Lactation Cookies.
No, never did I ever think I would be typing “lactation” and “cookies” in the same sentence and especially not on my blog.
But these
are
GOOD.
Here is my take on lactation cookies: I don’t know if the COOKIES really work, but I do believe that the key ingredients (oats, brewers yeast, coconut oil, flax) work. I sort of think that the cookies are an excuse to… eat cookies? But in a good way! Also, this is why I think they are so great – in those first few weeks, and heck, even now, I was so freaking hungry, like had never been so hungry in my life. Having something quick to grab, like something even quicker than a banana and almond butter, was imperative while in survival mode. Especially in the middle of the night.
Even since having Max, I’ve developed this hangry hunger every morning, to a point where if I don’t eat something very soon after waking, I feel physically sick. Most likely because he is taking calories from me at night? I’ve never dealt with that before. So having one of these as a snack in the middle of the night or even right when I wake up is a complete LIFESAVER.
Now, these are cookies. Like actual taste-good cookies. I tried a few recipes in the last couple weeks that tasted like cardboard and were drier than dirt. I wanted to make actual enjoyable cookies, ones I wanted to eat, ones I’d be happy to grab twice a day, maybe three times.
The texture: These are thick cookies, not cakey at all, slightly crunchy, but not in a bad or stale way – they are crunchy from the crazy amount of rolled oats inside. I wrote the recipe exactly as I’ve been making them – meaning mostly organic ingredients. Feel free to use non-organic ingredients and what you have on hand.
I know you’ll probably have questions on what you can substitute, what you can leave out or add, what you can change and so on, so I’ve added some notes below the recipe. These will taste best written EXACTLY as is. But I know that sometimes you gotta make some changes! I really, really suggest leaving the amount of fat/butter in the cookies – it adds to the calorie value and new moms need those calories! It will also help the cookie to be a more filling “snack.”
If you want to gift these to a new mom, I would make a batch and bake them, then make a batch and freeze them. Or bake half a batch and freeze the other half. Deliver both. Making a freshly baked double batch isn’t great because the cookies aren’t super soft and moist and that number of cookies will dry out before eaten. Unless of course their family will eat them too. If you’re a mom-to-be, you can totally make these ahead of time – scoop the dough into rounds, flash freeze it then place them in a ziplock bag. My friend Julie has a great tutorial on freezing cookie dough!
Do you have an awesome lactation cookie recipe? If so, share below!
What the video of how I make my Lactation Cookies!
Lactation Cookies
Ingredients
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 1/2 cups unbleached organic all-purpose flour
- 5 tablespoons brewers yeast
- 3 tablespoons ground flaxseed
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 12 tablespoons organic unsalted butter
- 4 tablespoons unrefined organic virgin coconut oil
- 1 1/2 cups organic cane sugar
- 1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups dark chocolate chips/chunks, I like ghirardelli
- feel free to add: unsweetened flaked coconut chopped almonds, 1 to 2 tablespoons of almond butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven the 350 degrees F.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, yeast, flaxseed, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and salt.
- In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter and coconut oil on medium speed until creamy. Add in the sugar and beat on medium to high speed until fluffy, about 4 to 5 minutes, scraping down the sides of the bowl if needed. Add in the egg and egg yolk, beating until combined, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the vanilla extract and beat until combined again. Gradually add in the dry ingredients, beating on low speed until just combined and mixed. Stir in the chocolate chips with a spatula until they are evenly dispersed.
- Scoop the dough into 1-inch rounds (I use an ice cream scoop so they are fairly uniform in size) and place on a baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Bake for 10 to 14 minutes, or until the bottoms are just golden. Let cool completely before storing in a sealed container.
Notes
2. You can use all butter if you don’t have/can’t find coconut oil. If you swap any butter amount for more coconut oil, the cookies will spread a bit more. If you decrease the fat (butter/oil) amount in total, these cookies will be drier. It’s up to you!
3. You can use 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour with similar results – any more and the cookies with be drier and grittier.
