Peanut Butter Cookie Dog Treats

 

So I've finally wised up.  Well.  In one regard.  I've recognized though not accepted that Finn is not into birthday cakes.  I don't get that.  He's weird, what can I say.  As such, this year for his birthday I opted for no-fuss crunchy cookies, specifically these simple Peanut Butter Cookie Dog Treats.

Why no-fuss and simple?  With Finny-boy, less is more.  Probably like many dogs, he may be complicated but he likes the uncomplicated things in life.  And I am all about making that big boy happy.

This was a big birthday too, he's ten!  Yes, double digits!  Damn.  How...how did that happen?! 

For me, it was a very big deal because he's here to celebrate it.  Unlike for a human though, I am not excited that he's ten!

Ten, jeez, I mean, wow, I can hardly believe it.  Where the heck did the time go?!  He's only been with us for eight and a half years.  Siiiigh....It's never enough.

Ok, no need to get wistful, as he does a drive-by bump-and-nudge Hi Mommy as I sit here typing this.

We were lame and didn't do anything particularly special on his big day. 

Although.  In our effort to shield him from the annual nightmare that is holiday fireworks in our neighborhood, we did take Finn out of town up north to the Land o' Cheese where he went on a boat for the very first time ever.

Not gonna lie, we thought the take-Finn-on-a-boat concept was thoroughly laughable, did not think for one second he would do it.  But he went!  Walked right on!  And it seemed like he enjoyed it too!

As of this writing, he's had chemo dose number three of five and he's handling it like a champ.  You'd almost not know he's getting chemo.  Well, except for the bonkers extra shedding which is quite eyebrow raising given he's already a German Shedder.

Many a time, I've mentioned his copious food allergies and intolerances and likely yeast issues so a minimal ingredient recipe such as this Peanut Butter Cookie one is perfecto.

Now, this particular recipe calls for honey and interestingly, the original recipe notes that honey should not be given to puppies or immunocompromised dogs.  The latter of which is Finn with this chemo business, poor guy.

So, I made him wait over a week for his birthday Peanut Butter Cookie Dog Treats since chemo and birthday were close together, unfortunately.  After his first dose, he had blood tests done a week later, coming back normal, hence my timeline frame of reference.

Is there truth to the honey note?  I am not an expert, the information on the trusty ol' internets is conflicting so please ask your veterinarian. 

While there is not a lot of honey in this recipe and it's spread over multitudes of cookies, in my book, it's still better to be safe than sorry. 

Speaking of, here is a list of things you should not feed to your dogs.  The Canine Journal expounds further which is extra helpful.

By the way too, do not use peanut butter that contains xylitol (aka birch sugar).  It's toxic to dogs.  I used a no sugar, no salt organic peanut butter from Aldi.  Heh, Finn eats better than we do.

Dogs don't need sugar and too much is bad for them and salt, yeah, that's just humans projecting their perceived desire for flavor enhancement; they don't need salt either.

The original recipe does have an icing component with more honey but for me, icing on a dog treat that doesn't set is nuts.  Ahhh, nuts, haha pun. 

Please, nuh-uh.  Dog treat frosting or icing gets everywhere.  No thank you.  If you're interested in the icing part, please feel free to click the noted link in the recipe card.

Ready?  It's Peanut Butter Cookie Dog Treat time!

Toss the flour and the buckwheat flour and egg into a mixer* or a bowl for an electric mixer* or you can do this by hand.

Now, I went with buckwheat flour to cut down on the amount of flour flour as too much flour makes for an unhappy Finn.  You can go all whole wheat, use all-purpose, or another dog-safe flour or likely even gluten-free so long as your pooch isn't allergic to the ingredient.

In next go the wet ingredients, easy peasy.  I found this dough to be pretty soft and pliable but if you find yours is stiff, no worries, just add a bit more water.

Let's roll!

Shape the dough into a ball or blob or whatever then cut it in half.  A bench scraper* is way handy for this but a knife is great too.

Dash a sprinkle of flour on your work surface, give your rolling pin* a light coat of flour, and roll out one half of the dough.

For thicker, less crunchy cookies, roll the dough to about a half inch thick.  For crunchier cookies, roll it to about a quarter inch thick.

Now the extra fun part -- cut out the cookies!  I used a bone shape* and a small star shape* but you can use any shape you like.  Or, if you don't have any cookie cutters, no problem!  Just slice the dough into shortbread-like shapes.

Just note that whatever shape and size you cut them to, your finished quantity of cookies may vary from mine.

Since these cookies don't spread, you can set them quite close together on the baking sheet.*  And just for ease, go ahead and line your baking sheet with parchment paper* or a silicone mat.*

Ok!  Bake these cuties up!  They'll puff a bit, be a darker shade of brown, and will look set which is how you'll know they're done. 

Don't try to go for crisp in the oven as you'll end up burning them.  As they cool, they'll get crispier.

Scoop them onto a cooling rack,* let them cool completely, and tada!, it's Peanut Butter Cookie Dog Treat birthday time!

How did Finn like them?  High fives!  And a uh, "thanks for not making me a cake" glance.

Happy baking!

*The stand mixers, electric hand mixers, bench scrapers, rolling pins, cookie cutters, parchment paper, silicone mats, baking sheets, and cooling racks are Amazon affiliate links.  Happy baking, thanks!  Please see the "info" tab for more, well, info.