We recently celebrated a very special birthday in our home…

The birthday of our now 4-year-old beagle mix, Riley!

We adopted Riley from a beagle rescue organization here in Tampa when he was just a puppy. They found his very-pregnant beagle mother in a mail drop somewhere in rural Alabama and transported her down to Florida where she gave birth shortly after to 3 puppies. Luckily, the entire family had a happy ending and they each found their “furever homes”. Riley came home with us after 8 weeks of being in a foster home and has been the most spoiled, cutest, little guy ever since. I love my pups like they’re really my own children and I could not simply let a birthday go by without a special treat. I tried to think of ideas and then recalled I had pinned these cute Carrot-Carob Pupcakes with Peanut Butter Frosting by The Culinary Chronicles on Pinterest a few months back, and decided it was a perfect time to give them a try.

The pups LOVED them.

They weren’t that hard to make, I made them in mini-muffin tins, rather than the full size ones, to ensure they would not upset any overindulgent puppy tummies, and so they would last a little bit longer.

The frosting was simple to make as well.

They were so cute and had all dog friendly ingredients.

They looked so good that hubs came home from a day of golf and almost ate one! I suspect he finally noticed the shredded carrot on top right before popping it in his mouth and realized they were for the dogs. Secretly, I was hoping he would eat one, just so I could make fun of him about it.

Here’s how these puppies (get it? oh… was that not funny?) ranked:

Overall Rating: 10… I think. The pups got very excited every time I gave these to them. (scale: 1-10)

Cost: $$ (scale: $-$$$)

Difficulty Level: Moderate (scale: beginner, moderate, intermediate, advanced)

The only trouble I had was finding the Carob Chips. They are like chocolate chips but without the ingredients in chocolate that make dogs sick. Eventually, I found them at a health food store. They cost about $5 for a normal size bag. I suspect I will use them again in other dog-birthday-recipes. Don’t judge me.

-J