4. You can probably decrease the sugar by 1/4 cup without issue.
5. I do not have experience in making these vegan, so I can’t say what it would be like without the eggs or with vegan butter. I also am not sure how the consistency would be with gluten free flour.
6. I personally think you can increase the brewers yeast amount by 1 to 2 tablespoons.
Did you make this recipe?
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1,445 Comments on “Lactation Cookies.”
I made these with vegan butter and they came out perfectly!
Best lactation cookies!
These are amazing and I have seen a difference in milk production! As I am ceoliac I can only have a limited amount of wheat-free rolled oats, so I adjusted this recipe to have 1 cup of rolled oats and 2 cups of quinoa flakes. I replaced the 1.5 cups of whole wheat flour with 1 cup of gluten free all-purpose flour and half a cup of buckwheat flour. I replaced 1.5 cups sugar with 1 cup of raw sugar and some golden syrup, maybe about a tablespoon or two? Delish!
These are delicious! The dough was falling apart though before I could scoop them so I added just a splash of milk. They turned out beautifully!
These are great and I’m having fun coming up with variations in flavors based on the original recipe (I’m working on the assumption that the oats, yeast, and flax are the most important for the lactation part) so far I’ve done a Butter Pecan version (used all brown sugar and subbed in pecans for the chocolate) and an Oatmeal Raisin version (upped the cinnamon to 2 tsp and used raisins instead of chocolate both came out very yummy.
Made a batch tonight. They are great! How many cookies do everyone eat a day and how long before the results ?
Hello, I made some last night and ate 2 cookies I saw a difference this morning.
My sister in law made a batch for me and to begin with their delicious! I wasn’t sure if I believed they’d help but they sure did. I had them for a month and not too long ago stopped eating them bc she hasn’t made me a batch and I have my 3 week old to care for and I’m not kidding my milk supply slowed down. I was in tears. So here I am tonight eating my first batch made my yours truly. Came out even better than my SIL😏
HAPPY NEW YEAR! I had my baby last August and made these a few times since then. It’s super effective and yummy! I love oats and ok with the bitter taste so I’ve been upping the brewer’s yeast by 3tbsp, reduced the sugar by half a cup and used vegan butter/ dark chocolate chips.
Just wanted to thank you for sharing this amazing recipe!!! It’s these little things that make being a new mommy easier.
These are really great. I originally made these for my wife but ended up eating so many I’m probably going to start lactating soon myself, 5 stars
😂😂😂 probably, you’ve got nipples, Focker… Thanks for the laugh tonight!
I have nipples, Greg. Can you milk me? 😂😂
This recipe is amazing! Everyone in my family likes these cookies too. They are super flavorful, freezable, and customizable. I recently found out my son has a milk protein allergy so I just made these again using allergy free chocolate chips and olive oil plant butter and I could not tell the difference between the original recipe. I will definitely make these again and perhaps try doing an oatmeal raisin version!
So good!! these are amazing and i let the rest of my family try them and they thought the flavor was great! I definitely suggest making these with the mixed like she says, i made these by hand and after whisking the butter and sugar to make it smooth my arm was cramping, but that’s my own personal error😂 It’s only been half a day but usually my boobs feel so dried up after feeding my little one, but they’re already feeling fuller and i’m sure i’ll see a result once i pump!
What brand of brewers yeast did you use? Thanks!
I’ve made this 3 times for myself and friends. I use King Arthur measure for measure gluten free flour and they have turned out great! I also cut back on the sugar but 1/2 cup and are still yummy. They are also very filling and seem to really help my milk supply
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SO GOOD! Just made a big batch while in early labor. Really delicious and like the author notes, good texture.
I found these very dry to mix and bake. They may be good, and do what they are supposed to, but there is not enough wet ingredients to make the cookies stay together. Sorry
I made these today and they are so good! But does anyone know how many calories and stuff are in them? I’m doing a weight loss program called noom and I have to log my food, but I don’t have any idea how many calories these have, or how many is recommended to eat a day!
Please help!
I estimate approx 180-200 calories. I posted nutritional info I calculated based on my ingredients.
