Always searching for new dog treat recipes to try? Me too.

Baking for the pups is particularly satisfying because they’re the least critical critics. I’m also always looking for new dog treat recipe books. If you’ve written one, let me know. I’d like to be inspired because, well, I’d like to do the same.

Here’s a pup cake recipe I found in Canine Cooking (Amazon.com affiliate link) claiming to contain over 20 pawsome recipes. First disclaimer: it’s about cooking for dogs, not cooking them (obviously). Second, it’s not really 20 unique recipes. Many are rolled oats, water and one other ingredient: honey, bananas, sweet potato … you get the idea. In other words, add anything to water and oats a dog can safely eat and you’ve got a new recipe.

Ok, that’s one strategy.

Here’s another: I tried this more complex version just to challenge myself and slightly modified it of course. (I left out dried apple pieces).

Apple Honey Pup Cakes

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups of water

¼ cup of apple sauce

½ teaspoon of vanilla

1 tablespoon of honey

1 large egg

2 cups whole wheat flour

2 ½ teaspoons of baking powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put water, applesauce, and honey (in my case a good squeeze from the bottle), egg and vanilla extract into a bowl. Mix the ingredients until they are thoroughly combined.

Add whole wheat flour and teaspoons of baking powder. Mix ingredients until they are thoroughly combined.

This mixture will be very wet. I added bit more flour or you can start with less water. However, after I poured the batter (easily) into 12-hole cupcake pan, I had some left over and poured that into a mini-doughnut pan. Grease both first with cooking spray.

The mini doughnuts cooked quickly in less than 30 minutes.

The cupcakes took between 45 minutes to an hour. Halfway through, I tried to press paw-shaped Cesar dog treats (Amazon.com affiliate link) into the top of the cupcakes. I should have done it first, not once cooking started. The treats will withstand the baking and look cute too.

My pup preferred his pup cakes a little soft.  The crunchier mini-doughnuts got ‘buried’ in the couch, though, so at least they were good enough to save for later.