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!
- 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
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Preheat the oven the 350 degrees F.
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In a large bowl, whisk together the oats, flour, yeast, flaxseed, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and salt.
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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.
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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.
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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I appreciate you so much!
This is a good preparation for pregnant women
These cookies are great for breastfeeding mothers! They are moist and super yummy and they help boost and/or maintain milk supply. And yes, husbands can eat them too! I have to hide these from my hubby when I make them! The brewers’ yeast, wheat germ, flax seed, and whole oats are why these cookies help with milk supply for lactating mothers. Don’t skip those ingredients!
I don’t see wheat germ in this recipe. Am I missing something?
Hello, Thank for your recipe. I have never expressed so much! with a cookie it feels so good. I like how they are easy to find. Thanks A lot
Honestly I think these have a very odd after taste. Or maybe I didn’t make them right but I did try them twice.
12 Tbs of butter??? Why can’t you just put a weight down?! How much does 12 Tbs weigh?
Not sure where you’re from but the author probably didn’t put a weight because it’s not standard to put a weight in the US? The majority of us don’t own a good scale. But I understand being frustrated if it’s not what you’re used to. I get the opposite frustration when people only listI it’s 6oz or or 156.5g. I hope this helps. I just looked at the butter stick to translate. Around here they have all measurements on the sticks. I hope this helps.
Amazing! Thank you so much. I’m in NZ so don’t use sticks…I can understand people using their country’s measurements, but when you’re publishing to the world, all options should be given, I feel! Thank you again for your help.
I was surprised to the 12 too I ended up doing half butter and the rest coconut oil. Worked great
Is Cane sugar the as turbinado or sugar in the raw? Also how many do you eat each day as a serving size
Can I find the nutrition facts for this recipe anywhere?
Really like these! Baked a whole batch and froze half – I just took out a cookie or two a day and they tasted just as fresh as when I first baked them! Trying this recipe again, this time adding some shredded coconut.
Thank you.
Amazing .I left mine in for 5 extra mins and they came out drier, but like biscuits! Just the way I like them and perfect with a cup of tea! I also only used half a cup of brown sugar with half a cup of monk fruit (with erythritol) sweetner. They came out perfectly sweet!
I just made this one!! And it was the yummiest lactation cookie recipe i tried so far out of the 4 recipes i tried…
I did’nt have vco so i replaced it with laurin coco mct oil and since i love cinnamon i made it 1tsp and also added some chia seeds :)
I formed the dough into balls and chilled it in the freezer for 30 mins before i baked them… and the cookies turned out crisp on the outside but chewy on the inside! It was soo awesome!! 😍😍😍 thank you for sharing this recipe!
Has anyone tried baking these as bars?
I didn’t bake as a bar, but I feel it would have been great especially if adding more butter or taking out some oatmeal. Is it just me or did they come out dry? They took longer than 14 min to bake because the color didn’t turn until after that.
So yummy! We all enjoyed them! ! The Brewers Yeast we found, at a local beer supply store, was expensive. Would love to have info on were to shop for that, but am making my second batch. This time trying White Chocolate and Craisens…with toasted walnuts including a dash of turmeric enriched orange juice, mixed with the liquid ingredients…will let you know how that works out!
These are the best cookies yet using brewers yeast! I made a few changes – swapped the oil for butter and used 2 whole eggs just to add fat. I didn’t have chocolate chips :( so I used 1tsp cinnamon and 1/2 tsp nutmeg :). I also used 6 Tbs brewers yeast and I can hardly taste it. Thank you!
I got my brewers yeast from http://www.anthonysgoods.com
so mine did not spread out , i do have to say i substituted half the butter with coconut oil , could that be why? And ended up adding coconut milk as my dough was crumbly . sigh
I love this recipe and the results! I’ve always got them on hand and truly feel like I have stronger supply while they’re in my rotation. I did make one tweak! I swapped out the regular flour for oat flour for extra oaty goodness!
Mmmm! Made these for the first time today. I was lazy, so I used two full eggs and I also fully melted the butter and did not whip the sugar in. I mixed everything by hand. The cookies were perfect.
I calculated the recipe to be 5,760 calories. I got 34 cookies from my batch, used an ice cream scooper. That equals 170 calories a cookie.
I have baked them non stop since the start of the pandemic. I just love these, they help me with my supply and keeping the hunger at bay. Great to not binge eat all the junk food!
Hubby and toddler love these too, so they never go dry!