Celebrate your dog with homemade dog treats. Made with whole food ingredients like sweet potatoes, applesauce, honey and rolled oats, these Sweet Potato and Apple Pupcakes are sure to become your pup’s favorite snack!
My dog might be the most spoiled dog in the world, and the worst part about this is she doesn’t even know it. She just expects lots of things from us and rightfully so.
She’s been conditioned for this, of course, and after what her life was like for the first seven months, I think she deserves all the attention and treats in the world to make up for that rough patch.
However, as she grows older, her list of demands seems to grow.
Case in point: I baked Lucy pupcakes for her birthday yesterday.
OK, so pupcakes weren’t a demand made by Lu, but they should clearly illustrate that my pup is spoiled. (It should also prove that I’m the kind of dog mama who wants her furbaby to have a good birthday… even if it makes me sound a little nutty.)
Pupcakes aren’t something that are made at our home on a regular basis, so they are pretty special. In fact, when Lu learned the baked goods were for her, her excitement was indescribable.
It’s pretty fantastic to witness, and I love seeing the moment when the realization dawns on her that yes, this was made specifically for her.
Lucy didn’t know these were her birthday treat until I was actually photographing the first image in this post. Yes, the one with the lit candles. No, my dog was not harmed in the documenting of this recipe. And no, she wasn’t in danger at any time.
Fear not: Lucy and I have attended several training classes over the years. Even though she has many opinions and doesn’t like to listen to me all the time, she knows that to get a treat, she needs to be good. Being good requires sitting quietly.
So I asked her to sit, told her to stay, lit the candles, held down my shutter, snapping as many angles as possible in a short amount of time, then proceeded to blow out the candles, remove them from the pupcake and slid the treat across the surface to Lucy.
She looked up at me with wide eyes, wondering if this was a test. When I encouraged her to give it a try, she took an experimental lick before diving right in, slurping off the icing before grabbing the cake between her front teeth and attempting to swallow it whole.
Note: If you make full-sized pupcakes, PLEASE cut them up. Lu was fine, but she scared me for a moment.
And ever since I baked these, Lucy now believes everything that comes out of the oven is for her… and she sat patiently next to a tester batch of cookies cooling on the island last night, sneaking glances every once in a while to see if I noticed she was being good.
Because, you know, being “good” definitely means you deserve a treat. Even if the treat you think belongs to you doesn’t.
My sweet girl may be spoiled, but she’s earned it. She’s brought so much joy into our home over the last five years, and I don’t know what I would have done without her through some of the rougher times.
So if you’re like me and want to shower your dog with affection and good eats on their birthday, here’s how you make this recipe:
Sweet Potato and Apple Pupcakes
Ingredients
Pupcakes
- A heaping 1/2 cup sweet potato , pureed
- 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tablespoon local honey
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 small apple , grated finely
- 1 large egg , beaten
- 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
- 2 tablespoons uncooked oats
Icing
- 2 ounces cream cheese
- 2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F.
- In a large bowl, combine the pureed sweet potato, apple, applesauce, honey and coconut oil.
- Pour in the beaten egg, stirring until incorporated, then add the whole wheat flour and uncooked oats.
- Once the dough comes together, grease your lined cupcake pan and slowly dollop the batter in. (It will be SUPER thick, so no worries.)
- Bake for 15-30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- While the pupcakes are cooling, combine the cream cheese and applesauce in a bowl, beating with a hand mixer and set aside until needed.
- Once the cakes are cool, top with the icing if you so choose, and let your pup enjoy!
Recipe Notes
My pupcakes turned out REALLY dense, so I recommend making these in mini cupcake pans and cutting them in half before feeding to your dog, as Lucy tried to eat hers whole unsuccessfully...Have you baked for your pet before?
Does this concept sound absolutely crazy to you?
(If it does, that’s OK. My husband felt the same way… and then I got Lucy, and she changed everything…)
Aww happy birthday to Lucy! What a special treat!
Erin, I love this. You are such a great dog mama to sweet Lucy! She’s lucky to have you! 🙂 Pearl is always at my feet while I’m in the kitchen, although I haven’t baked for her. These pupcakes sound like a fun and special treat.
That picture of Lucy licking her pupcake… I can’t even… I’m having a cute overload aneurysm.
Love it! Your dog is so adorable 🙂 I never thought about baking cupcakes for my dogs birthday! So fun ! I used to have a yorkie but I had to give her away, so I’m looking forward to doing this with our future pup 🙂
Ahh I am dying over these photos! Your Lucy is so sweet and adorable! Our dog is spoiled rotten too … case in point she sleeps in our bed UNDER the covers! haha I’ve made homemade dog treats a few times but never have I made pupcakes! I think Emma needs some for her next birthday : )
This is so great! I love that you made her a special puppy treat- so something I would do 😉 Lucy is just too adorable! Happy Birthday to her!
that is so sweet, love the dog and “pup”cakes, great idea. My dog would love that.
Beautiful photos! I have two dogs so this really warms my heart! <3 Pinning!
This is so sweet! I love these pics, too. My dog is spoiled, but it’s ok ’cause he’s a great boy. Thanks for sharing!
If my Dexter was still with us, I’d totally bake him treats. Cats just don’t appreciate baking. (In fact, mine dislike almost all people food, with the exception of braunschweiger.)
Also, Lucy is absolutely adorable! 🙂 Yay birthday pup!
Charlie is only 4 but he loves to bake. 🙂 What a sweet post! Lucy is such a cutie.
Found your recipe through Pinterest and made these for our greyhound, Riley for his birthday. HUGE hit! Great recipe – he absolutely loved them and goes crazy for them. He ate his so quickly that we couldn’t even get a photo of him eating them.
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I altered the recipe a bit but my babies loved the Pupcakes I made this weekend to celebrate Rudy’s 9th birthday (lab/corgi mix).
Aww, YAY! I’m so happy to hear your furbabies loved these pupcakes! Happy belated birthday to Rudy!
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Make these with organic ingredients, if I vacuum seal the how long are they good for
Hey Brian. I’ve never vacuum sealed these pupcakes before, so I couldn’t tell you. I’d check the manufacturer’s instructions for lengths of time for any baked good and go from there. Sorry I’m not more helpful!
Do you think I could use canned pumpkin instead of puréed sweet potato?
Thanks:)
Tonya
Hey Tonya. I’ve never subbed pumpkin here for the sweet potato, but I bet you could! Chances are, the texture would change a bit, but I’m sure your pup would still enjoy it. If you do this, please let me know how it turned out!
How do you think making 1 larger “pupcake” versus multiple smaller “pupcakes” would work out? Hoping to make this weekend for my dog’s birthday on Tuesday. Sweet potato is his favorite treat!
Hey Lexi. If you make a larger “pupcake,” you’ll probably have to bake it for longer. 5-10 minutes, depending on how large it is. I’d also advise cutting it up for your pup when you do so because these pupcakes are dense. Let me know how it turns out!
Hi Erin,
I definitely would like to try this recipe for my furry baby’s B-Day! He Loves sweet potatoes!!!
Now, If I don’t have any wholewheat flour; could I substitut with any other type of flour or just adding more oats? Any suggestions please.
Thank you.
Hi Lisseth! I love that you want to try this for your furry baby’s birthday! If you don’t have whole wheat flour, I suggest using regular all-purpose flour. Happy baking! I hope your pup loves these as much as our Lucy did!