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Celebrate your dog in style with these vegan, gluten-free and oil-free cupcakes that require just 1 bowl to whip up! They are loaded with veggies, topped with a peanut butter frosting and are sure to be a hit with all of your furry little friends.
Today is a special day because we are celebrating Berry’s 3rd birthday! Well, his belated birthday. We weren’t in town during his real birthday last month but we still made sure to celebrate as soon as we could. I can’t believe we have had him for so long, time really does fly by!
We wanted to make him a mini cake for his birthday, but silly me didn’t think about the fact that I don’t have mini cake pans (lol)…so instead, we decided to make him cupcakes and it was a much more appropriately sized for the 8 lb. chiweenie that he is.
These cupcakes are not only made using dog-friendly ingredients, but they are also vegan, gluten-free and oil-free. We made sure to load them up with both fruits and veggies so that they were on the healthier side for Berry. Instead of using wheat flour, we used chickpea and oat flour instead.
Here is a picture of Berry the day we rescued him in Napa, CA. He was SO small and so stinking cute. Look at that face!
We used silicone cupcake molds for this recipe and we highly recommend these! They are reusable, easy to remove from the cupcake, easy to clean and eco-friendly. There are less colorful options on Amazon that you can choose from, I would try these white ones haha.
Berry absolutely LOVED these cupcakes. We found it easier to cut up the cupcake and put it in a bowl for him and would recommend that for other dogs that are the same size or close in size. Larger dogs could probably gobble these up in one go haha.
We also taste tested the cupcakes and honestly, I would eat these! They aren’t sweet so if you would like to make these for yourself, I would suggest adding 1/4-1/2 cup of coconut sugar or pairing them with a sweeter frosting.
Make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you recreate any of our recipes, we love to see your photos!
Easy Dog Birthday Cupcakes (Vegan, Gluten-Free + 1-Bowl)
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 8 cupcakes
Description
Celebrate your dog in style with these vegan, gluten-free and oil-free cupcakes! They are loaded with veggies, topped with a peanut butter frosting and are sure to be a hit with all of your furry little friends.
Ingredients
Cupcakes
- 1 chia egg (1 tablespoon chia seeds seed + 3 tablespoons water)
- 1/2 cup mashed ripe banana
- 1/4 cup unsalted peanut butter
- 1/4 cup grated carrot
- 1/4 cup shredded zucchini
- 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup oat flour
- 1/4 cup chickpea flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Frosting (Optional)
- 1/2 cup plain vegan coconut yogurt
- 1/4 cup unsalted peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons chickpea flour
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and line a cupcake pan with cupcake molds. Alternatively, you can lightly grease the cupcake pan with coconut oil or avocado oil. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, prepare the chia egg by mixing together the chia seeds with water. Set aside for 10 minutes to thicken.
- Once the chia seeds have thickened, add in the mashed banana, peanut butter, carrot, zucchini, almond milk and apple cider vinegar. Mix together until uniform. Add in all of the remaining ingredients for the cupcakes and mix well to combine.
- Using a tablespoon sized cookie scooper, evenly distribute the batter into the cupcake molds, or until they are about 2/3 to 3/4 of the way full (about 2.5-3 tablespoons each). We only filled 8 of the cupcake molds.
- Tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles in the batter. Place the cupcake pan into the oven on the middle rack for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick runs clean.
- Remove the pan from the oven and place the pan on a cooling rack for 15 minutes. Remove the cupcakes from the pan and molds (optional), and allow them to cool completely before frosting.
- Once the cupcakes have cooled, prepare the frosting if you are making it. In a medium bowl, whisk together the vegan yogurt and peanut butter until uniform. Slowly add in the chickpea flour, mixing as you go, until smooth. Transfer the frosting to a piping bag with a star tip and generously frost each cupcake. Alternatively, you can frost the cupcakes with a butter knife. We topped ours with a sprinkle of cinnamon and coconut flakes. Crumbled dog treats work, too!
Notes
- Ground flaxseed works in place of the chia seeds.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Category: Dog Recipes, Dessert
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: Vegan, Gluten-free, Oil-free
Disclaimer: The nutritional information shown is an estimate provided by an online calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional’s advice. This page may contain affiliate links, which simply means that we earn a commission if you purchase through those links, but your price remains the same. Thank you for supporting Sweet Simple Vegan!
Made these for my Labrador’s 3rd birthday! He absolutely loved them, they tasted great! Thank you :).
Sooo stinking cute! I’m going to use this recipe for sure! Thank you so much!
I can’t wait to make these! My Walter is turning 15 next week and I’ve been searching for a healthier pupcake recipe! Thank you both so much!
Happy birthday, Walter! We hope he loves them 🙂
Do you know If this would work okay as a cake recipe?
It should, but the cooking time may vary!
Any idea how much the cooking time would vary to make this as a cake?
We haven’t tested it as a cake, sorry about that!
Any substitutes for chickpea flour? Could I only use oat or use something like almond or coconut?
Oat flour would work as a replacement for the chickpea flour!
Any substitute for baking soda and baking powder it’s highly toxic to dogs I wouldn’t want my furbabies having gastrointestinal issues or seizures
From the research we’ve done, baking soda and powder can be used in small quantities in dog treats. It’s when they’re used to brush a dog’s teeth or if a dog consumes them straight or in large quantities, is when they become toxic. However, we totally understand if you do not want to include them in your dog treats. You can simply omit them from the recipe. They may not come out as fluffy, but I am sure your fur babies won’t mind 🙂
Baking powder/soda is only dangerous if your dog has eaten a large amount. A large amount, in this case, is roughly one teaspoon per pound of body weight.
Thank you, recipe looks so easy, I will make it for my daughter’s dog
Hi! Is there anything I could sub for the banana? I’m allergic and can’t even cook with it if I’m not eating it ????
Applesauce or mashed sweet potato would be good in this! 🙂
Hey I have made these for my dogs a few times now – they adore them!! I work in a vegan cafe and today I decided to test them out for human consumption! I used a full banana, flax-egg instead of chia and a lil bit more oat/chickpea flour, adding maple syrup and a pinch of salt! In the frosting I used oatflour instead of the chickpea and I sprinkled the tops with toasted nuts!! So yummy!! I am calling them ‘dog buns’ that’s an Adventure Time reference lol anyway.. thanks for the recipe and I’m so glad I found you guys. Have a great weekend!! xo
Ahh we are so so happy to hear this! Thanks for sharing 🙂