Peanut Butter Pupcakes

To say I’m an ‘extra’ dog mom would be pretty accurate. I have painted portraits of my dogs hanging in my daughter’s nursery. I have been known to sleep in the most uncomfortable positions, just so I don’t disturb their sleep. You should see them, they look like little angels when they are all curled up! I also make them homemade all-natural dog treats, because the internet has scared me with the stories about the ingredients that are going into dog food and treats.

Naturally, I made homemade pupcakes to celebrate Teddy’s Gotcha Day! What’s a gotcha day? Basically, it’s a celebration of the day you adopted your pet. Because Teddy is adopted we don’t know when his actual birthday is or even how old he is, so essentially his gotcha day is like his birthday.

Three years ago today we brought Teddy Bear home to live with us. We had been looking to add another Shiba to our family for about a year when we came across Teddy Bear’s info from Colorado Shiba Inu Rescue. He really seemed like the perfect fit for our family, especially Kona, who was the main factor in our decision-making process. Kona was our first pup, and we wanted to make sure that she would be comfortable with whichever dog we brought into our house.

After talking to Ian (for about five seconds) we filled out the application to be considered for adoption. The process took quite a while since there was so much interest in Teddy and because his foster parents were considering adopting him. Thankfully, after five months we were contacted about having a home visit with Teddy! I was so nervous about the visit and even went out and bought toys and treats for Teddy, hoping it would make him feel more comfortable meeting us. I vividly remember seeing the foster mom pulled up, and out popped the tiniest little cream Shiba you’ve ever seen! Even though Teddy was very nervous (and so were we!) the home visit went really well, and even Kona didn’t seem to mind sharing her space with him. We had to wait a couple days to hear if we were going to become Teddy’s parents, but we finally got the email, and in it was a video of his foster mom giving him the toy we bought him, asking “do you want to play with this toy from your new parents?” A few days later he came to live with us, and we couldn’t love our little unicorn Shiba any more than we do. He is the sweetest, cuddliest dog and our daughter’s best friend. Our little guy deserves pupcakes and more on his special day.

So, if you’re an ‘extra’ dog mom (or dad!) like myself and want to make these for your special pup. here’s the recipe:

Peanut Butter Pupcakes:

Prep Time: 15 min

Cook Time: 20 min

Makes 12 pupcakes

Pupcake Ingredients:

1 cup shredded carrots (I use a cheese grater to do this)

1 cup shredded apple

1/2 cup all-natural peanut butter or nut butter of your choice

1/4 cup organic honey

1 egg

1 tablespoon of Blackstrap Molasses (you can usually find this in your local grocery store or you can order online here)

2 cups of oat flour (I like to use King Arthur flour)

1 tablespoon of baking soda

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine peanut butter, honey, egg and molasses and blend thoroughly. I use a stand mixer, but you can do this by hand.

Next, add in the shredded carrots and apples, and mix well.

Lastly, add flour and baking soda. If using a stand mixer, make sure you mix on low and gradually increase the speed until everything is combined.

Spoon mixture into cupcake pan. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes.

Let cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, and then transfer to wire rack.

Frosting Ingredients:

1 cup of low-fat Greek yogurt

1 cup of all-natural peanut butter or nut butter

2 tablespoons of organic honey

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a stand mixer, and blend of high for 3-4 minutes.

Once pupcakes are cool, pipe the frosting on them in design of your choice.

Cover and store in refrigerator. Frosted cupcakes can be stored up to three days, unfrosted cupcakes can be store in refrigerator for up to a week 

I added some dog treats I had made to the top of my pupcakes, but you could leave as is with the frosting, add your favorite treats, or even keep them plain and unfrosted. No matter how you choose to decorate them I assure you your dog will appreciate it (and you).

These also make a great little gift you can share with your neighbors or friends who have dogs. I usually share since my dogs aren’t going to eat twelve cupcakes (only because I wont let them!) on their own.

If you’d rather make a cake than cupcakes, feel free to adapt this recipe! You will just need to adjust your cooking time, and I would suggest cooking for 30-35 minutes in a 6 inch springform pan.When I’ve made this recipe as a cake in the past, I used a mixture of peanut butter and honey, and I piped on wording for a special occasion using melted yogurt chips. I usually get the yogurt chips from my local Sprouts grocery store. When melting them in the microwave make sure to do it in 15 second increments and stirring the yogurt in between. Without the yogurt frosting this cake can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Happy Gotcha Day, Teddy Bear!