Gizmo begging for another cookie.
Today was for the dogs. Literally. While Alex was busy making our incredibly delicious Cobb salad and chocolate chip cookies to take to the One Republic concert at Ravinia this evening. LUCKY GIRL!!!! I, being the most awesome dog mom that I am, made cookies for my furry babies.
Our two sweet boys keep me company every day when I’m in the kitchen cooking and baking. Granted, they are underfoot hoping that I drop something so that they can do clean up duty, but that’s not the only reason they’re there.
Guinness, our 13 year old, 90 pound Labrador, serenades me with his snoring. He also makes sure to keep the stone tile slippery with the water that he splashes out of their water dish - just to make things interesting. I suppose in his doggy way of thinking, when water is on the floor, Linda slips, and food goes flying, which means that Guinness gets a snack. Smart dog!
Then there’s my adorable little nugget of a pup, Gizmo. He’s 9 pounds of cute. He’s also 9 pounds of obnoxious when other dogs pass by on the street. It’s called the Napoleon complex, or fear of being eaten by all things bigger than a squirrel. He has learned to be fierce, and it works for him, especially when it comes to Guinness.
Gizmo rules this crib, and he is first in line for all things edible. Guinness doesn’t stand a chance around this little one, and it’s probably a good thing. If not for his little bro, the big guy would weigh a whole lot more than he does. We all need a Gizmo to keep us svelte!
Anyway, this morning I woke up feeling like my canine friends deserved a little treat. Something homemade and full of their favorite things, peanut butter and carrots.
There are seriously few things funnier than watching my guys eating a spoon full of PB. Have you ever watched a dog eat it? Quite amusing, but then again, I’m easily amused.
Guinness also likes carrots, Gizmo, not so much. I’m going to assume that it’s because his mouth is tiny, and it’s hard to chomp on hard, crunchy things with such itsy-bitsy teeth. But…….he loved the carrots shredded in the cookie batter. They lend a sweetness to the recipe, because I didn’t add sugar. These are cookies for dogs, and dogs do NOT need added sugar. They are all about the peanut butter.
This is a recipe that is completely off the cuff. I used rice flour because wheat and corn is not good for dogs. I used apple sauce as an egg replacer, and I put a tablespoon of maple syrup in to enhance the peanut butter flavor. The grated carrots where an afterthought, but they worked, and like I said, Guinness loves carrots.
The cookie cutters are from Sur La Table, cute, right?!
When the cookies where finally cool, it was taste test time. As you can see, they were a hit. Gizmo ate three, Guinness had two. Why did Gizmo get one more than Guinness? Because Genius (our nickname for him when he’s acting silly) dropped half of his and Gizmo was standing under him just waiting for the right opportunity. Guinness never disappoints.
Guinness is bummed that he lost half of his cookie to the munchkin. Again!
The little mooch enjoying the captured cookie.
Oh, BTW, I had a nibble to make sure they weren’t wretched. Truthfully, not bad, I’d eat them.
You can freeze the cut out cookie dough and bake them as needed, or store the baked cookies in an airtight container for approximately one week.
Vegan Peanut Butter and Carrot Dog Cookies
Equipment
- Oven
Ingredients
- 2 cups brown rice flour
- ½ cup oat flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon corn starch
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ cup peanut butter
- ⅔ cup apple sauce
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ⅓ cup grated carrots
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°
- Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a medium bowl.
- Put the peanut butter, apple sauce, and maple syrup in a large mixing bowl and beat until creamy. Add the carrots and combine.
- Add ⅓ of the flour to the peanut butter mixture and combine, keep adding the flour by thirds until completely combined and the dough forms a ball.
- Roll out half of the dough on a floured (use rice or oat flour) surface and cut out with a cookie cutter. Continue to roll the dough and cut out the cookies until the mixture is gone.
- Bake for 12-14 minutes and cool completely before serving to your dogs.
Misty says
Made these for the dogs today. They loved them! 🙂
Linda Meyer says
Hi Misty! We're so happy to hear it! I haven't made them for our dogs in a while. Thanks for the reminder, they're going to be so happy. 🙂