Tag: treats

Homemade cake for dogs
You can’t celebrate a milestone in someone’s life without a slice (or two) of cake. And if you are like us, you think that your dog deserves cake too. In our house, Dylan and Rainey each get to celebrate two milestones—their adoption (aka Gotcha) day and they “guesstimated” birthdays. Dylan’s 8th Gotcha Day is fast approaching (November 1st). So, we wanted to share our go-to homemade cake for dogs—Peanut butter, banana, and carrot cake.

Homemade peanut butter, banana, and carrot cake for dogs

We make this cake for dogs for most of their special occasions. We don’t know why but dogs seem to go nuts for this cake. People can eat it too although it isn’t very sweet (and your pup might not want to share). You can decorate it however you like. We will use crumbled up cookies or cylinder-type treats as a garnish. Or you can just pipe some “icing.” The great thing about dogs is they really don’t care what it looks like.
Peanut Butter, Banana, and Carrot Cake

Dylan & Rainey

I make this cake for dogs for most of their special occasions. I don’t know why but dogs seem to go nuts for this cake. People can eat it too although it isn’t very sweet (and your pup might not want to share).

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Prep Time 25 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes

Course Dessert, Dog Treat
Cuisine American

Servings 16 slices
Calories 254 kcal

Ingredients

Ingredients for cake:
2 large eggs
2 bananas, mashed
2/3 cup creamy peanut butter
2 cups shredded carrots
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 cup honey
2 cups whole wheat or unbleached flour
2/3 cups old fashioned oats
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp vanilla
Ingredients for frosting:
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F
Grease 2 cake pans
In a large bowl, combine eggs, bananas, carrots, peanut butter, oil, honey, and vanilla
In another bowl, combine flour, oats, and baking soda
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and combine well
Pour into greased cake pans
Bake for 20–30 minutes or until inserted toothpick comes out clean
Let the cakes cool
Meanwhile, make the frosting by mixing together yogurt and peanut butter until very smooth
Once cool, you can put a layer of frosting between the 2 cake layers and then cover the stacked cakes with more frosting

Notes
You can also further decorate the cake by adding crushed dog treats, jerky, or cooked bacon. And you can add jerky sticks for “candles.” I will also whisk some Greek yogurt until smooth but firm(ish) and put into a piping bag to spell out names or to make rosettes.

Keyword dog, dog treats
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If you want to advance to something fancier, you can try our other favorites: Mini Blueberry Cheesecake For Your Pup or Blueberry Mousse Jelly Cake for Dogs.

Just remember that you shouldn’t be feeding your dog cake all the time. Although who doesn’t like a daily slice of cake?! This should only be given on special occasions. And shouldn’t replace a proper balanced meal. You don’t want to end up with a chubby puppy. It’s easy to overfeed them though as they are such good boys and girls and deserve lots of treats. Maybe take them for an extra walk to something to compensate.
October 25, 2022
Frozen dog treat recipe
We know that you love to spoil you best four-legged friends. And there is nothing easier than whipping up some homemade treats. And the great thing about this frozen dog treat recipe is that the combinations are endless when you learn this basic base recipe.

What is even better is that you can tailor the recipe to make them tasty for yourself as well. These will become a favorite all-year long (there is never a bad time for a frozen treat) for both you and your pup.
Frozen Dog Treat Recipes

Dylan & Rainey

We know that you love to spoil you best four-legged friends. And there is nothing easier than whipping up some homemade treats. And the great thing about these frozen dog treat recipes is that the combinations are endless. And you can tailor the recipe to make them tasty for yourself as well. These will become a favorite all-year long (there is never a bad time for a frozen treat).

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Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 2 hours
Total Time 2 hours 10 minutes

Course Dog Treat
Cuisine American

Servings 12
Calories 189 kcal

Ingredients

Frozen Treat Base
½ cup solid coconut oil
⅔ cup creamy peanut butter
pinch ground cinnamon
½ Tbsp honey
Toppings
¼ cup pure pumpkin purée
¼ cup frozen blueberries
¼ cup plain Greek yogurt whisk lightly

