Did you know that November is Peanut Butter Lovers Month? Oh yeah! We love peanut butter! In honour of peanut butter lovers everywhere and in preparation for some variations on this base recipe in our upcoming holiday posts, we’re sharing our recipe for smooth roll and cut peanut butter dog treats. Yum! This easy peanut butter dog treat dough is one of my go-to recipes. It’s perfect for cutting shaped dog treats.
Dog Treat Dough Texture and Handling
Homemade baked dog treats might look like human biscuits and cookies, but the doughs are usually very different. Homemade dog treat ingredients usually skip added sugar, are typically lower in fat, and often use gluten-free flours. With that in mind, it isn’t really a surprise that they often feel and handle differently when we’re mixing, rolling, cutting, etc. Although this roll and cut peanut butter dog treat dough is still very different from a human cookie dough, it does have an almost cookie-like handling quality (and smell!). It’s fairly easy to work with for roll-and-cut treats, unlike many gluten-free dog treat doughs. It’s a reliable base recipe that I often modify with other flavours, too.
Just getting started in the dog treat kitchen? Need a helping paw? Check out our introduction to baking homemade dog treats for more treat making info and handy hints. We also have a special pet chef post help on decorating homemade biscuits if you’re looking for fun ideas!
Smooth Roll and Cut Peanut Butter Dog Treat Recipe
Simple Homemade Roll and Cut Peanut Butter Dog Treats
Although this is my go-to base recipe for a smooth roll and cut peanut butter dog treat dough, cutting shapes is only one option for making these treats. Not all treat doughs work well for rolling and cutting, but any roll and cut dough can be used to make hand formed treats (ball and flatten), pressed into a pan and cut to size, formed as treat bars, and more. See our shortcuts for making baked dog treats for ideas.
Treat Ingredients:
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
- 1/4 cup room temperature water, stock, or other dog-friendly liquid
- Approximately 1 cup of brown rice flour, plus extra for rolling
Making the Treats:
- Preheat your oven to 180C (or local equivalent) and gather together your baking ingredients and materials.
- Combine peanut butter, egg, and water in a mixing bowl.
- Incrementally add flour, mixing into a cohesive workable dough. The amount of flour required will vary depending on your individual ingredients and any optional add-ins or substitutions. Missed the mark? No worries! You can add a little bit of extra liquid, a small amount of olive oil, or additional flour to adjust consistency if/as needed.
- Rest dough (optional but recommended).
- Roll, cut into desired shapes, and place on a prepared baking pan.
- Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes. Cooking time will vary with shape/size, so keep an eye on the oven.
- Cool before serving and storage.
Baked Biscuit Dog Treat Making Tips and Tricks
- See our introduction to making homemade baked biscuit (cookie) dog treats for additional information on baked dog treats.
- We don’t include yield in our treat recipe posts because it is very dependent on what the maker decides for treat shape, size, and thickness when they’re baking. We like to bake small batch treats (variety is the spice of life!). You can multiply our recipes if you’d like to bake a bigger batch for frozen storage or to share with furfriends.
- Baked treats can be broken for smaller dogs, or made bigger/smaller. Keep an eye on your time and temperature. The smaller the treat, the shorter the baking time.
- For a crunchier treat, you can let baked treats sit a while in the cooling oven before removing to get a little crispier or pop the baked treats into a dehydrator.
- Homemade baked dog treats are best consumed within a couple of days from baking or frozen for longer storage. See our post on baked dog treat shelf life and storage for information and tips.
Recipe and Ingredient Tips and Tricks
- When using ingredients like peanut butter for dogs, take care to avoid artificial sweeteners, especially xylitol, which is extremely dangerous for dogs. Xylitol may also be labelled as sweetener code 967. I use a no added salt or sugar smooth peanut butter.
- Peanut butter can be tricky to measure perfectly. You can wet your measuring cup/spoon or spritz with cooking spray to help measure and release with less mess. Or simply don’t stress about it. Close enough is good enough. There can be big differences in consistency of different peanut butters as well. Variations in measurements, individual ingredient types, and options and substitutions as well as variations in egg size, ingredient and ambient temperatures, etc. are all part of why we work incrementally when mixing.
Hungry for more tasty treats? There are all sorts of homemade dog treat ideas in our blog archives. You can use the category and tag labels to find other recipes that might be of interest or use our internal search tools to find something specific. Remember, treats (bought or homemade) are for spoiling your pup in moderation. We share ideas from treats that we’ve made ourselves for our pets, but different animals have different preferences (likes/dislikes), just like people. Some pets may have special dietary requirements and/or food allergies/intolerances. If you are ever in doubt or have questions about what’s suitable for your pet, have a chat with your trusted vet.
