Doggie Birthday Cake Cookies

So this year, I’ve taken my cake making to a whole new level. I always enjoyed baking quite a bit, but during the downtime, I came to truly love it. I also got into dog baking, and I’ve been learning more and more about what ingredients you can use and how you can make safe and delicious treats for your beloved canine. This is a recipe I came up with for my “little sister” Chubb’s Birthday. Peanut butter applesauce is her favorite treat flavor, so I knew what I was working with. Also, she looks so cute eating her cake!!

You may not know this, but Chubb the rescued English Bulldog, is a Georgia Bulldogs fan. Her and my dad love football and Georgia is their team. She adores wearing her jersey and she raptly watches football games with dad. I knew she had to have a football cake for her birthday and I knew it had to be her favorite flavors. Since mom has a football cookie cutter, my wheels turned and I had a place to start.

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I definitely wanted a cake like consistency, but I also wanted it to be easy to cut into shapes and not overly puffy. Fortunately, many dog treats and cakes don’t rise because the lack of sugar and leavening agents. From everything I have read, a bit of baking powder can be okay, but it should be used in moderation. Some doggy cake recipes even called for baking soda, but I wanted to do more extensive research and ask our vet before I tried it. This cake ended up the perfect consistency for doing cutout shapes!

I started with peanut butter, applesauce, and egg. Applesauce is used in place of butter and oil in some recipes, and I know peanut butter is an oil of its own, so the cake would be moist without adding any extra oils and the flavors could really shine. Also, the egg would act as a binding agent for the cake and egg has the added benefit of being very healthy for dogs.

The next ingredient is a bit “controversial.” While honey is regarded totally safe for dogs (even by vets), some people say any sugar at all isn’t a great idea. While a lot of vet approved doggy cake recipes call for honey in small amounts, I have read entire doggie cookbooks that don’t use it at all. I opted for a small amount in this since it’s a birthday cake. I don’t personally intend to use it in the treats I make for them on a regular basis, but when it’s your birthday, you can afford to splurge a small bit. If you don’t feel comfortable using honey, I am sure this would turn out just fine without it.

Next, I added in the oats and baking powder and mixed it in well. I usually add the flour last because I don’t want to over mix it and have a tough cake. This is usually my rule for people treats and pup treats.

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Once it was all combined, it was about the consistency of brownie batter. I was pretty pleased with how it turned out and I couldn’t wait to bake it. As usual, I lined the small 9x 6.5in. stone cookie pan with parchment paper. This time, I opted to very lightly grease the parchment paper with olive oil. I don’t grease it when I make biscuit style treats, but I was a bit nervous about this cake coming off the paper. No worries though- it came off the paper beautifully and it was super easy to cut into shapes!

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If you wanted, you could cut this dense, moist cake into squares and serve them like that, or you can use cookie cutters and do fun shapes for your pup. I did a few smaller random shapes and I also decided to cut her name out since she is the birthday girl.

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Frosting is also optional, but I made one using non-fat plain Greek yogurt with no additives, some carob powder and peanut butter for the brown coloring. Like regular frosting, you can thin it down with water if need be. I decided to get a little extra and pipe some laces on the football, but I can assure you I don’t think the pups really cared all that much. I did include instructions for making a smaller bit of lighter frosting if you decide you want to pipe “accents” onto your special treats. The humans in the family thought way more of my idea than the pups did!

All in all, I think this was a pretty good birthday for my little sis and I am so excited for the next doggy birthday cake I get to make in October!

Peanut Butter Applesauce Cake Cookie Dog Treats

Cake ingredients:

• 1 c. unsweetened organic applesauce
• 1/2c. all natural peanut butter (Make sure there are no sweeteners, especially avoid Xylitol!)
• 1 egg
• 1 T. honey (optional, you could also use a bit of mashed banana instead.)
• 1/3 c. old fashioned oats
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 3/4 c. whole wheat flour

Carob frosting ingredients:

Note: If you decide to add the lighter piping like I did, reserve 1 1/2 T. of yogurt and mix it with 2 tsp. peanut butter and a small bit of water to thin it out so it can be easily piped.

• 1 tub of plain, non-fat Greek yogurt with no additives
• 2 T. carob powder
• 1-2 T. Peanut butter
• water (if needed) to thin it out

For the cake, mix the wet ingredients together until thoroughly combined. If you don’t feel comfortable using honey for your dog, you can leave it out entirely or substitute a small bit of mashed banana. Stir in the baking powder and oats and mix well before adding the flour. Stir in flour just until there are no lumps. Line your small 9×6.5in. cookie sheet or cake pan with parchment paper and grease it lightly with olive oil before spreading the cake batter in as evenly as possible. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Allow to cool thoroughly before cutting into bars or cutting out shapes with cookie cutters. Keep treats refrigerated.

For the frosting, it works easiest to use an electric mixer, but you can also hand whisk it if you prefer. Add all the ingredients in a bowl and beat until it all comes together. You can adjust the color by adding small amounts of carob powder at a time and it cane be thinned out with water like regular frosting if needed. Frost your bars or shapes any way you like and pipe them with the small bit of accent frosting if you’re in the mood. Lastly, watch your fur baby have a super awesome birthday! Make sure to keep all leftover treats and frosting in the refrigerator.