Recipe: Healthy Dog Cupcakes as a Celebratory Snack for Fido

My dogs enjoy these tasty ‘pupcakes' as an occasional treat. They're also a healthy and safe snack for celebrating birthdays, adoption days, and other special holidays.

This healthy dog cupcake recipe is a great option for most dogs, and substitutions can be made to fit your dog's nutritional needs.

You can always purchase commercial cupcakes for dogs mixes (like Puppy Cake or Lazy Dog), but I prefer using my own and natural ingredients. Also, while I enjoy spoiling my pack once in a while, I'm also careful about adding extra calories to their diet.

Healthy Dog Cupcake Recipe

Healthy Dog Cupcake Recipe

When you're shopping for the ingredients, I recommend using organic, natural ingredients whenever possible.

One of the best things about making your own dog treats from scratch is that you can leave out all of the unnecessary preservatives and artificial ingredients found in commercial products and pack them with nutrition.

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Healthy Dog Cupcakes

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Each of these dog cupcakes has about 290 calories. You can offset these additional calories by making substitutions and choosing less calorie dense ingredients, reducing your dog's meal portions or you could increase his daily exercise. You could also cut the cupcakes into smaller pieces instead of feeding your dog an entire cake for a snack.

  • Author: Samantha Randall
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 35 minutes
  • Yield: 6 large cupcakes 1x
  • Category: Desserts
  • Method: Baked
  • Cuisine: Dog Treats

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 cup peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 cup shredded carrots
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 egg

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 350˚.

Whisk the flower and baking soda together in a small bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the peanut butter and oil until smooth. Add the carrots, honey and egg to the peanut butter mixture and beat until well combined.

While the cupcakes are baking, you can prepare the frosting. You do not have to frost the cupcakes. Keep in mind that adding the frosting will about 190 calories to each cupcake.

To make the frosting, combine 4 ounces of cream cheese and 1/2 cup of peanut butter. I warm the ingredients in the microwave to make them easier to stir together. Once mixed, set the frosting aside until the cupcakes have cooled.

Add the flour mixture and stir until the batter is thoroughly mixed. Divide the batter into 6 cupcake cups. Bake at 350˚ for 20-25 minutes. You will know when this healthy dog cupcake recipe is finished baking when you can insert a toothpick and it comes out clean.

Once cooled, you can frost the cupcakes. Leftover cakes can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for about 3 days. You can also store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

Nutrition

  • Serving Size: 1 cupcake
  • Calories: 290

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When feeding your dog these pupcakes, I recommend keeping servings small and generally not making them too often. This is a dessert, after all, something to feed your dog on special occasions only.

For More Information

We publish many homemade dog food and treat recipes every month. For more recipes, pet food cooking tips, and advice, see our “Recipes” section. If you're new to home-cooked dog food subject, I recommend you read more about “How Much To Feed” to understand serving sizes, “What Supplements To Use” to create well-balanced meals, and “How To Store” for tips on simple and easy homemade dog food storing in a fridge or a freezer.


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Samantha’s biggest passion in life is spending time with her Boxer dogs. After she rescued her first Boxer in 2004, Samantha fell in love with the breed and has continued to rescue three other Boxers since then. She enjoys hiking and swimming with her Boxers, Maddie and Chloe.