What better way to celebrate your pup’s special day than with this Mini Dog Birthday Cake?! Complete with peanut butter and cheese, it’s sure to please.
Um yeah, I went there. This mini dog birthday cake is a huge hit, because dogs deserve cake too! My baby turns TWO today—like, how? I figured she deserved a dog birthday cake this year.
I always wanted a dog growing up, and in college, Miguel and I used to talk about getting a dog and maybe we sometimes spent every waking moment Googling dog photos. Then, Layla came into our lives and I can say with certainty that she’s all we ever wanted.
I’m completely biased, but Layla is simply the best. She keeps me company all day every day while I work from home, she has an adorable underbite, she helps me get my steps in for the day thanks to having to walk her, and she brings so much joy into my life.
I still remember the day I brought her home. She was so, so tiny–I think around 8 lbs.–and so scared. I drove her back to my apartment, picked her up and placed her on the concrete and she immediately started crying. I wasn’t sure if she was scared or if it had been awhile since she’d felt concrete (or ever??), but I picked her back up, took her inside and then we took a million selfies together. I mean, WHAT ELSE was there to do? It was from that moment on that I decided we were going to be best friends.
So, what do dogs deserve on their birthdays? CAKE!
DOG CAKE INGREDIENTS
- all purpose flour
- coconut oil (or any kind of oil)
- egg
- honey
- pumpkin
- applesauce
- peanut butter
- yogurt
Like most dogs, Layla’s a big fan of pumpkin and peanut butter, so I knew I needed to include those things. This dog cake is quite similar to a human cake but with less sugar, but let me share some tips and substitutions.
DOG CAKE RECIPE
FLOUR: This recipe calls for all purpose flour, but you could also use whole wheat flour. I haven’t tried it with any sort of gluten free flour before, but again, I’m going to assume a gluten free all purpose flour would work well if your dog eats a grain-free diet.
OIL: Coconut oil tends to be my oil of choice, but it can also be on the pricey side. Canola oil works just fine and I promise your dog won’t know the difference 😉
YOGURT: The icing for this cake is made with Greek yogurt and peanut butter. If your dog doesn’t like yogurt and/or if you’re worried about it upsetting their stomach (it shouldn’t!), you could try using just peanut butter. It’ll be stickier, but still oh-so-tasty.
QUESTIONS? TONS of people have made this recipe, so be sure to read the comments for additional tips!
Layla, thanks for being you. I look forward to many more years spent together and I will continue to spoil you with this dog birthday cake and love you forever.
This dog birthday cake is one of the most popular recipes on this site, so if you make this recipe, be sure to leave a comment or, even better, tag @thealmondeater on Instagram/Instagram stories–I LOVE seeing your creations, especially when dogs are involved!
Want another dog cake option? Check out this pumpkin cake!
Mini Dog Birthday Cake
Ingredients
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup coconut oil melted
- 1 egg
- 1/3 cup honey preferably raw
- 1/4 cup canned pumpkin
- 1/4 cup applesauce
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- Icing:
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt*
- 1/4 cup peanut butter
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Grease two 4" cake pans with a bit of coconut oil and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour and baking soda; set aside.
- Melt coconut oil in a saucepan over low-medium heat.
- While coconut oil is melting, whisk egg, honey, pumpkin, applesauce, peanut butter, and vanilla together in a large bowl using an electric mixer. Last, stir in the melted coconut oil.
- Fold the wet ingredients into the dry and stir to combine.
- Pour batter evenly into the two pans, pounding them on the countertop a few times to the batter lays flat. Place the cake pans on a baking sheet and the baking sheet in the oven.
- Bake cakes for 20-30 minutes**, or until a toothpick comes out clean or mostly clean.
- Let the cakes sit in the pans for 10 minutes before running a knife along the edges and flipping them over onto a cooling rack. Wait until cakes are completely cool before icing.
- For the icing: stir yogurt and peanut butter together
- Assembly: slice the tops of both cakes off (the "dome" part) and then lay the cut edges together, placing a bit of icing in between. Top the cake with additional icing. Additionally, if you want to cover the entire cake with icing (rather than just the top and middle), just double the icing ingredients.
- Top the cake with cheese to make your pup's special day that much better!
Notes
**Cook times vary. My oven takes forever to heat up, so the cakes took about 30 minutes, but I recommend checking yours after 20 minutes.
We made this for my pups 1st Birthday. Her and my other 2 dogs literally scarfed it down. I added a tablespoon or so of honey to the frosting and of course they licked that off first, because who doesn’t love frosting :)! Thanks for the recipe!
That’s amazing! I’m glad they all liked it, and happy 1st birthday to your pup!
Is this a soft cake or does it get hard like a dog biscuit? My dog is very old with bad teeth. He will not be able to eat if it is hard
It’s a soft cake!
Can’t believe how tasty this was, even for humans! My pup had a birthday party with her pup-cousins this year and I made this cake and some homemade doggie ice cream. Everything was gobbled up!
I’m going to make this 4 my 3 year old boy, Opi! Can’t wait thx for the recipe!😁
Made this tonight for my boy’s first birthday! It’s tasty even for pet parents!!!
Ha yessss!!! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it 🙂 And happy belated to your pup.
