These Bacon Cheddar Pupcakes are a great way to celebrate your fur baby. Made with real bacon and cheddar cheese, your dog will absolutely love this easy dog cupcake recipe.
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I’m posting these Bacon Cheddar Pupcakes in honor of our Lacey. She passed away a month ago at the age of 12. She absolutely LOVED these dog cupcakes. I think they were her favorite recipe of mine.
The first time I made them was for her sister’s birthday. Lacey could not get enough of these bacon cheddar pupcakes. She was always crazy about cheese, so it makes sense.
I made these dog cupcakes again for Lacey’s last birthday. She was very, very happy. I did want to tweak the recipe a little before sharing it with you, but she loved it just the way it is. I’m sure your pup will too.
Above is Lacey discovering Bacon Cheddar Pupcakes for the first time. This quickly turned into....
Made with Real Bacon
I really wanted to make a dog cupcake recipe without peanut butter. My other recipe for Dog Cupcakes could be considered peanut butter pupcakes because it has natural peanut butter in the batter (with bacon pieces and beef baby food). It also includes the option of adding peanut butter frosting on top.
So I wanted to make something different for my fur babies. I also wanted this dog cupcake recipe to be super simple.
No greek yogurt, unsweetened applesauce, or carob powder. Just their favorite flavors shining through.
Most dogs love bacon and cheese. Most humans do too. 😂
The first step to these bacon cheddar pupcakes is to fry up some bacon. This is incredibly hard to do in my house because all the humans come to steal bacon.
If this happens to you too, do your best to set aside 4 slices of bacon on a paper towel.
This recipe also calls for 3 Tablespoons of bacon grease. Carefully pour the grease in a heat resistant bowl to cool.
Should I use cupcake liners?
The reason I wanted to tweak this recipe before posting is because the cupcake liners stick to the dog cupcakes, especially after storing them in the fridge.
I think the bacon grease is the culprit. BUT, that makes it an extra tasty treat.
I added more milk to the original recipe and that seemed to help a lot. At least before they were stored in the fridge.
I recommend not using cupcake liners though. Prepare the muffin cups of a muffin pan with oil or non-stick spray before pouring the batter into them.
You could also peel the cupcake liners off of the dog cupcakes before storing them in the refrigerator.
After I stored them in the fridge WITH the cupcake liners on, Lacey would get impatient as I tried to peel the cupcake liner off of her perfect treat. It was torture for the poor baby who just wanted it ASAP.
Pupcakes With Cream Cheese Frosting
Without the frosting, these cupcakes are similar to cheese and bacon dog muffins.
A swirl of cream cheese on top turns them into pupcakes worthy of a birthday party or gotcha day celebration.
That’s all this frosting is - cream cheese.
No sugar or any other added ingredients.
I like to pipe the cream cheese onto the bacon cheddar pupcakes with a decorating bag and piping tip. I love this Wilton Cupcake Decorating Icing Tips Set. It includes two of the most popular piping tips - 1M and 2D.
To do this, I soften the cream cheese in the microwave a tad before placing it in the piping bag. It just makes it flow better.
I recommend putting the cream cheese in a small bowl then using the microwave to heat it up in increments. Heat for 15 seconds, check the consistency, heat for another 15 seconds, check it again.
The cream cheese should be softer than it is at room temperature, but not melted or runny.
If the cream cheese is softened too much, place it in the fridge to solidify it some.
Frosting the pupcakes by spreading the cream cheese on top with a butter knife is also an option. No need to get fancy with piping tips or to microwave the cream cheese.
If doing this, soften the cream cheese to room temperature by leaving it on the counter. You could do this while baking and cooling the dog cupcakes. Softening the cream cheese to room temperature should make it easier to spread onto the pupcakes without potentially destroying the tops.
Add Sprinkles for Fun Bacon Cheddar Pupcakes
A perfect way to make these bacon cheddar pupcakes more festive is by adding “sprinkles”.
I like to use these Milk-Bone Mini’s as sprinkles. They add fun pops of color while also providing vitamins and helping to clean dogs’ teeth (the crunch texture reduces tartar build-up, according to the package).
Bacon crumbles can also be used as sprinkles. Make an extra 2-3 slices of bacon when cooking it for the batter. Let cool completely then crumble and sprinkle on top of the frosted dog cupcakes.
How to Make Bacon Cheddar Pupcakes
Allow all ingredients to cool or warm to room temperature.
The bacon grease should be used before it completely solidifies though, so don’t put it in the fridge or leave it out for hours.
If the bacon grease is too hot, it’ll cook the eggs and melt the cheese.
If the milk, cheese, or eggs are too cold, the bacon grease with solidify and not mix well into the batter.
Other than that, this recipe is simple. We just need to combine the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients in one bowl, mix, and bake.
For this recipe, I like to use a mini-cupcake pan for bite-sized, delicious treats AND a regular-sized cupcake pan for a few larger cupcakes.
The regular-sized cupcakes are like custom cakes for my dogs that I put candles on before we sing, “Happy Birthday”.
If you have a small dog, I recommend making mini-cupcakes with this Wilton Perfect Results Premium Non-Stick Mini Muffin Pan & Mini Cupcake Pan. I’ve had it for years and it’s still in perfect condition.
How to Store
Store these Bacon Cheddar Pupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
If they become hard in the fridge, allow them to warm to room temperature before serving.
Say happy birthday or I love you to your furry friend with the following homemade dog treats:
- Healthy Peanut Butter Banana Dog Treats
- Easy Pumpkin Peanut Butter Dog Treats
- 3-Ingredient Cheddar Dog Treats
A recipe for homemade bacon cheddar dog treats is coming soon!
Homemade Bacon Cheddar Pupcakes
Ingredients
- 4 slices Bacon crumbled
- 3 tablespoon Bacon Grease cooled
- 2 Eggs large
- 1 cup Milk
- 1 cup Flour all-purpose flour or whole wheat flour*
- 1 ½ teaspoon Baking Powder
- ¾ cup Cheddar Cheese shredded
- 8 oz Cream Cheese softened
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Prepare a cupcake pan with oil or non-stick spray. Set aside.
- On a stovetop, cook bacon until crispy. Set aside.
- Save bacon grease in a heat-resistant bowl. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine eggs, milk, and 3 tablespoon of bacon grease.
- Add flour, baking powder, bacon crumbles, and shredded cheese. Mix.
- Pour batter into each muffin cup of the prepared pan, fill about ⅔ of the way full.
- Bake for about 20 minutes or until golden.
- Let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely.
- Top with cream cheese and decorate as desired (I like to use Milk-Bone Mini’s).
Notes
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to hear how it went! Tag @lovemischka on insta, fb, or Pinterest.
Sandy Wirtanen says
I remember how much Lacey loved these bacon cheddar pupcakes. She did not want to share. lol
All Things Chihuahua says
We baked this and loved it! Here's a video of us baking them, and the puppo's reviews: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gBIVBei6lN0 everyone loved them!