Vegan Carrot Peanut Butter Dog Treats

Vegan Carrot Peanut Butter Dog Treats are a dogs dream come true! These Vegan Carrot Peanut Butter Treats are easy to make and packed full of healthy ingredients! Added bonus, the ingredients for these Vegan Carrot Peanut Butter Treats are likely what you already have in your pantry!

If you know anything about me, you know I absolutely love dogs. My family always rescued dogs for as long as I could remember. We had golden mixes, labs mixes, a hound and a grate dane mix. My house was always full of dog hair, and dog treats! Unfortunately, not these Vegan Carrot Peanut Butter Dog Treats.

When I was old enough to start working, I worked at a local dog daycare. This was a dream job; I got to play with dogs all day. It also allowed me to volunteer with local animal rescues. Truly, the most rewarding thing for me to do. Unfortunately, I had to leave this job when starting law school. Luckily, I still had my dogs at home.

When I moved out, I knew I always wanted to adopt a dog. Coming home to an empty place just wasn’t the same. Thankfully, my cat thinks he is a dog, so that helped, but still, I longed for a running, hiking, brunching (yes, outdoor brunch) pal. Gabe and I rented prior to buying our condo, so it never fully seemed right… until now.

Gabe and I officially adopted a dog! She is a mixed breed, who is named Liberty Bear! She is a rescue from For The Love of Dogs. Liberty Bear is absolutely perfect and approx 1-2 years old. Liberty Bear was lucky to be found by this wonderful rescue. She was found in a dumpster – yes, you read that right – in a dumpster, in the south. Liberty was heartworm positive and also had mange. She was truly terrified.

Fast forward two months later, Liberty Bear is doing great now! Liberty Bear is cautious, yet excited. She is excited for adventure, yet she takes it all in before committing. She enjoys my natural peanut butter and taking naps on the couch and bed. Liberty Bear also enjoys walks, but does not like this August heat – much like me. She hates when Gabe or I trail behind during our walks, and ensures that we all walk as one unit, at the same tempo. We still need to monitor her heartworm condition, but she tested negative on her last test. Her mange is clearing up too, and we hope her tummy issues get better soon!

Liberty Bear is the sweetest dog you could ever meet. She may be scared of you at first, but then she opens up. We are so grateful for the For The Love of Dogs crew, especially Jamie, and are so thankful for all the work they did with Liberty over the past two months.

So, even before we officially adopted her, I knew I needed to make her vegan dog treats. I want to know what is in the treats I give her, plus I love cooking. It just so happened that she is in love with my natural peanut butter recipe (check it out on my Instagram). It is actually funny because at the rescue (which is a horse farm, btw! so cool), she was very picky with her food. Now, however, she eats it up as long as I add natural PB.

Anyways, back to the cookies – I knew they needed to be peanut butter based, bland enough that they will not mess with her stomach, and appealing that she will eat them. I quickly started googling homemade dog treats. A lot of them had eggs, some had an aggressive amount of coconut oil (which is not good for sensitive stomach), and some had too much maple syrup (again, not good for her).

Finally, like most things, I decided to just make my own. Them boom- these Vegan Carrot Peanut Butter Treats came to light. I used oat flour, shredded carrots, a little bit of maple syrup, natural peanut butter, flax seed, salt, apple sauce, and water. I will discuss why I chose the following items:

• Oat flour because it nutritionally dense, low in sugar, gluten free and light on stomachs. You can make your own by blending oats in a food processor.
• Shredded carrots for sweetness.
• Maple syrup for sweetness, but I cannot stress this enough – just a little!
• Natural PB for sweetness and because she loves it! Plus, protein.
• Flaxseed is full of omega, which is good for her skin and cast.
• Salt for flavor.
• Apple sauce for binding, but again, you must be careful because too much will cause a belly ache.
• Water to mix it all together.

Liberty Bear absolutely loves these treats, and they are the perfect size to stick in my pocket when I take her for walks. They are made from easy to find ingredients, full of healthy ingredients and cheap to make!

So, lets get to baking!

If you happen to be reading this with a new puppy and finding yourself with no time to cook due to potty training or just all the new adjustments, try this quick chickpea “tuna” sandwich recipe. Link here.