Instructions

In a medium bowl, microwave coconut oil and peanut butter together for 30 seconds.
Whisk and continue to microwave until melted and smooth.
Add cinnamon and honey and whisk until combined.
Layer silicone muffin molds with peanut butter mix, blueberries, yogurt, and pumpkin. Use your creativity and mix and match ingredients you add into peanut butter mix.
Place in the freezer for at least 1 hour.
Store in an air-tight container in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Notes
You can make whatever combination you would like. Here are the combinations we used:

whole frozen blueberries with peanut butter mix

first add peanut butter mix, then blueberry puree (microwave blueberries with a little bit of water and then puree until smooth)

first add Greek yogurt and then peanut butter mix

first add Greek yogurt, then peanut butter mix, and then blueberry puree

first add pumpkin puree and then peanut butter mix

Keyword dog, dog treats
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Dylan loves his frozen treats

This frozen dog treat recipe should not be used every day. Treats should only be given on special occasions. And shouldn’t replace a proper balanced meal. You don’t want to end up with a chubby puppy. It’s easy to overfeed your best buddy, especially when they are giving you “that look.” They are such good boys and girls and deserve lots of treats. Maybe take them for an extra walk to something to compensate.

We like to make our own food for our dogs so that we can monitor all the ingredients that good into our dogs’ food. We like to use all-natural and organic products whenever possible. Not all food products are good for your dog. You should always check to see when ingredients are safe to give your dog.
September 27, 2022
Doggie cinnamon buns
Nothing smells better than homemade cinnamon buns baking in the oven. Well, next time you are making a batch for yourself, why not make a batch to share with your best four-legged buddy. These doggie cinnamon buns will become a favorite with your best doggie friend.
Doggie Cinnamon Buns

Dylan & Rainey

Nothing smells better than homemade cinnamon buns baking in the oven. Well, next time you are making a batch for yourself, why not make a batch to share with your best four-legged buddy. These doggie cinnamon buns will become a favorite with your best doggie friend.

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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Course Dog Treat
Cuisine American

Servings 12 buns
Calories 148 kcal

Ingredients

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 egg
¼ cup olive oil or melted coconut oil
½ cup chicken stock or water
2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp cinnamon
¼ cup finely chopped peanuts or walnuts
¼ cup Greek yogurt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F
In a large bowl, combine flour and baking powder and mix well.
In a medium bowl, whisk together egg, oil, and stock until well combined.
Make a well in dry ingredients and add the liquid ingredients. Mix well to form a soft dough.
Put dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly to make smooth dough. You may need to add some extra flour if too sticky. Roll the dough into ¼" rectangle.
In small bowl, combine honey, cinnamon, and nuts.
On the short side of the dough, spread nut mixture evenly on bottom ⅓ of dough. Roll up the dough into a log.
Cut the log into roughly 12 pieces. Place into a small, greased casserole dish.
Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown. Cool buns in dish.

Once cool, spread Greek yogurt on the buns.

Keyword dog, dog treats
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Dylan loves some cinnamon buns

Just remember that you shouldn’t be feeding your dog cinnamon buns all the time. Although who can resist something that smells so wonderful?! These doggie cinnamon buns should only be given on special occasions. And shouldn’t replace a proper balanced meal. You don’t want to end up with a chubby puppy. It’s easy to overfeed your best buddy, especially when they are giving you “that look.” And lets face it, they are such good boys and girls and deserve lots of treats. Maybe take them for an extra walk to something to compensate.

These cinnamon buns contain cinnamon and walnuts. Both ingredients are considered safe for dogs to eat. There is some suggestion that cinnamon even offers some health benefits in dogs—both with heart health and cognitive function.

Walnuts are also considered safe for dogs, they are high in fat. So, you don’t want to give your dog too many.
March 8, 2022
Mousse Jelly Cake for Dogs
Does your dog have a special occasion coming up? This blueberry mousse jelly cake for dogs will make your best furry friend very happy.

It’s Rainey’s 7th birthday soon and we always like to do something special. This cake is somewhat time consuming, but it really is worth it. Truth be told, the glaze on top should create a “mirror” effect but something went wrong. But that’s the great thing about baking for dogs, they do not care if it isn’t perfect. They are always just so excited to try something new—at least Dylan and Rainey are.

We use blueberries in this recipe as Rainey likes them. And they are always in the house, but you can try other berries. Or you can get adventurous with other fruits or maybe even veggies?! Dogs make the best taste testers so go ahead and experiment. Maybe just make sure it’s something that it safe to give the pups first though.

Rainey is a big fan of her birthday cake
Blueberry Mousse Jelly Cake for Dogs

Dylan & Rainey

Does your dog have a special occasion coming up? This blueberry mousse jelly cake for dogs will make your best furry friend very happy.

