnight. The extra time in the oven as it cools off helps make the treats crispier. These make a more delicate crunchy biscuit, so we use them more for special or training treats, not tartar control.

Makes several dozen small treats that keep and freeze well.

Source: Two Dog Press

29. Fortune Cookies

INGREDIENTS

1 egg white
1/8 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
1/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup white sugar

12 small strips of paper (approx. 1/2 in x 4 in), with hand written fortunes
A glass jar

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Butter a cookie sheet. Write fortunes on strips of paper about 4 inches long and 1/2 inch wide. Generously grease 2 cookie sheets.
2. Mix the egg white and vanilla until foamy but not stiff. Sift the flour, salt, and sugar and blend into the egg white mixture.
3. Place teaspoonfuls of the batter at least 4 inches apart on one of the prepared cookie sheets. Tilt the sheet to move the batter into round shapes about 3 inches in diameter. Be careful to make batter as round and even as possible. Do not make too many, because the cookie have to be really hot to form them and once they cool it is too late. Start with 2 or 3 to a sheet and see how many you can do.
4. Bake for 5 minutes or until cookie has turned a golden color 1/2 inch wide around the outer edge of the circle. The center will remain pale. While one sheet is baking, prepare the other.
5. Remove from oven and quickly move cookie with a wide spatula and place upside down on a wooden board. Quickly place the fortune on the cookie, close to the middle and fold the cookie in half. Place the folded edge across the rim of a measuring cup and pull the pointed edges down, one on the inside of the cup and one on the outside. Place folded cookies into the cups of a muffin tin or egg carton to hold their shape until firm.
   
   Once you've made the cookies, place as many as you like into a glass jar, seal it, and affix a handmade label on the front.

Sources Allrecipes.com

22. Clay Pot (or Tin Can) Quickbreads

MATERIALS

Clay pot or tin can
aluminum foil (if using clay pot)
Butter, margarine, or vegetable oil
Quickbread mix (such as cornbread or muffin mixes)

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Wash clay pot (or can) with warm water only. towel dry. Cover drain hole w/ small piece of aluminum foil. Grease inside of pot & lip with butter, margarine, or oil.
2. Preheat oven 375 F. and bake according to the times below:
   
   • cornbread for 45 min,
   • all others 60 min. Use any quickbread recipe.
3. Spoon batter into Pot or Can, bake immediately.
4. bread is done when topcrust is lightly browned.
   
   If keeping for yourself: Cool bread IN pot for 10 min.Loosen w/ knife, remove to a rack, let stand 10 min Serve warm
   If giving as a gift, allow to cool, then wrap with cellophane or waxed paper.

From RecipeTips.com:

Other Baking Containers: almost any other type of oven-safe and food-safe container can be used to bake bread, such as a stoneware baking dish or terra-cotta pots or even coffee cans as is the case when making Boston brown bread.

When using a terra-cotta flowerpot, it must be thoroughly dry. It is best to place it in a warm, sunny location for several hours. After drying, the pot should be well greased with cooking oil, placed in a 375ºF oven for about an hour, and then cooled. This process can be repeated several times until oil has thoroughly soaked the terra-cotta. The seasoned flowerpot should not be washed after use because washing will have an adverse effect on the seasoned surfaces - simply wipe the pot clean.

Also an option: Create a quick bread gift basket:

• Clean Clay Pot
  
  you can pre-season as suggested above, or enclose seasoning instructions
• Quick Bread Mix
  
  provide in original packaging, or buy a cellophane bag & empty the contents into it - provide a label telling what kind of quick bread it is
• Dish Towel
• Wooden mixing spoon
• Baking Instructions