Heart-Shaped Linzer Dog Biscuits for Valentine's Day

Let's face it - we can't NOT celebrate with our pets this Valentine's Day.  Well, maybe you don't have to, but crazy dog people like me are compelled to.  They bring us such unconditional love and joy (most of the time), why not treat them to something special?!

These linzer cookies are reminiscent of my Pie Crust Cookies with Apple Butter.  Oh man, were they good.  It's the same thing, expect dog-ified :-)

You can purchase a linzer cookie cutter at most stores for under $10.  If you're out of luck, you can grab one on Amazon here.  If you have small cookie cutters, you won't even need a linzer cookie cutter.  Linzer cookies are just cookie sandwiches with a shape cut out.  You could even just use heart cookie cutters and sandwich those together.

This recipe is from my classic apple cinnamon natural dog treats.  They're easy and smell amazing.  My husband has mistakenly eaten several.  With the peanut butter involved, he's more likely to do it!

Ingredients:
Adapted from Just A Pinch

1 1/2 c. rice flour*
1 1/2 c. oat flour*
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 ripe banana, smushed
1/2 c. water

peanut butter or sweet potato puree, for filling

*You can totally use whole wheat flour for the entire recipe.  Rice flour is generally easier for dogs to digest, but I find that if you use it for the entire recipe, the biscuits are weird and gritty.

Directions:
Preheat the oven to  350° and line a baking sheet with a Silpat or parchment paper.

In a large bowl, combine the ingredients and mash them together with your hands - get in there and get dirty!  The dough should come together after some kneading.  If you're having trouble, add a little more water, about a tablespoon at a time, until it seems like dough.  If it gets too soupy, add more flour.

Taking about half of the dough at a time, roll it out on a well-floured surface.  Cut the dough with your cookie cutters and line them on your baking sheet.  This should go without saying, but make the same number of tops and bottoms for your cookie sandwiches.  Or, you can simply make heart shaped cookies and sandwich them together.

Bake the cookies for 20 minutes and then flip them; bake for another 20 minutes.  They should be pretty darn hard.

Allow them to cool before filling them with peanut butter or sweet potato puree.  Peanut butter will stay good for a while without refrigeration.  Not so much for sweet potato puree!

Vegan Apple Cinnamon Linzer Dog Treats with Peanut Filling 3.jpg

I hope your doggie enjoys these treats; Clem certainly does!

Cheers,
-Aileen