Banana Cake for Dogs

This banana cake for dogs is a perfect way to celebrate your pup’s birthday. This peanut-free, dairy-free, meat-free, and egg-free recipe will make a dog friendly birthday cake that your doggo will drool over. If yours is anything like my dog, that drool will turn into drool bubbles. This homemade dog is small enough for your dog to have it all to themselves, or big enough to share with a few doggy friends.

This recipe makes a 3-layer or 3-tier mini banana cake for dogs.

Table of Contents

(click the links below to skip to the section you’re looking for)

• Dog Cake Recipe
• Dog Frosting Recipe
• Kitchen Tools Needed
• Assembly and Decoration
• Tips and FAQ
• Ingredient Substitutions
• Video
• Comments and Questions

I made this for my dog Macchiato to celebrate her 8th birthday (which was a couple of months ago). Macchiato LOVES bananas, as do most dogs, so it seemed an obvious choice for a cake flavor. She also loves peanut butter, but she’s allergic to peanuts, so that wasn’t an option. (She’s also allergic to many animal products, a few varieties of grass, and the list goes on.) If your dog has allergies, this might be the perfect cake for them.

I make Macchiato treats on all her birthdays but I never share them. If this easy dog cake recipe gets some views, and people are into it, I’ll post more dog treat recipes in the future.

Ingredients you need for your Dog’s Banana Cake

(jump to the substitutions section to see ingredient details and suggestions for substitutions)

• 2 ripe bananas
• ⅓ cup (72g/80ml) coconut oil
• ½ cup (120g/120mL) water
• 1 ½ cups (195g) unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon (8g) baking soda
• 1 (7g) tablespoon apple cider vinegar

How to make a Banana Cake for your Doggo

prep time: 15 min | bake time: 25 min

Preheat the oven to 350°F (175ºC).

Prepare a square 8x8 or 9x9 pan with oil and parchment paper to make it easier to get the cake out later.

Peel 2 peel bananas.

Mash the peeled bananas using a stand mixer or a handheld electric mixer on high until creamy. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can mash them by hand, with the back of a fork or a potato masher. My 2 bananas mashed weighed about 240g in case you need an idea of the size, but this recipe is super forgiving, and so is your dog, so don’t worry too much about it.

Mix ⅓ cup (72g/80ml) melted coconut oil and ½ cup (120g/120mL) water into the mashed bananas.

Sift 1 ½ cups (195g) unbleached flour and 1 teaspoon (8g) baking soda into the banana mixture and mix.

Before continuing with the next step, check to make sure the oven is preheated. If it’s not, wait for it to be before proceeding.

Mix 1 (7g) tablespoon of apple cider vinegar into the cake batter.

Transfer the cake batter into the prepared pan using a baking spatula to get every last little bit out. You know your dog wouldn’t waste any, so why would you? It’s not YOUR birthday, is it? Okay then. Glad we settled that.

Bake for 25-30 minutes, until when you insert a toothpick into the center, it comes out clean. I baked mine for 25 minutes, but my oven runs hot.

Cool completely by setting the baked dog cake on a cooling rack. Put your hand on the bottom of the cake pan. If it’s still warm at all, the cake isn’t yet ready to be removed from the pan.

Only 2 Ingredients Needed for Frosting your Dog’s Birthday Cake

• ½ cup (130g) plain unsweetened vegan yogurt
• ½ cup (54g) soy milk powder

How to Make Frosting for a Birthday Cake for Your Dog

prep time: 4 min

Mix ½ cup (130g) plain unsweetened vegan yogurt and ½ cup (54g) soy milk powder. If it’s too thick, add more vegan yogurt. If it’s too thin, add more powder. Just a teaspoon at a time, to be safe.

Set the frosting aside while you prepare to assemble the cake.

How to Assemble and Decorate the Banana Cake for your Dog

prep time: 12 min

Loosen the cake from the pan by shimmying a baking spatula around the sides of the cake, all the way around the perimeter.

Lift the banana cake out of the pan, and set it onto a cutting board.

Cut circles out of your cake. If you want your cake to look like the one I made for my dog, Macchiato, use the following biscuit cutters from this biscuit cutter set.

• Red: The largest biscuit cutter is the 3 ⅞ inch (98mm) size. Cut out one cake this size and make sure you cut it as close to the edge as possible so you will have room to get 2 more circles out of the cake after this one.
• Green: The third to biggest biscuit cutter is the 3 inch (78mm) size. Cut one circle this size from the cake, again, getting as close to the edge as possible to leave space for the last circle.
• Teal: The third to smallest biscuit cutter in the set is the 2 ¼ inch (58mm) size. Cut one circle this size.

