5 Creative Doggy Cake Recipes

Have you ever wanted to make your dog special baked goods with love and care? Maybe they have a birthday coming up, or you’re heading to a doggy playdate, or they simply deserve some delicious treats! That’s why we’ve compiled a list of fresh and creative recipes for you to try out on your best friend. Bonus: We have included only beneficial ingredients for dogs since health and wellbeing for your fur pal is of the utmost importance to us! Remember our post on healthy human food for dogs? You’ll find some of those food items right here in these recipes! But you might not want to indulge in these treats yourself since dog cakes need to be free of sugar and won’t taste as good compared to the sweets us humans are used to.
Whenever baking, cooking, or feeding scraps and leftovers to your dog always ensure there are no toxic ingredients. As a reminder, some potentially unsafe ingredients to avoid are chocolate, grapes, cherries, avocados, onions, and the artificial sweetener Xylitol. And the best flours to use are coconut, almond, potato, chickpea, or lentil. It’s also best to avoid white/all-purpose flour and sugars.
Now that you’re ready to hit the kitchen with your safe, doggy-approved ingredients, let us know which recipes your pal loves most! Whether their favorite food is fish, beef, peanut butter, or even fruit, there’s something here for every unique dog!

 

1. Shepherd’s Pie

Ingredients:

• 1 pound of ground beef
• 1/2 cup pureed carrots
• 1/2 cup pureed sweet peas
• 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1 egg
• 1 cup mashed potatoes

To Make:

• Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit.
• In a large bowl, combine ground beef, carrots, sweet peas, breadcrumbs, parsley, and egg until mixed well.
• Divide mixture into cups in a muffin pan. Spread it out so the mixture evenly reaches around the sides of the cups.
• Prepare plain mashed potatoes after cooking them thoroughly. Spoon the mashed potatoes into the meat muffin cups.
• Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until meat is thoroughly cooked.
• Remove cups from the pan and let them cool on a cooling rack.
• Once cool, serve it up to your furry pal!
• Bonus: The pies can be stored in ziplock bags once cooled for up to a few months. When you want to serve them, thaw and warm them in the microwave for 30 seconds. There you have it, a tasty treat your dog can enjoy for weeks and months after being made with all that love and care!

 

2. Surf N Turf Cake

Surf Layer Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound to a cup of salmon, ground or finely chopped (another type of fish can be used if desired)
• 1/2 cup whole grain oats
• 1 egg

Turf Layer Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound to a cup of lean ground beef (another type of meat can be used if desired)
• 1/2 cup whole grain oats
• 1 egg

To Make:

• Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit.
• Oil two cake pans.
• Combine the two different layer ingredients in two separate mixing bowls.
• Press each mixture into their separate prepared pans, flattening the tops for layering.
• Bake for about 25 minutes or until cooked thoroughly.
• Let cool on a cooling rack.
• Once cool, refrigerate so the cakes are fully cooled.
• Layer the cakes on top of one another either on their own or with optional cooled mashed potatoes between layers.

 

3. Fruit Parfait Cups

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt or dairy-free yogurt substitute (remember to check the ingredients if using dairy-free yogurt)
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 cup of blueberries
• 1/2 cup of applesauce

To Make:

• Blend ingredients in a blender until smooth.
• Serve in small cups.
• Optional: add a small layer of yogurt and a few blueberries to the top of the cups for appearance.
• Bonus: leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator to be enjoyed over the course of a week!

 

4. No Bake Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dog Food Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups dry dog food

• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree 

• 3 tablespoons peanut butter

Peanut Butter Yogurt Frosting Ingredients:

• 1 cup plain non-fat yogurt or dairy-free yogurt (remember to check the ingredients if using dairy-free yogurt)

• 1/2 cupsmooth peanut butter

To Make:

Cake:

• Mix dry dog food, pumpkin puree, and peanut butter in a food processor. 

• Pulse until the mixture is sticky and the dog food is made into coarse crumbs. 

• Spread and press the cake mixture into a small cake pan until it takes shape. 

Frosting:

• In a bowl, use a hand mixer to combine yogurt and peanut butter frosting until smooth.

• Spread the frosting over the cake mixture.

• Optional: decorate with mini dog treats or dog-friendly sprinkles!

 

5. Sweet Potato Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup mashed sweet potatoes, cooked
• 1 large, grated carrot
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup flour (check our flour suggestions in the intro)
• 1/4 cup plain non-fat yogurt or dairy-free yogurt (check ingredients list if using dairy-free yogurt)

To Make:

• Preheat oven to 350 Fahrenheit.
• Grease cups of a muffin tin.
• In a large bowl, mix sweet potato, carrot, eggs, and flour.
• Divide the batter evenly into the muffin cups, fill them up to the top.
• Bake for approximately 15-30 minutes depending on size of muffin cups.
• Cool on a cooling rack.
• Once cool, transfer muffins to a plate.
• Spoon a bit of plain yogurt on top of each muffin and let your pup enjoy these delicious treats!

Shay Siegel is a young adult author, freelance writer, and editor from Long Island, NY. She has a BA from Tulane University and an MFA in Writing from Sarah Lawrence College. Always a lover of animals, Shay had several cats growing up. She's now a dog mom to the snuggliest rescue pit bull, Bernie. She enjoys writing on a variety of topics and sharing her love and knowledge of animals with others!