Harlow's Birthday and Beach Trip Cupcakes

This year we spent 4th of July weekend at John's family beach house in Swansboro, NC. I wanted to make something fun and unique to celebrate the holiday, as well as, Harlow's 3rd birthday! Instead of spending a ton of money getting a dog cake from a bakery, I decided to make my own. I originally set out to make a cake but once I finished the batter I realized I didn't have a cake pan small enough to fit the little bit of batter the recipe made, so I had to make cupcakes instead. 

Here is the cupcake recipe:

1 cup white or whole wheat flour 
1 tsp baking soda 
1/4 cup peanut butter 
1/4 cup vegetable oil 
1 cup shredded carrots 
1 tsp vanilla 
1/3 cup honey 
1 egg

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C)

Mix together flour and baking soda. Add remaining ingredients and mix well. Pour into a cupcake pan and bake for about 20-30 minutes. 

Here is the Cinnamon Frosting recipe:

Combine the following ingredients and blend: 
12 ounces nonfat cream cheese (room temperature) 
3 tsp cinnamon 
1 tsp vanilla 
1 tsp honey

To add some decoration to the cupcakes, I used small dog treats from PetCo. 

 Happy birthday little Harlow!

 As for us humans, I made raspberry lemonade cupcakes and used a beach theme to decorate them! They were super easy and a uniquely delicious cupcake!

Raspberry Lemonade cupcakes:

1 cup frozen Rasberry Lemonade Concentrate, thawed*

1/8 cup water (or milk)
White cake mix

3 egg whites
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
Non-stick spray

Mix all ingredients well. Spray your cupcake pan with the non-stick spray. Bake at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. 

I used a lemon butter cream icing, but you could use whatever your heart desires!

To decorate the cupcakes I used a fruit roll-up for the towel, teddy grahams for the bears, and umbrella toothpicks for the umbrella! Glue the teddy bears with just a dab of icing and it's ready to eat!

Enjoy!