Oat drops... of heaven!

I'VE JUST BEEN SCHOOLED.  By my dog.
 I grew up with big, hairy mutts in a busy, loud household.  We ate healthy and our dogs ate dry kibble-- the brands we could afford that seemed reasonably healthy.  We didn't do gluten-free-vegan-soy-milk-whatever and my dogs certainly didn't either.  It was well-intended pragmatism (of people and pets fortunate enough not to have dietary restrictions).
And we got lucky; if you pause to think about all the poison that is literally being shipped from sketchy factories from the developing world, lining a select few pockets with billions of dollars, we got very lucky.  Most of our dogs made it to a decent age in above-average health.
In university, my upstairs neighbor-- now in vet school-- cooked her adopted collie full-on meals of ground beefs, green beans and rice, every night.  Well, I can tell you that even unemployed and in my parents' basement, I still don't have the time, energy or money to do that for my furbaby.  Kudos to you superheroes who do.
BUT I WILL SAY THIS:
The Peanut Butter Oat Drop treats were SO EASY to make; I'm converted.

Pretty simple ingredients.

It took less than 15 minutes to whip up the mix, and I only dirtied one bowl and two beaters (if you don't own a dishwasher, you'll understand why I keep a Dirty Dish score that factors into everything I make).  Also, the recipe is freakishly similar to some diet cookies I've tried from Pinterest.

The only dirty dishes!  Not bad.

And the dogs LOVE them.  Now, my dogs aren't picky eaters, so they do chow down with gusto on just about anything edible, but I think I detected a particular zeal in their munching with these Oat Drops.
I've stored half the amount I made in the freezer, and the other half is in the treat jar-- they're three days old now and still look fine.

Monkey just woke up from (another) nap and he's so excited for his Oat Drop!

I'll probably never buy big-name brand treats again.  It's just not worth the effort (researching who's on the bad list, what those unpronounceable ingredients are etc.) or the risk, when I can so easily and cost-effectively whip these up.
IF YOU MAKE THEM: I halved the recipe, to see if it would be a success.  It took me two rounds using one cookie sheet, so I was watching the oven for about 50 minutes.  Next time, I'll make the whole batch and use two cookie sheets to speed up the process.

Make use of all the space on your cookie sheet-- they don't expand!

Don't forget, probably because there's no yeast in them, they don't rise or expand, so plop those f**kers right next to each other all crammed together nice and tight on the baking sheet.  Do what the directions say: half teaspoon drops are big enough.
Also, I used quick oats because that was all we had on hand.  It still worked out, though next time, I'll use regular rolled oats.
Finally, mine required five fewer minutes in the oven than the directions said.  Had they stayed in the entire time, they might have burnt.  So keep a watchful eye.  Do as I did; I called a dear old friend and chatted away while the treats baked.

Gotta book it!
-JEM