May 16th

April 8th was Cocoa's 2nd birthday and to celebrate, I made him some homemade treats. Vegan dog treats! Why should I be the only one to partake in the deliciousness that is vegan cooking? Now, I'm not entirely sure about a dog with a strictly vegan diet, although while I was researching for this month I came across some people who do have their dogs on it, but I don't know too much about it, nor do I think I would put a doggie on it unless it was advised by the vet. Actually, the reason we decided to make vegan dog treats was because we didn't want him eating eggs or milk or sugar or getting any unnecessary cholesterol, even though it was his birthday and he was entitled to a treat! So we adapted some of the original home-made dog treat recipes we already had and came up with this:

Cocoa's Peanut Butter Surprise:
1/4 cup natural peanut butter
1 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup water (or more as needed)
2-1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oatmeal

Preheat the oven to 375. Mix all ingredients together. Add more water if the dough is too dry or more flour if it's too wet. Roll out the dough to 1/4 inch thickness, cut with a cookie cutter. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 25-35 minutes. They should turn a little brown. It may seem like a long time, but you want the dough to really dry out to preserve them. Keep them in the fridge.
Feel free to halve the recipe as they made quite a lot - probably about 40 palm sized but thin treats.


Cocoa loved his birthday surprise! Whenever he got one he'd bring them to his favourite "treat-eating spot" in the living room, then lick them until they reached room temperature, then gobble them up super quickly. I cut his treats into squirrel and bone shapes. I said it was to make them easier for him to break apart and hold with all those curvy edges, but really, they just looked so cute that way! You can try making your own shapes with a knife - I didn't have a bone-shaped cookie cutter so I cut those out with a knife, not that Cocoa knew the difference. My cousin Dean and I even split one to taste them when they came out of the oven. They were a little dry and had a faint peanut buttery flavour, but they weren't terrible either! Mmm dog treats...if you have a dog and feel like making them a different treat than usual, try making these for them. If they already love peanut butter I'm sure they'll love them. Happy Birthday again Cocoa!