Mini Dog Birthday Cake
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What better way to celebrate your pup’s special day than with this Mini Dog Birthday Cake?! Complete with peanut butter and cheese and over 170+ five star ratings, it’s sure to please!
Why you (and your pup!) will love this recipe:
- This recipe has over 170 five star ratings and counting, so you know it’s a good one.
- It’s made with peanut butter, pumpkin and topped with cheese — all of your dog’s favorite foods!
- It’s easy to make, and is shareable too (so multiple dogs can enjoy it).
Table of Contents
This mini dog birthday cake is a huge hit, because dogs deserve cake on their birthday! My baby turns TWO today—like, how? I figured she deserved a dog birthday cake this year. Though my personal favorite cake is my chocolate vegan birthday cake, it’s not exactly dog-friendly, so I figured I should make a separate recipe for Layla.
I’m completely biased, but Layla is simply the best. She keeps me company all day long while I work from home and she brings me so much joy. Plus, she has an adorable underbite and she increases my daily step count thanks to all of the walks we go on.
- If your dog loves this recipe, be sure to check out this pumpkin dog cake, these dog popsicles and my popular homemade dog food recipe.
Dog Cake Ingredients
Like most dogs, Layla’s a big fan of pumpkin and peanut butter, so I knew I needed to include those things. This dog birthday cake is quite similar to a human cake but with less sugar.
All purpose flour – This is my go-to for most of my baked goods. If you’re looking for a grain-free cake recipe, this isn’t it, sorry! I’ve only tested this using all purpose flour. With that said, I’m certain gluten free 1:1 baking flour would be an ok substitute.
Coconut oil – I like using coconut oil in my baked goods, but any kind of oil will work here (i.e. canola oil, avocado oil, etc.).
Honey – Since this is a dog cake, we want to minimize sugar. However, it does need some sugar, and I find honey or maple syrup are both good options.
Pumpkin – Canned pumpkin is what I used, but you could also use cooked and mashed sweet potatoes if you prefer.
Peanut butter – Layla loves peanut butter the most, but almond butter, cashew butter or tahini should all work just fine.
Yogurt – Plain Greek yogurt is what I suggest, as it tends to be thicker than regular yogurt and will create a better icing.
The full ingredient list with quantities can be found below in the recipe card.
How to Make a Dog Birthday Cake
Step 1: Combine dry ingredients. In a large bowl, stir the flour and baking soda together and set aside.
Step 2: Mix wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine the oil, eggs, pumpkin, peanut butter, and honey. Then, pour the dry ingredients into the wet and stir to combine.
Step 3: Bake. Divide the batter into two greased 4″ cake pans, then bake the cakes for 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick is clean. Wait for the cakes to come to room temperature before icing them.
Dog Birthday Cake FAQs
Yes, humans can eat dog cake. However, this cake recipe in particular isn’t super sweet, so it isn’t going to taste like regular cake. But, all of the ingredients are human-grade, so they’re safe for human (and dog) consumption!
Cake can be made up to 48 hours ahead of time, though I suggest waiting to add the icing until you’re ready to give it to your dog. Simple bake the cakes, wait for them to cool then wrap each cake individually in plastic wrap and store in the fridge.
Questions? TONS of people have made this recipe, so be sure to read the comments for additional tips!
More pumpkin recipes
Want even more dog cake recipes? This article from Play Bark Run has a great list of dog-friendly cake recipes.
If you made this recipe, be sure to leave a comment and star rating below. Thanks!
Mini Dog Birthday Cake
Video
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
for the 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
Nutrition
I just threw my roommates pup her first birthday party and used this recipe to a T but as cup cakes. Flavors are on point. Note if using a dark metal cupcake pan with the oven at 350° only bake for 8 minutes
Make this every year for my pupper, and for my grand pup too! They love it!
Making it today, as my Max is 9 today!
I use a 7 inch pan and it works great!
Thank you for the great recipe!
Has anyone eliminated the vanilla extract as it is not good for dogs? I’ve read that vanilla itself is not harmful to dog; the alcohol in both pure and imitation vanilla extract is.
Alcohol burns off when you cook it. Or, if you’d like, I’m sure you can just skip it. I can’t imagine a dog would even notice haha.
Hi! I haven’t made it but I am loving all of the good vibes!! Instead of coconut oil, can I use regular oil??? I’m baking this for my teachers dog and can’t afford to buy coconut oil for a dog that isn’t even mine lol
Sorry for this delayed response! Yes, you can use regular oil in this recipe.
My dogs shared this birthday cake. They love it! Every bite burst with happiness, it’s like the heaven opened its gates. This is so good, so thumbs up!
Happy 3rd birthday to our baby girl Sydnee. This recipe is amazing. Thank you! I wish there was a way to post pictures here.
Awesome recipe, Best recipe that i finally found. Thanks For sharing. Keep sharing more stuff.
Now i am goind to do something special for me Bunzoo(Dog). Will back soon with pictures of recipe. Thanks
Super confused….Graduated from culinary school in Chicago and have over 10 years of fine restaurant experience. Moving into making something delicious and healthy for my friend’s pups, I came along this recipe. After searching for mullllltiple recipes I decided this would be a good start.
Unfortunately I have followed instructions to a T and have ended up with not a batter at all, but more of a dough. Confused how everyone in this chat ended up with a batter. There is simply too much dry ingredient to wet ingredient. Doesn’t make for a batter. Would love some insight on this. Thank you!
I just made this for my dog and ended up with a batter my baby boy loved it
For me thEre was more wet ingredients over dry
Cooking/baking truly not my forte. However, this recipe looked simple enough and I wanted to do something special for my dog on her birthday. I did too get dough instead of batter after following the instructions carefully.
Question – How can you get it to a batter form?!
It would be great to get some tips. Thanks
I did not have 4″ cake pans so I doubled the recipe for a 9″ pan and had enough extra batter to make 4 pupcakes. The pupcakes turned out perfectly but my cake broke in two, not that the puppies cared. I used bulagarian yogurt so it was a bit thinner but I mixed the icing ahead of time and let it sit and thicken. My one year old puppies loved their first birthday cake and their 11 year old dog sister loved it too! Thank you for the recipe!
The batter tastes SO good! Making it for Chuy’s 14th birthday and I’m sure he’s going to LOVE it, <3 Thank you for the recipe. I think it'll be just fine for his human pack too.