Don't stand so, don't stand so close to me.

Meet Elliott, our 3 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. Oh my dear Elliott. He is so fond of waking me in the morning by leaping onto the bed and sticking nose close to mine, waiting for a cheery chest rub. In fact he paws at me if I stop scratching him and he hasn't had enough. Personal space is not a concept he grasps too well.

So what better way to use up our bountiful harvest of parsley than to make some breathfreshening biscuits! Elliott loves his Greenies but my, they are expensive. Elliott doesn't have that awful strenchlike bad breath some dogs have because of digestive issues. But he definitely could do with some 'sweetening'. Parsley is a known breath freshener so I used this recipe and made some minor adjustments.

SWEET BREATH COOKIES

Ingredients

• 3 cups of unbleached all-purpose white or whole-wheat flour, or a combination of the two.


• 1 tablespoon of baking powder


• 1 teaspoon of baking soda


• 3 tablespoons of olive oil


• 1 cup of low-fat yoghurt


• 2 tablespoons of honey


• 1/4 of a cup of chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley or mint leaves

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200*C. Line a tray with baking paper.

2. Place the flour, baking powder, and baking soda in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade and mix to combine.

3. While the processor is going, add the olive oil a few pieces at a time and process until the mixture resembles cornmeal.

4. Transfer the mixture into a large bowl, add the yoghurt, and mix by hand until combined.

5. Mix in the honey and parsley.

6. Divide the mixture into cookie sizes, flatten them, and place them on the prepared baking sheet. (I made an assortment of bigger sized ones and also smaller 'treat' sized cookies)

7. Place the sheet in the oven and bake until golden brown (approximately 12 - 15 minutes.)

8. Set aside to cool to room temperature

I am storing this batch in airtight containers but you can also freeze them. Elliott just loves them! And they really work. I won't give them to him every day but I'm sure one of the bigger ones once a week should do the trick.