Easy Pupcakes!
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Easy dog friendly pupcakes for your furry friends with banana and peanut butter and a cream cheese topping!
Dog friendly pupcakes!
So recently my beautiful golden retriever fur child Rolo turned three years old, and I am still fully and utterly obsessed with how cute he is. We got him as an 8 week old ball of golden fluff, and he is still just as gorgeous now, even if he is a lot bigger.
For his first two birthdays I wanted to make him dog friendly cupcakes (puppy + cupcakes = pupcakes), and I either haven’t had time, or have got him some other treats… but this year I was determined to actually make them. And I am so glad I did, because they are 100% his favourite treat ever.
Pupcakes!
Some people may have read this post and thought “why on earth are you giving your dog human food” or “I thought these would be dog themed cupcakes but for humans” but no… they are in fact perfectly edible cupcakes, but pupcakes.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think dogs should be given much ‘human’ food at all, but every now and again (and in the correct form) it doesn’t hurt. Most dog food or treats have flour or other ingredients in to make them actually what they are anyway!
Rolos diet
I feed Rolo Royal Canine golden retriever food and we always have done since we got him – we weigh it out each day, and he is a healthy and happy boy. His mostly eaten treats are in fact vegetables or fruit. We would be perfectly happy with giving him the ‘raw’ diet, but the cost factor of it and storage of the food is what put us off!
Rolo adores carrots, cucumber, banana and such like. Don’t worry, he doesn’t eat loads of each, but they’re much better than actual dog treats! Occasionally he’ll have bonios, or gravy bones, but he bloody loves a piece of cucumber.
So, because we are quite strict, we thought that some Pupcakes couldn’t hurt – and he is OBSESSED with them! Honestly, if my hand goes anywhere near the tub with them in, his eyes light up and he looks like a puppy again! Those begging eyes are irresistible.
Ingredients
The actual pupcake mixture itself only has eight ingredients, which may sound like a lot.. but when you break it down, the ingredients are actually perfectly fine! These could be eaten by humans as there is nothing in there that we wouldn’t eat either!
Banana, peanut butter, wholemeal flour, oats, egg, honey, water and baking powder. Nothing sinister in there! They are essentially just a very healthy banana bread recipe, which is good! They’re so easy to make as well, as it’s basically just mushing everything together in a bowl and baking!
Topping
I chose to top mine with a small dash of cream cheese, and this may be a shock to some people – but the tiniest amount of cream cheese is fine for the dog. It’s mainly just there to make it look a bit more cupcake like, and be able to stick a biscuit down on!
As with any type of food that isn’t a common thing for a dog to eat, they should only be eaten in small quantities, and that’s why Rolo would only eat one in the day (and maybe two if he’s been really very very good) and I am happy with that.
Peanut butter
One thing I must point out however, and many of you dog owners will already know that with peanut butter you must make sure it does NOT contain Xylitol as it’s very dangerous for our furry friends – this only tends to be in cheaper and not as nice peanut butters anyway – and I tend to buy peanut butters that are 100% peanut! You also need to make sure there is no added salt. For you UK people, I use the Meridian brand!
Inspiration
I was inspired by the recipe from Primrose Bakery Christmas book, but altered them to be larger (as I found them to bake much better this way), and also a few more, so Rolos furry friends could have them too! You can easily half the recipe to only make 6! I hope your furry friends enjoy! x
Easy Pupcakes
Ingredients
Pupcakes
- 2 ripe bananas
- 150 g peanut butter (SEE NOTES BELOW)
- 2 medium eggs
- 75 g honey
- 100 g wholemeal flour
- 75 g rolled oats
- 1 tsp baking powder (optional)
- 125 ml water
Topping
- 12 tsps cream cheese
- 12 Dog biscuits
Instructions
- Preheat your Oven to 180C/160C Fan and get 12 cupcake cases ready - I use the Iced Jems ones!
- Add your banana to a bowl and mash up.
- Add in the peanut butter, eggs, and honey and mix together until combined.
- Add in the flour, oats and baking powder and mix until combined - it will be quite thick.
