Peanut Butter Dog Treats - vegan & gluten free

For the last two years, Mr Official Taster and I have told everyone who has mentioned the word "puppy" to never, ever get one. ever. never ever. Last month, we found out that our experience was not typical, so we're rethinking our advice.

The backstory: we got Roomba about two and a half years ago. She was a super adorable (is there any other kind?) 8 week-old puppy. The shelter thought she was a black lab, and while that is clearly not the case, it's probly better that she's smaller than lab-sized. It is good she was (and still is) adorable. She threw up all the time and peed on the couch all the time. The couch thing was not because I didn't take her out every hour and potty train her (I was uber unemployed. I had time.). It turns out she has a small incontinence problem that (thankfully) is easily managed with a daily pill, and is most likely due to being spayed too young. Since we'd never had a puppy before, we assumed it was normal for her to throw up on a regular basis. What? Human babies throw up all the time, don't they?

Fast forward to November. After several vet visits and many tests, our vet decided that the throwing up must be due to an allergy, and wheat was her first guess. Well, it was spot on. Dr. Marie, you are our new favorite. Roomba has not thrown up since before Thanksgiving. I'm positive that's a record.

Turns out that not only is our puppy trendy, it's not that uncommon among dogs. So, in case you are looking for a treat for your favorite four-legged friend this holiday season, this is what I'm bribing Buddy and Roomba with this week.

Peanut Butter Dog Treats - vegan & gluten free
adapted from Whisk Kid

1/2 C natural peanut butter
2 Tbsp peanut or canola oil*
1 C water
3 C gluten free flour**
Chopped peanuts, optional

In a large bowl, mix together the peanut butter, oil and water until smooth. Add the flour and stir with a large spoon, spatula or your hands until the dough comes together. Form the dough into a ball and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or overnight.

Line a few baking sheets with parchment paper. On a floured surface, with a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to a thickness of approximately 1/4 inch. Cut out as many cookies as possible and transfer them to the cookie sheet. Press in chopped peanuts, if desired. Re-roll remaining dough, cut out cookies, and repeat until you've used it all. If the dough starts to get too sticky to work with, put it back in the fridge for 10 minutes or so.

Preheat oven to 350F. Refrigerate cookie sheets with cookies while your oven warms up. This will help them keep their shape. Bake them for 15-20 minutes, or until firm and set. Remove from oven and allow to cool a few minutes on the baking sheets before transferring them to wire racks to finish cooling. Once cooled, store in an airtight container.

* I used peanut oil because I had some on hand, and also because I figured it would taste more delicious and help overcome the gluten free flour flavor.

**I used some of Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour. You can also use all purpose or whole wheat. I think something like rice flour would also work, though I haven't tried it.