Sweet Sixteen

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by Hannah (BitterSweet)

Sixteen is typically the year that one bridges the gap from childhood to adulthood, coming of age through the lens of tradition. Though not much really changes, aside from the ability to achieve legal employment, the number symbolizes great expectations for any young pup. But what about an actual pup? Age ain’t nothing but a number, especially now that my old lady clocks in at 77 years old in dog years. She may not be on the path to a promising career at this rate, but she does still have plenty to look forward to, like cake, for starters.

Inspired by the need for softer treats to better suit her particular dental situation, cake-like cookies seemed to fit the bill perfectly. Cookies aren’t quite enough to celebrate such a significant event, though, so I turned to my favorite cookie with an identity crisis: The whoopie pie (or in this case, “woofie” pie.) It’s definitely not a pie, despite the name, and much more like a mini-cake than a sandwich cookie, but semantics aside, they’re hard to resist. Using carob to keep them dog-friendly rather than chocolate, they look just as delicious as their traditional counterparts, but you might want to stick to the classic to suit a human palate. Added sugar is something my baby simply doesn’t need in her diet, so these treats look much sweeter than they actually taste. Additionally, dogs shouldn’t get excessive amounts of salt, so you’ll notice that it’s lacking in this formula as well. Regardless of what it does and doesn’t contain, Isis didn’t care much as she wolfed down her birthday surprise in record time. It may not be as grand as the plated dessert I lavished on her a few years back, but I’d like to believe it was met with equal appreciation.

Woofie Pies

Carob Sandwich Coookies:

1 Cup White Whole Wheat Flour
1/4 Cup Carob Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1/4 Teaspoon Baking Soda
3/4 Cup 100% Carrot Juice or No Salt Added Vegetable Stock
1/4 Teaspoon Apple Cider Vinegar
1/4 Cup Canned Pumpkin Puree
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Cream Filling:

1 Cup White Potatoes, Peeled, Diced, Boiled, and Mashed*

*Potatoes are safe for dogs to eat, but you must be very careful about their preparation. The potatoes must be thoroughly and completely cooked- Never feed a dog raw potato. Likewise, never use any potatoes that have any green parts, as those are highly toxic to dogs. For a more complete list of foods to avoid when cooking for canines, check here.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line two baking sheets with either parchment paper or silpats.

Carob can be rather clumpy, so be sure to sift it before measuring if necessary. In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the flour, carob powder, baking powder and soda, distributing the dry goods equally throughout the mixture. In a separate bowl, combine the carrot juice or vegetable stock, vinegar, pumpkin puree, and oil, stirring lightly to break up the pumpkin. Pour the liquid ingredients into the bowl of dry, and mix with a wide spatula just until the batter comes together with few lumps. There’s no need to beat it completely smooth, but make sure that there are no pockets of flour remaining.

Use a small cookie scoop or two spoons to portion out equal, walnut-sized dollops of the batter on your prepared baking sheet, spaced about 1 inch apart. Bake one sheet at a time for 6 – 9 minutes, until the edges are set and a toothpick inserted into the centers pulls out cleanly. Let cool completely on the sheets before filling.

For the cream filling, simply mash the cooked potato until it’s completely smooth and spread about 1 – 2 teaspoons on the flat side of one cookie. Top with a second, and repeat until all the cookies are filled. Store in the refrigerator in an air-tight container for up to a week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

Makes 24 Cookies or 12 Filled Woofie Pies

Printable Recipe

50 thoughts on “Sweet Sixteen”

  7. These are amazing, I’m going to have to try them (for my boys of course)!

  9. Oh my gosh, Hannah. So sweet. She looks just as beautiful and amazing as ever. Give her a special birthday scritch from me and my gang. :)

  12. Happy Birthday! What a sweet post. Pets are such an important part of life; some days I think I prefer hanging out with my dogs than any of my human friends :) You are lucky to have her at 16, my first dog passed away at 10 and I miss him all the time! Love these doggie cakes, such a fun idea.

  13. Happy Birthday to your lovely Isis,and hopefully she still has some good years to come.She really does remind me of my Bambi.
    And that birthday surprise you made to Isis looks lovely; I wonder if Bambi would like that.

  15. Licks to Isis from Earl and Bezial :). She gets an extra lick for having a clever owner who bakes her gorgeous cookies and then goes on to share the recipe. Consider Isis’s birthday treat shared with 2 wayfaring pups on the other side of the globe in Tasmania :)

  21. Happy birthday to your beautiful cutie pie 16 year old ;)
    I think she would love snaffling down these delicious treats!

    Cheers
    Choc Chip Uru

  23. Eres lo mas, Querer asi a tu mascota, amiga no muchos lo hacen. Estoy segura que ella te quiere tanto como tu. Estos pastelitos lo hare para mis cuatro perros y se que sera un exito.
    Sabes me gustaría que te animaras a hacer un libro para hacer ricas cosas para perritos seria genial ojala lo tomes en cuenta.

  24. What a beautiful birthday girl — and a lucky one, too. I wonder if my little sweetie would like these. She’s not much into treats and it’s hard to find something she likes.

  27. What a cutie bear! Such a lucky pup. This makes me feel bad because we used to bake “cakes” for the puppies when we first got them and somehow that tradition just died out. I think getting the second puppy had something to do with that :-)

  28. Isn’t she just precious! And those little woofies look delish. My dogs wouldn’t take the time to appreciate them, though. They’d just gobble them whole. Ah well, c’est la vie!

  35. Oh Hannah, such a sweet post…and a lovely treat for your cute dog.
    Hope you are having a great week :)

  38. Hope she had a great birthday! Can’t wait to make these for my pup – who turns 6 in human years next month.

  44. I’m not really a dog lover by nature, but when I just that pic, I got teary eyed… :) she is just so adorable… and what a lovely woofie birthday treat!!!

  46. I realize this was almost a year ago…but I just found it on Pinterest. This looks like an amazing recipe. However, potatoes (even fully cooked) have been known to cause seizures in some purebred dogs. In my case, our doxie, Sidney, we can always tell when he’s been exposed because he will have 1 or 2 seizures within a day or two.

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