Birdy Biscuits (Photos + Recipe)

by **owlyssa** » Fri Jun 24, 2016 8:06 am

Birdy Biscuits :senegal:

I unpacked my dehydrator yesterday because I wanted to whip up some homemade raisins and dried apples for myself, a friend, and now, Kona. I had some leftover sweet potato in the fridge and was feeling like trying something new for my little feather-baby, so this happened.

Kona absolutely loves them! I think he likes their firm yet leathery texture, and he's been a fan of sweet potatoes since I introduced it into his diet. Here's the recipe, if anyone wants to try it out/offer suggestions for future batches:

1. Pulse some roasted, unsalted peanuts and almonds (less than 1/4 cup of peanuts, about 7-10 almonds) in a blender until powdery, tapping it throughout to ensure most, if not all of the nuts are blitzed. Toss into a medium mixing bowl.

2. Combine and mash the ground nuts with about 1/4 cup of baked sweet potato until a gloopy dough forms. Add a generous sprinkle of organic flax seed. (You can also add in some crushed sterilized eggshell, sesame, millet, or other seeds! I would love to try this with millet next time.)

3. Thoroughly wash and rinse kale (about 1 medium-sized leaf), a few apple slices, and 2-3 baby carrots. Pulse in blender until appropriately sized (for my juvenile Senegal, I opted for small, "confetti" size). Add to the bowl.

4. I deliberated before adding a few shakes of Nekton bird vitamins to the mix. To the parrot experts here: yay or nay?

5. Thoroughly combine all of your ingredients in your bowl. If it still seems a bit too wet and doesn't come together to your liking, maybe add some more seeds and ground nuts, or even some sort of flour (I thought about wheat, but ultimately just decided to go with what I had) to bind things up. It should be a wet mix, but one that rolls together with relative ease.

6. Roll the mix into roughly tablespoon-sized balls and press them into thin biscuits to ensure they dry evenly, thoroughly and relatively quickly.

7. Place into your dehydrator at about 135 degrees Fahrenheit for approximately 8-10 hours, or until they're set and don't feel spongy anymore. If you don't have a dehydrator, just toss it into your oven at the lowest setting possible until they dry out and firm up.

You can customize these easily, swapping out peanuts and/or almonds for whatever ground seeds/nuts your bird prefers, adding different fruit/veg, etc. I'm really excited to experiment with future batches! Just a side note: if swapping out sweet potatoes (the primary binding agent in this recipe), try using squash, pureed apples, and so on, though wetter binding agents (i.e. apple puree) might require you to tinker with the ground nut proportions to provide you with a mix that can come together properly.

Enjoy! And feel free to post some of your own recipes here. I love a good recipe swap! (It's the foodie/baker/chef in me coming out. :lol:

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by **Pajarita** » Fri Jun 24, 2016 8:42 am

They sound good but they would have to be fed as protein food and not as a treat because they are too high in protein and fat. I don't use a dehydrator for anything but I do make my birds cookies in the oven -only I use whole grain flours.

As to the vitamin/mineral supplement... I don't think it works when you 'cook' it.

by **owlyssa** » Fri Jun 24, 2016 10:50 am

Pajarita wrote:They sound good but they would have to be fed as protein food and not as a treat because they are too high in protein and fat. I don't use a dehydrator for anything but I do make my birds cookies in the oven -only I use whole grain flours.

As to the vitamin/mineral supplement... I don't think it works when you 'cook' it.

Thank you for the prompt response, Pajarita!! I was hoping to hear back from you, to get your opinion about the composition. So as a high-protein and high-fat food, how often, how much, and when should I feed these to my bird? And I will have to try making some with whole grain flours next time! I have some whole wheat flour in my pantry, so maybe I'll give that a go.

Again, thank you for your insight and advice!

by **Pajarita** » Sat Jun 25, 2016 9:34 am

I would use your recipe as protein food but only during the winter when you want to decrease protein intake. And, as I only feed protein food for dinner, that would be when I would feed them. The ones I make (not during the summer because I try my best not to turn on the oven when it's hot) are baked and I use whole wheat flour, coarse corn meal and rolled oats (oatmeal - the old fashioned kind) which I mix with pumpkin puree (from a can) or mashed sweet potatoes. You can make them fruity with raisins, currants, chopped dates, figs, etc and add a bit of cinnamon and/or unsweetened grated coconut, or spicy with corn (you need to blot it first with a paper towel so it's not too wet), grated carrots and/or grated zucchini and/or grated raw beets and add either a hot spice (like chili powder or crushed pepper) or chopped hot peppers (jalapenos, habaneros, etc) as well as some oregano and even a bit of garlic. The trick to the 'spicy' ones is to add the 'wet' veggies first and then the pumpkin puree so you can 'control' the actual consistency (wetness). The 'batter' is the consistency of VERY thick oatmeal that can be spooned on a cookie sheet without spreading immediately (they do spread out when they cook). These can be used as breakfast or as very special treats/rewards.