- Add in the water a little at a time until all mixed in!
- Split evenly between the 12 cases, and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until browned on top.
- Leave the pupcakes to cool fully, and remove from their cases (so the furry friends don't eat them!)
- Spread over a teaspoon of cream cheese per pupcake, and add on a dog biscuit!
Notes
- IMPORTANT - You MUST make sure your peanut butter does NOT contain Xylitol - it's poisonous for dogs. It's also best to use one with no added salt.
- I use the smooth Meridian peanut butter!
- This recipe was inspired by the Primrose Bakery Christmas book!
- You can half the recipe to make six pupcakes, or split half into twelve if you have a smaller dog who eats less! Bake them for 10 minutes if they are smaller.
- I store these in the fridge with or without the cream cheese when its hot - but if it was Winter, and there wasn't any cream cheese on them yet, then room temperature is fine.
- These freeze well!
ENJOY!
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J x
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hi just wondering do you have to add honey or can you leave it out
thanks
OMG, I made these they are amazing. I used gluten free flour instead and I made Mashed Banana/ peanut butter topping perfect and had dog chocolate Gingerbread men on top, went down a treat
I have just made a batch for the first time. I was wondering about oil, there is no oil in this recipe?
Hiya! No there is not, follow the recipe or the best results! How did they turn out? x
Hi Jane,
Would I be able to use this recipe to make an actual cake (not cup-cakes). If so, how long will I need to bake for?
Many thanks xx
Hiya! Yes this should work fine, but I have personally never tried this so am unsure about the baking time! Hope this helps, ket me know how it goes! x
Hi does it have to be wholemeal flour
Hiya! No it doesn’t. Hope this helps! x
Im making these next weekend for my puppy who turns 1 on bonfire night!
I’ve bought Jumbo Rolled Oats instead of regular ones by accident – will this matter?
Thanks 🙂
Hiya! This should be fine, happy birthday to your puppy! x
With the cream cheese on top how long would you say these need consumed by? Can they be left in the fridge with the cream cheese on for 2-3 days? Max?
Hiya! Yes they should be fine – if not, you could top them with peanut butter or something similar! Hope this helps! x
I could only get self raising whole meal flour will that be ok? Also could I add a little peanut butter to the cream cheese?
Generally it is best to use plain flour as some dogs cannot consume raising agents, but you can add in peanut butter to the frosting! Hope this helps! x
Could you make this into a cake rather than cupcakes? And can you use this recipe for babies as well, 1 yr old birthday cake?
can you use gluten free flour instead of wholemeal? My dog has a sensitive stomach.
Hiya! I personally haven’t tried this – however it’s worth a go! Let me know! x
Hi, would love to make these for my families pups! If I was to freeze these and then drive with them (my family live 30/40 mins away) in a cool bag, would they be okay? Would they then need to put them back in the freezer or fridge afterwards? Thanks!
I’ve made these once before and my doggy went mad for them! I want to make them again, but am wondering if I can substitute the honey for yoghurt? If not, what could I use as a substitute?
I made these at the weekend and all the blue from the paper case’s stuck too the cake . Was that because I add to much water
Do you have a recipe for the doggie bone treat on top of the cake? I have been looking all over for one just like that!
Hey, unfortunately I do not x
My doggy absolutely loved these!
Thank you 🙂
I got mine from Tesco, their own brand but you can get them in Homebargains or local pet shop 🐶
They are called gravy bones x you can get them in some supermarkets or pet shops 👍🏻
I use gravel bones! Can get them in post pet stores!
What are the measurements in tablespoons or cups not grams?
Made these for our Lab BlackBerry’s 2nd Birthday! He loved them! I only had wholemeal bread flour but having investigated there is only whole wheat flour in and nothing else I used it and they were fine.
Made these for our Mulligan’s 2nd birthday. I used mini muffin tin instead and it made 21. (Let her try one today to be sure she likes them. I tasted them too. Lab approved!) Going to mix cream cheese with plain Greek yogurt so I can pipe a fancy top to hold some mini dog treats. Taking them to the dog park to share with her friends.