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Prep Time 1 day 3 hours
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 day 3 hours 30 minutes

Course Dog Treat
Cuisine American

Servings 18 slices
Calories 130 kcal

Ingredients

Blueberry Puree
4 cups blueberries, frozen
2 tsp honey
Broth Jelly
3 cups chicken broth (or bone broth)
3 envelopes powdered gelatin
beet juice (for color), optional (see note)
Blueberry Mousse
1 envelope powdered gelatin
1 cup blueberry puree
2 cups heavy cream, whipped
Sponge Cake
4 eggs
1 Tbsp maple syrup
2 Tbsp warm water
1 cup unbleached flour
Mirror Glaze
2 envelopes powdered gelatin
½ cup room temperature blueberry puree
2 cups water
4 Tbsp sugar

Instructions

To make blueberry puree
Simmer the blueberries and honey over medium heat until they are soft and bursting. Make sure to stir frequently to avoid sticking.

Puree until smooth. You can also run it through a sieve to make sure really smooth.

Set aside until ready to use.
To make broth jelly
Whisk the gelatin with 1 cup of room temperature broth until dissolved.
Bring 2 cups of broth to a rolling boil in a pot.
Whisk in the dissolved gelatin. Add the beet juice, if using. Whisk well to combine.
Grease the bottom and sides of a 6-inch cake pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Lightly grease the parchment paper.
Carefully pour the liquid into the pan.
Refrigerate for 3 hours or overnight until firm.
To make the blueberry mousse
Mix the gelatin with ½ cup of room temperature blueberry puree and set aside.
Heat up another ½ cup of blueberry puree just to boil. Add gelatin and whisk until smooth.
Remove from heat and cool to room temperature

Carefully fold the blueberry puree into the whipped cream.
To make the sponge cake
Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease the bottom of a 8-inch springform pan and line the bottom with parchment paper. Lightly grease and flour the parchment paper.

Whisk eggs and maple syrup until light and fluffy. Add the water.
Slowly sift in the flour and fold until combined. You can add a touch more water if you think that the batter is too thick and heavy.

Pour batter into prepared pan and bake about 10 minutes or until center of the cake is slightly springy and edges have shrunk a little bit from the sides of the pan.
Spread a piece of parchment (slightly larger than the pan) on your work surface and sprinkle evenly with a little bit of sugar or cornmeal (to help prevent sticking). Carefully turn the pan onto the parchment. Remove the parchment that was on the bottom of the cake pan.
Place a slightly damp towel over the cake while it cools to help prevent it from drying out.
To assemble cake
Line a clean 8-inch cake pan with parchment paper.
Spread blueberry mousse in the bottom.
Carefully place jelly on top (it should be slightly smaller than the pan).
Place cake on the top of the jelly and press down firmly but gently.
Put cake in the freezer for 3 hours or overnight.
As you are preparing the mirror glaze, take the cake out of the freezer and carefully flip it onto a wire rake which is placed into a baking sheet (glazing is very messy). Remove parchment paper.
Making mirror glaze and finishing cake
Whisk together gelatin and room temperature blueberry puree and set aside.

Bring water and sugar to a rolling boil. Take off from heat.
Whisk in the gelatin and continue stirring until a candy (or meat) thermometer reaches 90°F.

Pour glaze over the cake ensuring you get all of the surface area covered. Allow excess to drip off for 5 minutes.

Carefully move to a serving plate.

You can scrape up the glaze that has collected at the bottom of the pan and heat up to dissolve then pour into molds and put in the fridge to make gummies.

Keep cake in the refrigerator and use within 4 days.

Notes
If you want to give your jelly some color, you can use natural coloring agent such as beet juice or pomegranate juice—they also come in powdered form. Or a food-based dye. You will need to add more gelatin depending on how much liquid you add. Rule of thumb: 1 envelope of gelatin for every cup of liquid.
To grease the pans, you can use olive oil or melted coconut oil. We try and avoid giving the dogs butter but this is a celebration cake, so if that’s all you have, use a little butter.
When assembling the cake, you can use an 8″ springform pan, but just reverse the order. So, cake, then jelly, then mousse. Although the other way gives you a smoother whipped cream surface.