Now you have the 3 circles of cake you’ll need to assemble your dog’s birthday cake. Your circles don’t have to be these sizes. These are just the sizes I thought looked the best. You can use any size you like for your pooch’s banana cake.

Save the scraps of cake to use as dog training treats so you can teach your pupper tricks like how to hold something in their mouth.

Start by placing the biggest cake circle on a plate.

Spread some yogurt frosting on top. If the frosting seems too thick to spread easily, add a tiny bit more yogurt and mix.

Add the middle sized circle to the top and repeat the steps until all 3 layers are on and frosted.

Skewer the center if you have a skewer handy. If not, you can use a straw or a chopstick. You’ll take it out before you give the cake to the birthday dog. You just want something to help keep the layers from getting excited and sliding around.

Frost the entire outside of the cake.

Optional: Add sprinkles. This is a good way to use up old sprinkles that are getting close to their expiration date.

Chill in the fridge until it’s time to serve. Don’t forget to remove the skewer or straw before serving it to your pupperoni.

As you can see, in order to avoid eating the cake until we say it’s ok, Macchiato had to avoid eye contact with the cake, haha.

List of Kitchen Tools I used for this Doggie Banana Cake

• Baking Pan: If you don’t have an oven safe 8x8” or 9x9” pan, you can bake this cake in a round cake pan.
• Parchment Paper: If you don’t have any parchment paper to line the bottom of the pan, don’t worry. Just coat it in coconut oil and skip the parchment paper.
• Biscuit Cutters: I used 3 different sized biscuit cutters from my biscuit cutter set. If you don’t have biscuit cutters, you can trace around jars lids with a knife, kind of like the technique I illustrate in my brownie recipe.

Tips / Questions and Answers

Can I use mashed potatoes to frost the banana cake for my dog?

Do not use mashed potatoes to frost your dog’s birthday cake!!! I know there are dog cake recipes out there that suggest this, but DON’T. Boiled potatoes contain solanine, which is not good for dogs. However, you can use mashed sweet potatoes or mashed yams. You can even use those purple yams for a natural pretty purple frosting!

Can I use nut butter to frost the banana cake for my dog?

If your dog isn’t allergic, you can use roasted peanut butter, roasted cashew butter (not raw), or hazelnut butter to frost this banana cake for dogs. You should use almond butter sparingly with dogs, so I don’t recommend that one.

How many dogs can this cake feed?

My dog ate this entire cake herself, but she weighs 40 pounds. I also could have cut it into 4 slices if we were having a dog party and each dog wanted some. If you’re having a birthday party and you think the humans might be jealous of the dog cake, you can make a banana cake for the humans too.

Ingredient Substitutions

• Coconut Oil: My dog LOVES coconut oil, so I make all her treats with it. If your dog is allergic, other oils that are good for dogs are sunflower oil, olive oil, and flax oil.
• Flour: If your dog is allergic to wheat, feel free to use another kind of flour. Oat flour and chickpea flour are good options, but you can also just use whatever gluten-free flour blend you find at the store.
• Baking Soda: If you don’t have baking soda, you can replace the teaspoon (8g) baking soda in this recipe with a tablespoon of baking powder.
• Vinegar: If you don’t have apple cider vinegar, you can replace it with lemon juice, lime juice, or white vinegar. You just need some sort of acid to interact with the alkalinity of the baking soda to make the cake rise.
• Vegan Yogurt: Yogurt has probiotics which are really good for dogs, so that’s why I use vegan yogurt in this frosting recipe. I use my homemade yogurt because it only has 2 ingredients in it. If you buy packaged yogurt for this recipe, keep an eye on the ingredients. Dogs shouldn’t eat sugar, so you want to avoid sweetened yogurts for sure.
• Soy Milk Powder: I buy my soymilk powder in bulk at the co-op, but it can be hard to find. If your dog isn’t allergic to coconut, you can use ½ cup (64g) coconut milk powder to thicken your frosting instead of soy milk powder.

Video

Here’s a video of how I made this banana dog cake.

Comments or Questions?

If you make this recipe, I would love it if you’d snap a pic, post to instagram, and tag me @vegandollhouse. It seriously makes my day/week/month!

Please message me (instagram or email) if you have any questions or feedback about the recipe.

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* I use mostly organic ingredients when I cook. I realize that not everyone has the disposable income to buy only organic ingredients. So, I only specify organic on the ingredients that matter: when buying the organic (or non-GMO) version is the only way to ensure that an item is vegan.

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