The Doofy Dog Blog: PUPkin Muffins

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, bitches and dogs, step right up and take a whiff of what's in the air – tell me what you smell.

Is it fall? I'm pretty sure that I smell fall – damp earth, crunchy (if instantly brown in Arizona) leaves, and a bit of crispness (if I get up at five in the morning) to the air. It's hoodie weather (for those of you anywhere but here), but most of all, its PUMPKIN SEASON!

I am so excited, I could shit. I love pumpkin everything. Pumpkin juice, pumpkin pie, pumpkin tarts, pumpkin cookies, and muffins and of course, it true white girl fashion, pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks. If you can dream it up in pumpkin flavor, I will eat it in pumpkin flavor. If Cracker Barrel doesn't get my favorite pumpkin spread in soon, I might just shit a kitten. That might hurt more than my upcoming labor, because frankly, I don't expect our new daughter to have claws, but hey, she is my spawn, so you never know.

Anyway, now that I've rambled on about complete bullshittery, (I have a thing for "shit" today, apparently. Typically it's “fuck”, so feel lucky if you don't like that word) I'm here to share a recipe that I created to get the most marvelous squash ever grown into the guts of my oh-so-deserving dogs, because not only is it delicious, but it is so good for them its ridiculous.

So, Without FURther ado,

The Doofy Dog Blog Presents:

PUPkin Muffins

(Like my play on words? No? Ok. I'm lame.)

You'll need:

3 cups of brown rice flour (or whatever flour you like best, I also have only pictured two cups because I only have so many measuring cups!)

1 cup old fashioned oats (not pictured, because it was behind me and I'm an idiot.)

2 cups low sodium or sodium free chicken broth (salt isn't good for dogs, so avoid it where you can!)

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

½ tbsp cinnamon

½ tbsp turmeric (yet another canine approved superfood!)

1 ½ cups pumpkin (I used canned this time, but I much prefer the kind made out of retired jack-o-lanterns)

Today I used a babycakes maker to cook up these bad boys, because it's a bit too hot here to fire up the oven in the middle of the day just yet, and this thing seriously makes perfect sized muffins and cupcakes for dogs, it also cooks them much more quickly than a conventional or toaster oven does, so it's a win all around. If you don't have an amazing aunt who graces you with fabulous kitchen-improving presents, I'll advise you that Big Lots sells them relatively inexpensively, and that they are worth it. I use it more than I ever thought I would, and it's small, so it stores easily.

So, as you can see in the picture, I started off with the broth already in the bowl. Add in the flour slowly, stirring with a whisk, or a hand mixer – really, though, this batter is thin enough to not really need anything stronger than the muscles in your arm.

Add in your oatmeal and stir in in, I did the baking soda at the same time.

(This photo is the broth, flour, baking soda and oatmeal all stirred together.)

Then toss in the spices, turmeric and cinnamon. Aren't they pretty?! I freakin' love those fall colors!

Next beat in your eggs. You can leave the yolks out if you'd like, but I have a skinny little shit here who needs to get some more meat on his bones. You also can leave the shells in - good source of protein. I didn't, but you can!

Finally, add in your pumpkin and stir it in until its completely incorporated in the batter. Again with that beautiful color that just SCREAMS fall!

If you want to add extra pizzaz, add a cup of carob chips, or some dried fruit (I think cranberries would be really yummy, and they aren't known to cause problems for dogs, however, I have never personally tried them)

Load the batter into your babycakes maker, or cupcake pans, and bake them. If you're using an oven bake them at 350 until golden brown, roughly 16 minutes for full sized cupcakes and about 10 for minis (The babycakes maker takes about 7 minutes, give or take). Let them cool, and then give them to your barkers to enjoy!