Keyword cake for dogs, dog, dog treats
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Just remember that you shouldn’t be feeding your dog cake all the time. Although who doesn’t like a daily slice of cake?! Especially some mousse jelly cake for dogs. This should only be given on special occasions. And shouldn’t replace a proper balanced meal. You don’t want to end up with a chubby puppy. It’s easy to overfeed them though as they are such good boys and girls and deserve lots of treats. Maybe take them for an extra walk to something to compensate.
January 11, 2022
Holiday treat and gift roundup for dogs

Many of us spend a lot of our time baking and making treats for our friends and loved ones or shopping for them during the holiday season. How about this year we do this for more than just friends or family? I’m ready to make 2021 the year to include treats and gifts for our dogs in our holiday treat making. I mean, if your dogs are anything like mine, they are probably watching you baking treats anyway so why not include them in it? They deserve it!

I don’t know about you, but I love to include my dogs in the holidays and I know that they love it too! From the yummy holiday treats that I know that they love to the gifts that they get to play with, these dogs love the holidays. If you want to make sure your dogs love the holidays too, check out this holiday treat and gift roundup for dogs.

Holiday treat and gift roundup for dogs

It’s been a very long year and a half. Many of us have fallen out of touch with friends and family and some of us have socialized very little. While the world has been changing around us, one thing has stayed the same. Our dogs and their loyalty.

More than ever we have needed our best friends by our sides to snuggle with, to cry to and to just be ourselves around with no worries of judgment! Seriously. Did you know that you can eat an entire carton of ice cream and your dog won’t even give you the side eye? Does it get any better than that? Since our dogs have put up with so much out of us lately, I say that they deserve to be rewarded! This holiday treat and gift roundup for dogs should be a great resource for you to find how to reward them this holiday season.

Holiday treats for your dog

Treats you can make yourself

Think about it. Do you really want to be enjoying cheesecake and eggnog and all the other delicious holiday goodies, while your dog just gets to eat their boring old dog food? Nah. You really want to see them enjoy some delicious goodies too, right?

The following holiday dog treat recipes are all easy to make and they will all make your dogs happy this holiday season.

Apple Pumpkin Pupcakes with Maple Frosting

Peanut Butter Bacon Doggie Donuts

Peanut Butter Banana Pupcakes

Homemade Puppy Donuts

Organic Dog Cookies

Turkey Meatball Dog Treats

Bacon Cornmeal Dog Biscuits

Homemade Peanut Butter Dog Treats

Paw Prints Peanut Butter Dog Cookies

Peanut Butter Blueberry Skillet Dog Cookie

Mini Blueberry Cheesecake For Your Pup

Treats you don’t have to make yourself

We are all busy, we all understand not having enough time to bake. There is no judgment here. If you can’t find the time to make a bunch of homemade dog treats, here are some really great ones that you can buy instead!

Antler chews

Bacon barley bones

Duck jerky

Chicken and waffles bones

Pork loin strips

Berry banana coco treats

Parmesan cheese/peanut butter limited-ingredient treats

Each of these dog treats would actually make great Christmas gifts for dogs too! Your dogs are going to love these gifts, but don’t forget about the other dogs in your life as well.

If your friends or family have dogs, you can make these treats as gifts for them too! You’d be surprised to see how happy your friends and family will become when they realize that you were thinking of their canine family members.

Dog gifts and stocking stuffers

The holiday season is the perfect time to reward your pooch with gifts of all kinds! Do you want to give your dog a non-food gift (or, if you just want to add to the food gifts you are already planning to give them)? Then, these dog gifts and stocking stuffers will keep your pup happy and playing for hours on end. An extra benefit is that all of these toys are made in the USA.

Beer can dog toy: The next time you want to sit down and enjoy a beer, your pup can join you!

Wine bottle dog toy: Or if you enjoy a glass of wine at night, why not let your dog hold a bottle.

Large fuzzy ball: If your dog likes balls, why not surprise them with an extra large one. It’s an absolute favorite over here. How much fun will they have with this toy?

Dog bone toy: This large bone plush dog toy is perfect for playing and snuggling. Your pup will love this one!

Holiday lights dog toy: Does your dog eye all of your fun Christmas lights and decor? Now they can have their own string of lights.

Bouncy dog ball: If your dog is full of energy and loves to play, then this ball dog toy will be a hit for their gift this year.

Wild animal dog toy: Give your best friend a new best friend of their own. How cute is this turtle?

We hope you and your pets have a wonderful holiday season!

November 30, 2021