Alright, this one is for the dogs. Yesterday was our little girl Chloe’s birthday. She’s 8! She joined our family about a year ago and is just the sweetest, most cuddly little dog ever. And can I just say how awesome older dogs are. I know most people prefer the puppies, but I just love the older ones. They may be a little more set in their ways, but they are just as affectionate and sweet as the younger ones and bonus they’re usually already house trained.
With everything that’s been going on lately, I’m all for celebrating the positive in life. So, I made these easy peasy Peanut Butter Pumpkin Pupcakes for Chloe’s birthday this year. I know this may seem silly to some of you, to celebrate a dog’s birthday, but why not? We treat them like they’re part of the family and love them the same, so why not make a special treat for them to mark the day they were born(or became part of the family).
These pupcakes are so simple to make requiring just 6 ingredients and 20 minutes. The ingredients are safe for dogs and these cakes are also vegan, wheat free, oil free, and sugar free. So technically, almost anyone could eat them although if you wanted to enjoy them yourself I would recommend using maple syrup in place of some of the water to sweeten things up a bit.
Of course I can’t say for sure they liked their pupcakes since they can’t tell me, but I’m going to take all the lip smacking and that fact that Romeo devoured his in less than a minute as a pretty good sign that it was enjoyed. Chloe was a little more dainty about hers and took slightly longer. Only slightly though 😉
If you try this recipe, let me know how it turns out! Leave a comment below or snap a pic and tag it @weelittlevegans on Instagram so I’ll be sure to see it!
Recipe
Peanut Butter Pumpkin Pupcakes
Ingredients
Pupcakes:
- ¼ cup brown rice flour
- 1 flax egg ( 1 tablespoon ground flax seed + 2 tablespoon water)
- 3 tbsp water
- 2 tablespoon pumpkin puree
- 2 tablespoon natural peanut butter
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
Frosting:
- 2 tablespoon peanut butter
- 2 tablespoon pumpkin puree
Instructions
Pupcakes:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place two cupcake liners in muffin pans or use a silicone pan.
- Prepare flax egg by whisking flax seed and water together in a small bowl. Set aside 5 minutes to thicken.
- Combine brown rice flour, pumpkin, peanut butter, baking powder, flax egg, and water and stir to thoroughly incorporate.
- Divide batter between cupcake liners. They will be full.
- Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely before frosting.
Frosting:
- Whisk together peanut butter and pumpkin and frost the pupcakes.
Notes
Sandy says
These were SO easy to make (which is a requirement for me), super moist and my pups LOVED them!! I picked this recipe because it only had a few ingredients compared to other recipes I found online, so I was glad they were such a big hit. They basically are a healthy peanut butter bomb! 🙂
Melissa says
I'm so glad you liked the recipe!
Nathan says
I made these for my pup's third birthday today. He inhaled the cupcake the second the plate hit the floor 🙂 I'd say it was a hit, and so easy to make, too.
Melissa says
That's so great!! I'm thrilled your pup enjoyed the cupcake and you found it easy to make! Thank you for sharing how it turned out 😊
Kim says
These were wonderful! I made them as a special treat to celebrate my pup making it through his first week of radiation. I ended up baking them for an extra few mins and my toothpick never did really come out "clean," but that might've been because I used regular pb and not a natural kind. I cut them into pieces before serving (anticipated the pups inhaling them too fast!) and they were pretty well cooked on the inside (I also wasn't super worried since there's no egg). The pups literally devoured these and licked the bowls for a good few minutes after. I also love that this made exactly two cupcakes, which was perfect! Thank you for making their week a little extra special 🙂
Meryl says
Hi, what is pumpkin purée? Is this something I can make myself with fresh sweet potato or squash maybe? I’m from the UK and have never heard of pumpkin purée. It’s Rust’s 8th birthday this weekend and I want to make them for the dogs joining his birthday party walk. Thanks 😊
Melissa says
Hi you can make your own pumpkin puree by roasting a pumpkin and then pureeing the "meat" in a food processor. I have a post on how to do that if you'd like more information - https://weelittlevegans.com/how-to-make-homemade-pumpkin-puree/ You can also definitely use sweet potato or squash too. I hope this helps. Happy Birthday Rust!!
Sandy Labowitz says
To avoid having to buy an ingredient I never use, can I replace the rice flour with regular flour?
Thank you,
Sandy
Melissa says
Hi Sandy!
White flour is typically ok for dogs as long as there are no allergies. Whole wheat flour is a better option from a nutritional standpoint if you have that. Hope this helps.
Sandy Labowitz says
Hi again! I didn't have ground flax seed handy, so thought I could sub 1/4 unsweetened applesauce as an "egg replacer". NOPE! Watery batter. 🙁 I should have asked you first, but I thought that was a common replacement. Guess I'll head to the store now.
Sandy Labowitz says
Celebrated my boys 7th birthday/4th adoptiversary day today with these. He devoured It! Easy to make (thank you!!), but I ruined the first batch by dumping all of the water in at once. The batter was so thin, I had to throw it out and start over. Second time I added a little water at a time. I think I ended up using less than half of the water. I let the cupcakes cool, but they still stuck to the paper terribly. Any thoughts? How are the silicone cupcake pans?
Thanks so much for this recipe!
Melissa says
This makes me so happy! So glad everything worked out and you were able to celebrate your boy's special day. Different flours absorb liquid differently so maybe that's why you needed less water. I use silicone cupcakes liners a lot and have never had an issue with them so I imagine the pans would work as well. Hope this helps. Thank you so much for sharing and rating the recipe.