Pupcakes; Meatloaf Cupcakes With Mashed Potato Frosting

Those furry little faces with four legs and wagging tails are cherished members of our family right? Of course! Well I decided they have watched enough of these celebrations full of treats they aren't allowed to eat, it was time to throw a special party just for them. The party feature will be up in the coming weeks, but for now I wanted to share with you the recipe for the cupcakes I made, more accurately "pupcakes!"

Now the beauty of these is that they could just as easily make your two-legged family happy for dinner as they can your four-legged family for dessert! There are a few differences in the human vs pet recipe that I'll list below.

Meatloaf Cupcakes: Makes 12

1.5lbs. ground meat (beef or turkey)

1/2 cup oats

2 eggs

1/2 cup shredded zucchini (you could omit, change for carrots or do a mix) I have a TON of zucchini in the garden right now so I sneak it into whatever I can!

Mix everything together in a large bowl. It is easiest to just use your hands to mix everything really well. Just don't lick your fingers, this is not the kind of cupcake batter you eat......

Form large meatballs and place in a regular sized cupcake tin. Bake at 350F for 15-25 minutes or until your meat is cooked through. Let cool completely.

*Changes for human meatloaf: Onions and garlic are poisonous to dogs so I do not include them in the pet recipe. For people I would add some diced onion (1 small) and garlic (2 cloves). You can use a package of powdered onion soup mix in place of an actual onion. Dogs also don't need all the salt and spices we add to our food so I leave those out for the pets as well to stay on the safe side. For human cupcakes add your favorite spices; salt,wortschire, etc.

Mashed Potato Frosting:

Now you can go with the super easy box of powdered potatoes for this and just make them according to directions with about 1/2 the amount of milk it calls for, or you can make them from scratch.

From Scratch:

Wash and peel 2-3 pounds of potatoes. Chop them into 1 inch pieces.

Boil for 20 minutes or until fork tender.

Strain your potatoes and add them back into the hot pot (no water)

Add 8oz. cream cheese, 1/2 cup butter and 1/4 cup milk. Using a mixer (careful, it's hot!) mix well.

**Throw 2tsp. salt in there if it's for people.

You want your frosting to be soft enough to work with, but stiff enough to hold it's shape. Frost using my tutorial here (I did not use a tip for the pupcakes.) Top with bacon bit sprinkles!

I added cupcake wrappers and toppers from Forever Your Prints also had these adorable fondant toppers from Lena Cakes!

The pups were totally impressed.