Why are my dog cookies cracking?

by Kylie
(CT)

I'm having a problem with my larger cookies cracking. All my cookies are 1/4 inch thick and after baking, I put them in the oven overnight for dehydrating.

After about 2 - 3 days, some of them crack. I'm wondering if I'm baking them too long and then drying them out too much and that's causing the cracking. I bake them at 290 for 45 minutes to an hour. I've tried to bake them at 250 and it took 2 hours and they bubbled up and some of them still cracked.

The dough I use is not dry, but it is tough and when rolled out, it shrinks. Any thoughts on what could be causing this?

Chef's Answer ~ I think your suspicion about drying the dog cookies too long is correct.

It sounds like it's more about drying the cookies after they are baked, since the cracking is happening after a couple days. My first thought is to put one slice of bread into the container that you keep your cookies. This is a tip often used for brown sugar to keep it moist enough to not dry out.

I would try that with your cookies (keep the same procedure) and see if that changes anything. If not, you may need to omit, or limit, the extra drying time.

I hope this helps! :)