Just made this tonight for my sister’s Husky-German Shepherd pup Zelda. It was her 5th birthday and we weren’t sure if she was gonna like pumpkin but she LOVED this! We had a small pumpkin on hand and roasted that to make the purée, which ended up being enough to double the recipe. Didn’t have coconut oil so I used 1/4c more applesauce and the texture was still dense and moist. Baked it in an 8-inch pan for about 35 mins and used a round cookie cutter to cut out a nice 4-inch deep cake which Zelda DEVOURED! Glad I made a double batch, we are gonna freeze the leftovers for treats! Honestly it smelled delish, like peanut butter cookies, so next time I might make a version with salt and sugar for humans to enjoy as well ☺️Thank you for the recipe!!!
I’m so glad Zelda loved it!!
Hi I want to make this for my dogs 12th birthday. Do I need the coconut oil or can I substitute for olive oil. This Recipe looks really fun and I can’t wait to make it! Thanks so much!
I haven’t tried it with olive oil but I imagine it would work just fine. Happy early birthday to your pup!
Hi there. Would this be good for cupcakes? Would that make he temperature and baking times different
Made cupcakes with the recipe today. The batter was enough for 6 cupcakes and had a little batter left over. 350 for 20 minutes was perfect. Bella enjoyed this treat for her 5th birthday!!!
Please tell me if this recipe can be doubled successfully to make a regular size one layer cake. thank you.
Hi! I think that should work out ok… it might be a tad shorter than a traditional one layer cake, but pretty close in size I’d think. Let me know how it turns out!
I am having a “sweet 16″ party for my 16 year old dog, and I want to let 3 dogs and 5 people each have a small piece of this cake. Will this recipe double nicely to make a regular size 8 to 9” one-layer cake?
thanks for your reply.
Hi there. I was just scrolling through and found this as my pups 1st birthday is coming up in December. Do you recommend giving my pup the whole thing to eat or just a slice or two for one night and then make it last for a while?
It’s really up to you… I don’t give mine the whole thing at once because she’d probably get sick, but I imagine some dogs would be just fine. Happy early birthday to your pup!
So excited to see this. My sweet girl’s 10th birthday is tomorrow! I can’t wait to see how she reacts! And you’re not alone when you tear up thinking about how your baby won’t be here forever. You just gotta love them “to the moon and back” while they’re here. Thank you for sharing!
Ahhh dogs are just the best–happy 10th birthday to your pup! I hope she loves the cake 🙂
Hi Erin,
You are not alone when you are excited to make your pup a birthday cake… it’s the least we can do for them… for all the love they give us!!!!
I have a quick question… my baby boy’s 8th birthday is tmw :O and I wanted to make this cake the night before….do you think this will be okay if I keep in an air tight container in the fridge?? or should I wait to make the icing the morning of giving it to him?
Please let me know when you have time 🙂
Many thanks!
xox, Meg
Hi Meg, Happy early birthday to your pup! I think you should be fine to make this cake tonight if you’re going to store it in a container. As for the icing, I’d probably make it tomorrow before you assemble the cake. I hope he loves it!
Erin thank you so much for the recipe. Our Harley will be 1 in October so I thought I’d look around for a recipe. This one sounds like a winner!
Happy early birthday to Harley! I hope your pup enjoys this cake as much as mine did 🙂
Came out perfect and my dogs loved it. I just had to bake for a total of 38 minutes.
So good to hear! Happy birthday to your pups 🙂
Hi Erin,
Thanks for sharing this great recipe!
I bake all my dog treats so I’m stoked I’ve found this cake recipe!
I use almond flour for our treats. I have one quick question about the apple sauce though. What can I replace that with? I’m only finding apple sauces with sugar or artificial sugars in. Any ideas?
Thanks a bunch,
Rosemary
Hi Rosemary–you could try replacing the applesauce with a mashed banana instead. Let me know if you try the recipe!
Thanks Erin! I’ll be sure to let you know. 🙂
Rosemary,
I just ran across your request about pet insurance. I realize it was a yr ago, so I don’t know if you’re still looking or not. But when I was looking, I wanted the Best 4 the least amount of money, that covered the most, w/the least of out of pocket money. But, like I’ve learned w/all the companies you have 2 pay the bill 1st then u get reimbursed. So after looking & comparing I went w/ Petplan. But understand 2, a lot of it also depends on the breed & age of your little baby 2. I realize it’s a yr later, but hope it was a little help 2 you.
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Charlie and I want to thank you for the wonderful recipe! She was in love ?
I’m so glad your pup loved it as much as mine did 🙂
Hahah look at her licking her lips!!! So so so so cute.
Ray and I want to get a dog next year….we’re thinking German Shepherd pup.
Omg stop. German shepherds are so cute and smart–definitely a good choice in my opinion! (<--since my opinion counts and all 😉 )
I love how you did this the way people do with their babies! Happy birthday little Layla! Gaahh, I want a second dog now!
Hahah embarrassing! But thanks Kelly 🙂 Glad you appreciate it.
You forgot the #1 nickname…..MIZZ LAY!!
Happy birthday to Layla! This is so adorable – I made my dog treats recently and he devoured them, I can only imagine Layla inhaling this haha! I kind of want to eat it too…
It wasn’t too bad until I put cheese on top 😉 because you know, I had to taste test it for her…
Awwwww!! Happy 2nd birthday Layla!!! She’s adorable and I can’t wait to move in with my boyfriend so we can finally get a dog too haha! Such a perfect little cake, too. 🙂
Yes!! I can’t wait until you get a dog too–they’re just the best.