Paisley's Birthday CupCakes (Dog Birthday CupCake Recipe)

Paisley's birthday is July 5th and every year I am in Kentucky.....breaks my heart to be away from her but luckily she is none the wiser :)

So when I got home this year I wanted to make sure she had a special treat to celebrate.  I know friends who give their dogs an ice cream cone on their birthdays but I was out running errands and knew it would not hold in the car.

So today I am going to share a safe, healthy recipe for dog birthday cupcakes.

Here are the ingredients for this super simple, quick recipe:

• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup peanut butter (Paisley's favorite is Peter Pan)
• 1/4 cup cooking oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 cup shredded carrots
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• cream cheese or plain yogurt and extra honey (for frosting, if desired)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  You can either grease (spray with vegetable oil or wipe with butter or oil) a 6 cup ring mold or use a cupcake pan like I did. This recipe ended up making 5 large cupcakes so adjust accordingly if you are serving at a party :)  Yes, people have parties for their animals :)

First, you want to mix the egg, peanut butter, oil, vanilla and honey in a large bowl and mix very well.

Let your dog lick the spoon from the peanut butter!!

I mean, look at that FACE!!  She is wet from playing outside in the pool and with the hose, her favorite past time!!

Next add the carrots, and stir well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda.  If you don't have a sifter (I found a vintage one at a flea market!), use a wire whisk to stir together very well.

Fold into the carrot mixture, again blending well.

Spoon into prepared pan.  I use two tablespoons.

Put in the oven for 20 minutes.  I actually set the timer for 15 and tested with a toothpick in the center and it needed an additional 5 minutes.  These are healthy delicious cakes (of course I tried a piece to make sure!) so they will bake just like a normal cake.

While they are cooking, if you want to make a frosting, mix equal parts of plain yogurt or cream cheese with some honey, for sweetening.  I actually thought I had some plain yogurt at home and I did not, so I just used some Yoplait vanilla yogurt for the top and she loved it!  Yogurt is very good for dogs :)

When they come out of the oven, let them rest in the pan for a few minutes (about 5) and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely before serving to your pup!

Add your candle and take pictures with your drooling dog, this might actually be considered animal abuse as she wanted it so bad!  She always knows when I am making her homemade peanut butter treats (get recipe here) because she gets to lick the spoon.  So she knew something tasty was coming for her!

TA DA!!!

What do you do for your dogs birthday?

Let me know in the comments below!

Let me know when you try this recipe and make sure to send pics!  I love hearing about other peoples dogs :)

Have a great day and stay tuned for the unboxing of Pop Sugar and New Beauty Test Tube, coming up next!