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What do you do when you have eight black bananas? I will tell you what I do. First, I make some yummy, mini loaves of banana nut bread for my husband. However, I can’t forget about Bella and Edward! So, I whip up some banana nut muffins for dogs.
I always use pecans in my banana nut bread. However, after some research, I knew pecans would not work in these banana nut muffins for dogs. For instance, the Spruce Pets blog suggests not sharing pecans with your dog.
Their reasoning is pecans are considered to be toxic to dogs due to their ability to grow mold. Therefore, this could lead to GI distress, intestinal blockages, or other serious symptoms like seizures.
But, I want these banana nut muffins for dogs to have nuts! Why? I love pecans in my banana nut bread, so I want my dogs to experience the same. Plus, nuts are beneficial for humans and some nuts can be for dogs.
How to Achieve a Nut Flavor in Banana Nut Muffins for Dogs
So, my research began! For instance, it was easy to rule out any nuts in their nut form, because of choking hazards. Therefore, came the idea to use a nut butter to create banana nut muffins for dogs.
Bella is allergic to peanuts, so peanut butter is off the list in any recipes for her. My go to nut butter is almond butter when creating her treats. Therefore, deciding on almond butter for these banana nut muffins for dogs proves a great choice.
By the way, almond butter and peanut butter are great for pill giving. Bella takes three pills in the morning and evening for congestive heart failure. So, with peanut butter off the shelf, almond butter is great for replacing it.
Although almond butter is not toxic for dogs, some dogs’ digestive systems can’t handle it. Therefore, be cautious in giving almond butter to your dog. You don’t want your dog to have an upset tummy, or other gastric issue.
However, these banana nut muffins for dogs only contain a half cup of almond butter. Furthermore, that half cup is dispersed through 20 mini muffins. Therefore, each treat doesn’t contain very much almond butter. However, still be cautious.
Now This Is Something To Bark About!!
Banana Nut Muffins for Dogs Are Healthy With Almond Butter
Some nuts can be beneficial for dogs and almonds happen to be one of those. However, you want to be sure they are in a butter form and not a nut form. If you have given your dog a taste and they tolerate almond butter, then there are some benefits.
Benefits of Almond Butter
- B3 provides a shiny coat, healthy eyes, and liver
- Vitamin E helps fight free radicals to decrease cancer risk
- Immune system is stronger due to vitamin E content
- Calcium and phosphorus help with healthy bones and joints
However, make sure the almond butter doesn’t contain any additional oils, salt, sugar, or another sweetener like honey. In addition, avoid reduced almond butter or any almond butter containing Xylitol.
Xylitol is an artificial sweetener that can be fatal for your dog. This goes for peanut butter, too!
Let’s Bake Banana Nut Muffins for Dogs
This recipe for banana nut muffins for dogs is called, “Banana Nut ‘Mutt’fins’.” I love to make a play on words with dog references. So, when I get an opportunity to do that in my recipe titles, I have fun doing it.
Ingredients for Banana Nut Muffins for Dogs
- coconut flour
- chia seeds
- cinnamon
- coconut oil
- almond butter
- eggs
- mashed banana
Directions to Follow for Banana Nut Muffins for Dogs
Firstly, preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a mini muffin pan with cooking spray. I love baking with silicone pans. So, if you use a silicone muffin pan, you will not need to use cooking spray.
Secondly, whisk together the coconut flour, chia seeds, and cinnamon in a small mixing bowl. Then, beat the eggs with a fork in another bowl. To this, add the coconut oil, almond butter, and mashed banana.
Thirdly, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Then, mix all of the ingredients together with a spoon until thoroughly combined. Your batter should be a little thick.
However, the consistency of the batter will depend on the eggs and the almond butter. For instance, eggs labeled large aren’t always large and sometimes they are either medium or extra large.
Furthermore, the almond butter consistency seems to be different with every brand. Some are thick and creamy, yet some are very oily making the consistency runny. The brand I have on hand right now happens to be runny.
So, my batter was not thick and the muffins turned out great. However, if you want a thicker batter, you can add a little more coconut flour.
Fourthly, spoon the batter in the muffin pan cups until full and bake for 25 minutes. The muffins will not rise, so it’s okay to fill them to the top. After they bake, the muffins will be dense.
Next, remove the muffins from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
Lastly, store the muffins in an airtight container once they are completely cool. They will keep for up to two weeks, if you place the container in the refrigerator. In addition, you can freeze them for up to four weeks.
In Conclusion
My favorite part of baking these banana nut muffins for dogs is sharing them with Bella and Edward. They always love the treats their momma bakes them. Plus, it’s a bonding experience for us.
They seem to always know when I’m baking something for them. For instance, they are right under foot while I’m preparing. So, of course I talk to them about what I’m doing.
Murphy and his sister, Izzy got to eat some muffins, too! Bella and Edward shared treats (muffins) for Halloween, since these were baked close to the holiday.
What treats do you share with your dog/s for Halloween? We would love to read about them in the comments below.
Speaking of treats, we have lots of great treat recipes in the Dog Chef section of our blog. Here are a couple containing almond butter that you might like to try.
Or, maybe you want to try these recipes containing bananas.
You can save this post with the recipe to Pinterest by using one of the following images.
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Banana Nut Mutt-fins
Ingredients
- ½ cup coconut flour
- 1 tbsp chia seeds
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- ½ cup almond butter
- 2 large eggs
- 1 mashed banana
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prep a mini muffin pan with cooking spray. (see note #1)
- In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the coconut flour, chia seeds, and cinnamon.
- In another bowl, beat the eggs with a fork, then add the coconut oil, almond butter, and mashed banana.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients. Mix together with a spoon until thoroughly combined. (see note #2)
- Spoon the batter into the muffin pan cups until full. (see note #3)
- Bake for 25 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Once completely cooled, store in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
Notes
- If you use a silicone muffin pan like I did, you will not need to use cooking spray.
- The consistency of the batter will depend on the eggs and the almond butter. Eggs labeled large aren’t always large. Sometimes they are either medium or extra large. The almond butter consistency seems to be different with every brand. The brand I used was runny. So, my batter was not thick and still turned out great. If you want a thicker batter, add a little more coconut flour.
- The muffins will not rise, so it’s okay to fill them to the top. After they bake, the muffins will be dense.
- Make sure the almond butter doesn’t contain xylitol. Xylitol is toxic to dogs.
- Peanut butter can be substituted for the almond butter.
