Happy Birthday Jiaozi

Tomorrow is my dog's birthday. I know, I'm way too obsessed with my dogs. As if celebrating their birthdays wasn't enough, I also bake them treats for the occasion. Last month, for Siena's birthday, I made a dog biscuit recipe I found online. The girls loved them... until the next day when Siena got sick. I made a dumb mistake, I totally forgot that Siena's tummy cannot handle gluten. I promised her that on Jiaozi's birthday, I would make something gluten free so that she could enjoy them without getting sick.

I Googled around for a good gluten-free dog biscuit recipe for a while. None of them sounded very good; lots of liver, tuna, bouillon and other non tasty sounding treats. So I decided to come up with my own recipe. I had bought xantham gum at King Arthur Flour last month, along with the gluten free flour they sell (though I gave it to a celiac co-worker, I couldn't use $5 a pound flour on experimentation). I instead used Bob's Red Mill all purpose gluten free flour, which was less than $5 for a pound and a half. And then last week, while at Trader Joe's I saw, tucked away on the bottom shelf, peanut flour. Hmm, that sounds good, I'll have that. I think it will be good in cookies, adding a mild peanut butter flavor, and I thought even better for my girls, who love peanut butter more than anything (Jiaozi is standing by the counter barking at the cooling treats as I type! And Siena is sitting very pretty in front of me, probably wondering why she can't have another one.) So here's the recipe.

Siena's gluten-free cookies

Ingredients

1 cup all purpose gluten free flour
1/4 cup partially de-fatted peanut flour (you could substitue regular pb for this, but you may have to cut out a little water)
1/3 cup oats
1/2 tsp xantham gum
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 cup water
1 egg
1 tsp grapeseed (or olive) oil

Instructions

-Preheat oven to 375 F
-Mix egg, oil, water and sugar in bowl
-add in flours and oats, salt, baking powder, and xantham gum
-mix until cookie dough consistency

-drop spoonfuls on parchment lined or greased cookie sheet
-press dough with wet fingers to slightly flatten
-bake 15-18 minutes

-let sit in cooling oven for crisper cookies, or cool on rack for softer cookies

Try to make your dog wait until they are cool before letting them try one! Enjoy!