We’re celebrating a special little milestone with homemade banana beetroot pupcake dog treats. This mini muffin dog treat recipe is delicious, dense, moist, and a rich red velvet colour thanks to the yummy (and healthy) combination of carob and beetroot.
Yay for Anniversaries, Friends, and Cake!
We don’t often bake dog-friendly cakes, other than barkdays (of course!), but I couldn’t resist. This red velvet pupcake recipe was created for our blogiversary. Three years ago (after much encouragement from folks who knew about my treats and toys) the dogs got their own blog and the makings of Dalmatian DIY were born. Thanks to all of you for joining our crazy antics! We love how you’ve opened your hearts to Oli and Humphrey, and become part of our blog and social media world. We look forward to creating and sharing more in years to come.
Creating Red Velvet Inspired Dog-Friendly Pupcakes
Naturally Rich Reds
Red velvet cake comes from the days of old, when the baking of fine, soft, “velvet” cakes was coming into fashion. The red of the red velvet came from a reaction between natural cocoa powder and other acidic ingredients, giving the cakes a reddish tint instead of just a chocolatey brown. Many modern cakes use add-ins and colourings instead. Cocoa isn’t suitable for dogs (chocolate contains a compound called theobromine which is toxic to dogs) and I’m not a fan of strong artificial food colourings. Instead, this small batch banana beetroot pupcake recipe uses a hint of delicious carob to deepen the naturally red beetroot batter.
Dark and Delicious
I was a little leery of experimenting with a muffin recipe using so much fruit and vegetable lest it be too dense to rise into shape, but these baked up beautifully – like dense little fruity brownie bites in mini muffin form. And they smelled fabulous! You can taste one yourself, if you wish, although the dogs might not appreciate you stealing their treats. These pupcakes aren’t sweet like most human muffins, but they are packed with nutritional goodness and flavour. I didn’t sample (I’m not a banana fan) but the dogs seemed to enjoy them very much.
Red Velvet Banana Beetroot Pupcake Recipe
Homemade Red Velvet Pupcake Dog Treats with Banana, Beetroot, and Carob
The red velvet recipe below was baked as a small batch of mini-muffins (pupcakes). Muffiny cake batters can baked in other pans, if you prefer, including as a larger celebration cake. I like to use mini-springform pans for baking small dog-friendly birthday cakes like that.
Treat Ingredients:
- 1 ripe banana, mashed
- 1 cup cooked cooled beetroot, pureed
- 1 egg
- 2 tbsp carob powder
- Optional: 1 tbsp ground flax
- Optional: 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 3/4 cup self-raising wholemeal flour (or equivalent substitute)
Making the Treats:
- Preheat your oven to 160C (or local equivalent) and gather together your baking ingredients and materials.
- Mash the banana in a mixing bowl and mix in your beetroot puree, egg, carob powder, and optional ingredients.
- Add the flour and gently stir to combine. At this stage, the mix should look like a cakey muffin batter. If your mixture is looking a bit dry, you can add a little bit of water. If it is looking too wet and runny, add a touch more flour.
- Spoon into a lightly greased mini muffin pan. Tap or smooth to even out the batter.
- Bake until slightly risen and cooked through. This will vary with you pan size and batter consistency, but my pupcakes took approximately 20 minutes.
- Remove from the oven an allow to touch cool before transferring the muffins from the pan to a cooling rack cool completely.
- Cool before serving and storage. Break into smaller portions for serving if/as needed.
Dog-Friendly Cake Making Tips and Tricks
- See our comprehensive pet chef post on homemade birthday and special occasion dog cakes for additional information on types of dog-friendly cakes, decorating ideas, storage, and more.
- Baked pupcakes can be stored the same way as you would human muffins. You can keep them wrapped or in a suitable container short term fresh use or freeze them for long term storage. I like to freeze most of our treats and defrost for individual special snacks.
- Batters for muffins and cakes can be baked in other shapes and sizes. Adjust cooking times and/or temperatures if/as needed to suit.
Recipe and Ingredient Tips and Tricks
- Individual wet ingredients like pureed fruit and veggies can vary in moisture. You can adjust the consistency with more/less flour or use a small amount of water or other dog safe liquid if needed.
Hungry for more tasty treats? There are all sorts of homemade dog treat ideas in our blog archives. You can use the category and tag labels to find other recipes that might be of interest or use our internal search tools to find something specific. Remember, treats (bought or homemade) are for spoiling your pup in moderation. We share ideas from treats that we’ve made ourselves for our pets, but different animals have different preferences (likes/dislikes), just like people. Some pets may have special dietary requirements and/or food allergies/intolerances. If you are ever in doubt or have questions about what’s suitable for your pet, have a chat with your trusted vet.
