Apple season is upon us and since we made our annual apple picking trip this weekend. While I was waiting treats from Chewy, I decided to bake my own. I decided to spoil our dog Marlo with some delicious and healthy apple donuts made just for him. I am not a big fan of all those store bought dog treats, because I once read a label and understood that they put all kinds of nonsense for dogs, just as they do for people. Ever since that realization I take time once in a while to bake our dog some homemade biscuits and treats. My daughter loves helping me and gets involved in baking, which is great too, she’ll need that in life.

These donuts are very simple to make with ingredients that we all have at home. Everything gets put in at the same time and mixed, so a child can make them do. The recipe is very flexible, so you can substitute and modify however you like. And the best part – Marlo absolutely loves them and feels in heaven every time he starts smelling that peanut butter coming from the oven.

I made 6 donuts because that’s how many silicone donut shapes I had, but the recipe will be for a dozen donuts. The best way to make them is to use donut tray, but I don’t have it, so I used silicone shapes that we received from Raddish subscription box a few months ago.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of organic whole wheat or mixed flour
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• 2 tbsp. of organic honey
• ½ cup of organic creamy peanut butter (I used Justin’s brand)
• 3 tbsp. of coconut oil, melted
• ½ cups of water
• 2 organic eggs
• 2 peeled and grated organic apples

Before you start working on your donut dough, preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Mine takes about 15 minutes to heat up and this is about what you need to prepare the donuts.

Take a stand mixer bowl and pour flour and baking soda. I used ½ whole wheat and ½ all-purpose flour, but you can use just about anything – almond, chickpea, gluten-free flour, or whatever else you feel like.

Whisk soda with flour until combined and then add the rest of the ingredients – honey, peanut butter, coconut oil, water, and 2 eggs.

Mix everything until combined creamy mass forms.

While your mixer is working, prepare the donut tray or place shapes on a regular baking sheet.

Spray them generously with oil spray to coat.

Next peel your apples and grate them.

Add apples to the donut mixture and fold apples gently with a spoon. That’s it, your dough is ready!

Spoon a generous amount of mixture in each shape, but don’t overfill them because they will raise some when baking.

Place the tray or baking sheet in the oven and set the timer to 12 minutes. My oven requires 16 minutes, but I always check after 12. The donuts should be soft, but dry and firm when baked.

Once they are done baking, take them out and leave donuts in their shapes until cooled off. I let mine sit for about 30 minutes and then there is no danger of them falling apart and burning you. You can use a butter knife to gently poke around the edges to separate them from the shape edges, but if you use silicone shapes, the donuts will come out easily and without any knives.

The donuts taste great for people too, but they need more sweetness for my liking. Marlo gets enough sugar from honey and doesn’t complain at all. You can store these donuts in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. After that they will not taste that good. Enjoy and let your dog have a ball with those delicious treats