It is well-known that many dog parents treat their puppies like their babies. Today, plenty of fur-parents like myself like to celebrate their pet’s birthdays — going as far as to plan birthday parties. While I would love to make my German Shepherd an extravagant birthday cake that I can enjoy, it is vital to remember that too much sugar is bad for dogs and pets alike. That said, what would a birthday party be without cake? Making your puppy a birthday cake does not have to be complicated or risky. The following are some Pupcake recipes, human and dog-friendly, with a wide variety of frostings you can recreate to meet your puppy’s needs and taste buds.
For pumpkin and applesauce lovers, this Peanut Butter PupCake recipe is the way to go. The batter mainly consists of flour, oats, pumpkin puree, unsweetened applesauce, and shredded carrots. It is an easy-to-follow dog-friendly recipe as long as you limit your pet’s sugar intake — hence the unsweetened applesauce and natural pumpkin puree.
Peanut butter and banana-loving puppies will jump for joy for this Pupcake. It calls for two bananas, ½ of xylitol free peanut butter, ⅓ cup of raw honey, two eggs, 1 ½ cups of flour, 2 ½ tsp of baking powder, ¼ cup of oil, and ¾ cup of water. This recipe is perfect for dog owners because of the limited ingredients in it and the fact that it uses natural products. That said, for those concerned that their dog may be allergic to eggs or would rather stay away from eggs, you can substitute the eggs with unsweetened applesauce (¼ cup of unsweetened applesauce per egg).
Now for a dog and human-friendly cupcake, Banana Cake. This recipe is like any other human banana cake recipe but with no granulated sugar. When making your banana bread, make sure to switch out the granulated sugar for brown bananas (they are sweeter), a little bit of raw honey, or any other natural sugary fruit, as too much sugar is very unhealthy for dogs. A possible dog and human-friendly frosting option to pair with this is plain whipped cream, or whipped cream mixed with dog-friendly peanut butter (only put a small amount of whipped cream on your pet’s cupcake). You could also use plain Greek yogurt, low-fat cream cheese, banana carob (dog “chocolate”), and frosting made from cooked sweet potatoes. To flavor Greek yogurt or cream cheese frosting, add some pumpkin puree, xylitol-free peanut butter, or use some of your dog’s favorite treats as toppings.
My German Shepherd’s favorite frosting is peanut butter-flavored Greek yogurt with a small piece of oven-baked bacon on top. While bacon provides unnecessary amounts of fat, I feel comfortable feeding my dog bacon because I know he only eats bacon occasionally and in small quantities. The key is to cater each recipe to your dog’s taste and needs.
All in all, these “dog-friendly” recipes mentioned above are a perfect special treat to celebrate a dog’s birthday with — when fed in moderation. Each dog is different so it is important to review each ingredient and decide if the recipe fits your pet’s health needs.