Posted by on Jul 8, 2015 | 9 comments

image

Feelin’ a little logy, low and listless…

Well, I been thinkin’…do kitties need roughage?

I know this is a sort of delicate subject, but every now and then, especially after travel, I sort of …well…stop up.  And I mean without a change of diet or anything–just the same old same old: dry and wet food in the morn, wet food at night, no snacks, no binge eating, no sneaking into the fridge for leftover chicken or cheese, and yet, some days I find myself a little…out of sorts.  Does that ever happen to you?

Well, mama makes this really, shall we say, efficacious (whatever that is) cookie that she and papa travel with and eat each morning because they are just really good and are like Scotish oat cakes but different.  The difference being that mama uses extra virgin olive oil and, get this, DUCK FAT, in hers.

Not a lot of duck fat, mind you, just a little teaspoon or so for 24 cookies so you’re not really eating a lot of fat, and the olive oil is good for you so you can partake of these little suckers with NO guilt whatsoever.  I help make them sometimes, but my paws get a bit sticky, so have some flour around to dust your paws with as you press the dough out onto a floured surface before using a cookie cutter to make your oatcakes.

And since mama is not a big cereal fan, she just eats these with her coffee instead and keeps them on hand for trips.

In the bowl of a blender, put 3 cups toasted oatmeal or just plain oatmeal, doesn’t matter, ANY oatmeal is fine.  Now put in a handful of toasted almonds or any nuts you like, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/4 teaspoon salt, 3 tablespoons sugar, 4 tablespoons flour, a generous pinch of cinnamon, and a heaping teaspoon of duck fat (butter will suffice). Start whizzing this up in the blender until it is a fairly fine meal and then add about 1/4 cup olive oil.  Now add about 3/4 cup of hot water, making a thick but not very sticky dough.

Turn out this dough onto a floured surface and if it is too sticky, add a bit more flour.  If it is too dry, sprinkle water on the dough until it holds together and can be pressed or rolled with a pin into a large flat circle 1/2-inch thick.  Sprinkle with a bit more flour and cut out oatcakes with a cookie cutter or small juice glass. (Mama uses a heart-shaped copper cookie cutter that was her mama’s to make them special for papa.)

Heat the oven to 190C or about 375F.

On an oiled cookie sheet, place the cookies and press them flat if they are a bit too thick.  Brush with olive oil and bake for 15-20 minutes until golden.  Turn off the oven, open the door wide for a minute or two to let the oven cool a bit, and then close the door and let the oatcakes dry out a little in the warm oven.

image

Mama is trying to make me eat a little bit of one for the reason I was barely mentioning above, but I fooled her.

I complied with nature before she could teach me to dunk cookies in cappuccino (ech, kitties don’t drink cappuccino!), so there.

That’s the way the cookie crumbles, haha!