Vegan Dog Cupcake Recipe (Carrot & PB Pupcakes!)
This dog cupcake recipe (a pupcake recipe, if you will..) is perfect for celebrating your fur-baby’s birthday, adopt-iversary, or pretty much anything! With peanut butter, carrots, and hints of cinnamon, your pooch will go nuts for these simple treats. We made these for our pup’s second birthday, and she practically inhaled hers!
The Perfect PupCake recipe to celebrate your doggy!
A dog’s birthday is a special day for a lot of pet parents. For us, it represents an entire year passing since we adopted our (then) one-year-old puppy girl from the pound. We saw her sitting in the corner of her jail-cell, shaking. She was found on the street, didn’t have a name, and was on the euthanasia list for recurring doggy-cold.
We signed the adoption papers within minutes of meeting her.
I never thought I could simultaneously love and hate one creature so much as I do my puppy princess, Athena. She is the sweetest dog I have ever met! Pure and sweet innocence, she’s absolutely precious!
On the other hand, she might actually be a little goblin creature, sent to steal snacks from the counter and eat out of the trash when daddies aren’t watching. She’s so friendly sometimes, that she comes off a little scary… Jumping, lunging, and aggressively licking to get love from everyone she meets!
Who am I kidding?? Athena is the (other) love of my life, she can do no wrong! Just look at that face!
Since I consider Athena my direct family, I feed her the best quality food possible. While she’s not vegan, everything I make at home for her is whole-food and nutrient-packed for her health! Most fruits and veggies (in moderation), give pets a great vitamin boost! Be sure to check which ones are toxic, though!
Compare different store-bought dog treats and pastries; preservatives, artificial colors, heavily refined oils, and added sugar (yikes!). I want a treat to celebrate my dog’s birthday, not shorten her life with something harmful to her health! Am I the only one that thinks there’s no excuse to feed your pet human junk food? That shit is killing us, why would our dogs want it!?
Pin-It for Later!
Easy and Healthy Dog Cupcake Recipe for your Pooch!
This perfect Pupcake recipe had to meet several goals;
- Ditch the added sugar, your dogs won’t mind (or notice)!
- Reduce the amount of wheat by using Garbanzo and Oat flours (since too much can upset their tummies)
- These can easily be substituted for more whole-wheat, but (as with any new food) watch for digestive upset
- Switch out any refined oils!
- Coconut oil is by far the healthiest oil for dogs to consume. It is fantastic in aiding with digestion and helping to produce a beautiful, shiny coat
- Dogs absolutely love the taste of Carrots! The texture and nutrient boost is perfect for a dog cupcake recipe
- Carrots are a fantastic source of Beta-Carotene (the safest and most absorbable form of Vitamin A!)
- Peanut Butter is Athena’s favorite food, so of course, she got some in her cupcakes!
Vegan Dog Cupcake Recipe (Carrot & PB Pupcakes!)
Ingredients
For the Pupcakes
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup garbanzo flour
- 1/4 cup oat flour or rolled oats ground into flour
- 1/2 cup carrots shredded
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk + 2 Tbsp
- 1/2 cup smooth 100% peanut butter
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon optional
For the Dog Icing
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut yogurt
- 2 Tbsp smooth 100% peanut butter
- 2 1/2 Tbsp cornstarch
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350º and line a muffin pan with liners
- In a large bowl, sift dry ingredients together so no large clumps remain
- Incorporate in the rest of the ingredients with a spatula, being cautious of over-mixing
- If dough seems too tough, add a splash more of milk
- Fill cups 3/4 of the way (an ice cream scoop works great!)
- Bake for 18-20 minutes until browned
- Remove from oven and cool completely before icing or feeding to dog
For the Icing
- Mix ingredients together with a hand mixer
- Scoop onto pupcake
- Serve to puppy!
Notes
Although these smell amazing, and are vegan, they definitely don't taste that great for humans!
These are treats, not a meal replacement!
Victoria
March 25, 2017 at 1:13 pmMade these for my Pups birthday and they both loved them! I pressed the dough into a sheet pan covered with parchment paper and used different size biscuit cutters to make them fancy tiered cakes. They already want more 🙂 Great recipe!!
Nick Abell
March 27, 2017 at 1:19 pmSounds amazing! I’m so glad your fur-babies enjoyed ????
Kerry
August 9, 2017 at 6:50 amCinnamon is poisonous to dogs so better to exclude it from the recipe. Quite a lot of food stuff we use is poisonous to our furry friends.
Nick Abell
August 9, 2017 at 2:20 pmHi Kerry, fortunately cinnamon is perfectly safe for dogs (http://www.petmd.com/cinnamon-safe-dogs). A quick google search would have yielded you the same results.
Kerry
August 10, 2017 at 6:35 amHi Nick, Yes I realised this after I posted and couldn’t delete my comment. I got it mixed up with something else. Thanks for your response. 🙂
Helen
February 28, 2018 at 2:43 pmActually it Is almond that is now thought to be toxic for dogs so maybe coconut milk would be better
Nick Abell
February 28, 2018 at 2:45 pmAs far as I can see, almonds are still considered safe for dogs. The whole nut, however, can upset their tummies. My pooch seems fine with almond milk, but every fur-baby is different! 🙂
N
December 29, 2017 at 10:40 amSo lovely 🙂 Athena is a darling! I was actually waiting for pictures of you feeding her the pupcake from your hand but you actually gave it to her with the lining?
Nick Abell
December 29, 2017 at 11:25 amShe was too excited for the video, haha! Thanks so much, she is a princess for sure. We peeled the liner back for the video, just keep an eye on your pup (or remove the liner completely to be safe).
N
December 31, 2017 at 10:49 amHa ha… It’s so tough to make a video of a hungry dog who just wanna gobble up her treat :p !! I thought so you’d kept the liner just for the sake of the video.
Nice recipe 🙂 Stay blessed you lovely Earthlings!
Nick Abell
December 31, 2017 at 4:13 pmThank you so much! Same to you! <3
Lara
March 4, 2018 at 2:02 amHi. I am having trouble finding coconut yoghurt. Can I substitute it with something else? Also, do these freeze well? Thank you. Ps my girls were adopted from a fabulous rescue here in South Africa. One is 10 and the other is 7.
Nick Abell
March 7, 2018 at 11:18 amHi there! You can always use another dog-safe non-dairy yogurt. (Soy (if your pooch doesn’t have allergies), Almond, or Oat will all work well). Mainly, you just want to avoid added sugars, flavors, and preservatives.
How cute! My fur-baby is only 3 😉