Carrot and Apple Doggie Doughnuts

We recently celebrated the anniversary of Churro’s adoption day with puppy doughnuts, new squeaky toys and lots of hugs. We usually try to celebrate in some small way because he’s such a joy to us (plus he’s an old guy and he totally deserves a party!). You may remember me telling you just how much we love him in this previous post. He certainly has changed our hearts and home for the better!

These puppy doughnuts are made with one of Churro’s favorite snacks – apples! The batter gets a big helping of unsweet applesauce, and even more apples are diced and folded into the batter. These doughnuts aren’t the light-and-fluffy sort, the coarse fruit and veg makes them dense and chunky.

In honor of his special day, I thought it might be fun for you to get to know Churro a little better. Here are 10 random Churro-the-pug facts:

1. He loves his human dad and sleeps beside him every night. He also kicks in his sleep, so his dad is sometimes very tired in the morning.
2. He sniffs armpits. (Weirdo!)
3. He loves fruit, especially bananas, watermelon, blueberries and apples. 
4. He is protective of his kibble.
5. He loves round plush toys (like that blue ball in the picture).
6. He has a soft little old man bark.
7. He bosses his pug brother around when he’s in the backyard, but turns into a marshmallow when he comes back inside the house. 
8. He has hip dysplasia and can only walk a short distance, so he gets to ride in a stroller when we go to the park.
9. Car rides are his jam!
10. He has cat blindness, which means he lives with two cats but has never seen either of them.

You’ll need a standard size doughnut pan to make these. Only baked doughnuts for puppies! I use and recommend this nonstick doughnut pan made by Wilton.

I wish you could’ve heard all the snurrrfling and snorrrfling and heavy breathing going on in the photos above. Churro was VERY into these.

Biscuit and Churro on their best behavior because – doughnuts.

Churro likes to lick the frosting off of the doughnuts before he digs into the cake (I can relate). The frosting isn’t sweet at all because it’s strained unsweet Greek yogurt. My dogs tolerate dairy just fine, but some dogs get an upset tummy with milk based foods. If you’re not sure about your dog, then omit the yogurt frosting. You may instead opt for a shmear of natural peanut butter with no salt and no sugar added.

We’ve now had Churro for six years! I remember when I first posted about him just two days after we adopted him in 2010 (see this post, and scroll to the bottom). We were still trying to settle on a name at the time. A lot has changed since then, and not just the grey on his face. He’s learned how to play and how to trust. We taught him that. We’ve learned about unconditional love. He taught us that.

Carrot and Apple Doggie Doughnuts

Heather Baird

You’ll need a standard-size six cavity nonstick doughnut pan for this recipe (see blog post for sources). I used strained plain Greek yogurt as frosting for these doughnuts, but natural unsweet, unsalted peanut butter can also be used. Remember, you are the health advocate for your dog. If your dog has food allergies or other health complications, ask your vet before introducing new snacks to their diet.

5 from 1 vote

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 10 minutes mins

Total Time 25 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine American

Servings 12

Equipment

• donut pan

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• 2 cups 315 g brown rice flour
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup 235 g unsweet applesauce
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 1/3 cup 80 ml filtered water
• 1 medium organic apple finely diced about 105 g
• 1/2 large carrot grated (about 25 g)
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil melted, plus more for greasing the pan

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease the cavities of a nonstick doughnut pan with coconut oil; set aside.
• Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. Stir together until a thick batter forms.
• Transfer the batter to a piping bag or a zip-top bag with the corner snipped. Pipe the batter into the doughnut pan cavities to the very top (the batter will not rise much as it bakes). Rap the pan on the counter top to level the batter.
• Bake for 10 minutes. Let the doughnuts cool in the pan for 5 minutes, and then turn out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
• Repeat the process with the remaining batter.
• Serve cupcakes to delighted pups plain, or frost with strained Greek yogurt or natural peanut butter.

Keyword brown rice flour, dog treats, unsweet applesauce

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