These are delicious! The texture is perfect and they taste like normal cookies to me. I haven’t had my baby yet, but I prepped and froze dough balls and made a small batch to try. I followed the recipe exactly and they came out perfect— exactly 10 min in my oven. I plan to make more as oatmeal raisin/craisin cookies by omitting the chocolate chips and adding a little more cinnamon. Thanks for the great recipe!
They are so good!! I produce quite a bit as is, but I really wanted a nice stash in the freezer. Hopefully these work well for me!
These are fab, I’m just wondering how many calories are in each cookie?
I estimate approx 180-200 calories. I posted nutritional info I calculated based on my ingredients.
Fell in love with this recipe the first time I made it. So yummy and perfect. Plus it did what it was suppose to. Helped me with lactation.
I used milk chocolate instead of dark. However, the 2nd time I made it, today, I made the mistake of using steel cut oats because the grocery store was out of rolled oats. I tried steaming them to soften, but no….I will never make that mistake again.
I took my chance with baking the mix anyway, just to see how it would turn out. It’s edible. They came out more like thin cookie bars than the yummy chunky, chewy cookies I made the first time.
Calories: I used oat flour instead of regular flour. Regular flour would probably result in 15 -20 less calories.
Estimated calories with ingredients I used, servings 24 = 196 calories, 25 carbs, 9.7g fat, 4.2 g protein.
These are delicious! I do wonder why mine come out with a pretty dry dough, crumbly. They bake and taste great but difficult to make into balls. I noticed my
Flax was flax meal…could that be the difference?
I used flax meal and they turned out ok! But I also added an additional 4tbsp of butter.
I used a stand mixer for the whole process too so the dough was not crumbly for me.
Does anyone know if these can be frozen once cooked? Thanks!
I just put mine in the freezer. I think they’ll be fine. I plan to take out 2-3 per day and leave them covered on the counter overnight. Maybe warm them a little in the microwave when I’m ready to eat them.
THESE ARE DELISH! Thank you for sharing the recipe!!
I added 4 extra tbsp of butter and I browned the butter too. I made it with 1 cup of cane sugar and 1/2 cup of brown sugar.
I will add more brewers yeast next time because I couldn’t even taste it!
My husband also thought these tasted great too!
I love how everyone puts their own spin on this recipe and they end up loving it! My version also came out great- just used what I had on hand: all butter instead of butter/coconut oil, brown sugar, subbed protein powder for brewers yeast, did half dark half semisweet Ghirardelli chips, doubled salt, used 2 whole eggs and a cup each of dried cherries, unsweetened coconut flakes, and chopped walnuts. Got 5.5 dozen! Will definitely make these again!
First off, these are delicious!
I blended in the chocolate chips to break them up a bit and added a bit of sea salt on top of the cookies for that really nice dark chocolate and seas salt combo.
Yes the mixture is VERY dry but I didn’t have a problem with it. You could add milk but it came out just fine without it.
The only thing I did replace was the butter with a dairy free type of butter instead. Cooked just the same.
Seeing some great results! Make sure to keep hydrated mamas and pump/feed constantly!
Just made these, they came out of the oven 20 minutes ago and I want to eat 10 of them! Tweaked the recipe a bit, even left out the chocolate, replaced with dessicated coconut. Also bakes them a bit longer for some added crunch. Really delicious!
Just made these yesterday and had to pump twice instead of once last night! Totally helped, although I did eat like 10 of them – they were delicious! Mine didn’t come out dry at all!
This was a very dry recipe. It didn’t fully mix so I ended up adding about 2 tablespoons of almond milk to get it to all mix together.
Also I used a 1&1/2 tablespoon scoop and got 4 dozen cookies. I also had to increase the cooking time to 15 min.
Tastes great.
I also used dairy free butter. Most other recipes use 2-3 tablespoons of brewers yeast so that’s what I used because I don’t like a dry mixture or a very bitter taste. I also added 2 ripe bananas to reduce the sugar content whilst keeping the taste sweet. I did add a splash of dairy free milk too. They turned out well and taste good. Thanks for the recipe.