Pawsitively delicious!

Pamper your pet with homemade treats

Doggone good. That’s one way to describe Stephanie Rossino’s creations.

“I’m a foodie at heart,” she said, plating fresh bacon and cheddar muffins. “Our treats are very flavorful.”

Birthday cakes, biscotti, holiday meals — they all set tails wagging.

“People often confuse us with a people bakery,” explained the owner of GiggyBites Bakery & Marketplace in Chadds Ford, named for Gigabyte the Chihuahua. “We like to experiment and come up with new recipes. We have a good team, good collaboration, a nice balance of fun and nutrition.”

Her oatmeal-peanut butter treats, for example, feature banana, cinnamon and vanilla.

“It smells good baking, and it smells good to the dogs when they eat it,” she said. “It’s a gift, and they know it’s special.”

No bones about it. Pets deserve a little homemade happiness too.

“Pets give us so much companionship and love back. It’s nice to do something for them as well,” agreed Christina Verrelli of Devon, a Pillsbury Bake-Off winner, food blogger and Kitchen Aid on-air guest for QVC. “I actually make a lot of pet treat recipes for my work at QVC because one of the hosts here has just about every pet you can imagine.”

Try her peanut butter and pumpkin doggie biscuits, “meow-ums” kitty crackers or “gnaw, gnaw” biscuits: teeth tamers for guinea pigs and rabbits.

“I think I even did a bird treat,” recalled the creative cook. “The only thing I haven’t done is fish treats.”

Back at GiggyBites, Rossino straightened a display of gift bags and offered some advice.

“Start out with small batches, so that if it doesn’t turn out perfectly, you can start over,” she said. “But the dogs don’t mind.”

PHOTO BY EMILY RYAN Bake some savory bacon and cheddar muffins because “dogs like that recipe,” says Stephanie Rossino.

PHOTO BY EMILY RYAN Veggie pizza or crunchy chicken? Find these and more at GiggyBites Bakery & Marketplace.