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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1,403 Comments on “Lactation Cookies.”
these are amazing. i made a half batch to try and will make a full batch soon! they disguise the flax and yeast flavors completely
Delicious. I used half brown sugar and half white, otherwise I followed the recipe exactly. Moist and flavorful. Thank you for sharing. I made a double batch to freeze.
I was reading all the reviews last night and saw you used half white/brown sugar so I did the same…yep definitely worth it.
So true! You are doing amazing work! Thanks for sharing your wonderful recipes. I think the combination of this Lactation cookies and Domperidone had the best effect. Until I started the domperidone my baby may well have fed on blood from a stone. We tried the skin-to-skin, the constant feeding, the teas, the massages, but basically my milk never came in in sufficient quantity. Just as I was about to quit, a friend suggested domperidone (So happy ❤️ I found “Make24milk” 😊 in Google and got Dom). I was able to stop the domperidone after a while and supply held more or less steady.
As a nursing mother, these cookies work. I had mastitis at the beginning, after the birth, and couldn’t breastfeed as much because of the pain. So my body didn’t produce much milk and we were supplementing with formula. Once I was healed, my supply was still low so I tried these cookies and my body reacted immediately. I’m grateful I found this recipe
Delicious! Thank you for the recipe!
Do you have to use organic ingredients or would regular that I already have work?
Heya, if you read the blurb up the top she says she used organic but to go ahead and use non organic, should turn out fine.
On to my 4th batch and still can’t get enough of these cookies! Has really helped with my feeding. I’ve cut down the amount of sugar to just over 1 cup and it still tastes great.
Should the butter be cold or room temperature?
Always room temperature for butter, eggs, milk, etc unless the recipe states otherwise (like pie crusts).
I melted the butter in the microwave and everything else I poured it cold and they turned out fantastic!
YUMM.
I don’t have cane sugar
Can I use normal white sugar or brown sugar as replacement ??
I had twins 4 weeks ago today and am exclusively breastfeeding both. I found my milk just wasn’t enough as I would nurse them and then pump and only get 1oz from each side… so my husband made me these cookies! I now get 2-4 sometimes even more ounces per feeding from each side. I am eating 4-6 of these cookies a day (2 in the am, 2 at noon and 2 in the evening) so amazing! I can taste the brewers yeast slightly but I’m used to it now and it doesn’t bother me at all. These cookies are really tasty and really do work! I’m amazed.
I had twins 4 weeks ago today and am exclusively breastfeeding both. I found my milk just wasn’t enough as I would nurse them and then pump and only get 1oz from each side… so my husband made me these cookies! I now get 2-4 sometimes even more ounces after each feeding from each side. I am eating 4-6 of these cookies a day (2 in the am, 2 at noon and 2 in the evening) so amazing! I can taste the brewers yeast slightly but I’m used to it now and it doesn’t bother me at all. These cookies are really tasty and really do work! I’m amazed.
I made these for my daughter who is two weeks post partum. She said they definitely made a difference in her supply, and they are delicious! Thanks for sharing!
I have made these cookies every week for over a year and they always turn out perfectly! I use vegan butter, applesauce instead of egg, and vegan chocolate chips. I also add peanut butter and pecans. They are delicious!
Hey, can you tell me how apple sauce you put in? And peanut butter please.
Thanks !
Hey Joti,
I add one of the 4 oz individual cups of cinnamon applesauce and a few tablespoons of peanut butter!
Sooo good! I made some for my girlfriend who just had a baby and I made a bag for myself and froze them for my due date is right around the corner! Best recipe so far.
I did add a few splashes of milk to the dough so it wouldn’t be too dry also when I made a double batch I used two cups reg oats then a cup of blended(pulse them in a nutribullet) . I like them not so oaty and it worked out great!
Like another reviewer I did all butter and 1c white sugar 1/2c light brown. I also added some pecan chips because I had them and decided they’d be yummy and help hide any flavor/texture from the yeast & flax. The cookies took 12 min in my oven, I used a medium cookie scoop, and yeilded 50 cookies. I plan to eat 2 a day so I baked 8 to start with, and am freezing the rest in bags of 6 to bake every 3 days, this this recipe will get me through 25 days without much effort. If I remember I will comment again in 2-3 weeks with how it has affected my milk supply.
Wait, 50 cookies? Did you double the recipe? Are your cookies bite sized?
I neverrrrrr leave reviews but I HAD to for this one. Let me first say, don’t substitute anything! Follow the directions exactly as is and your cookies will turn out perfectly. These cookies are so good that I would eat these even if I wasn’t breastfeeding. Well, technically I’m not right now. I’m exactly 40 weeks pregnant today and this was one of my last “nesting” projects. Anyways, I say all that to say, don’t second guess it. Make the dang cookies already.
These were amazing! Thanks for sharing. Could the dough also be stored in the fridge for a few days?
I was quite skeptical about lactation cookies geberally, but just one batch of these really did increase my supply! This recipe is delicious. Hubby also loves munching on them too, they are a definite winner. Making some more as I write this review 🤣
I really like this recipe. I used mini chocolate chips and they make them great. I will say the dough seemed dry. I made one batch and put the rest of the dough in the refrigerator. When I make the second batch with the refrigerated dough, I had to really clench the dough with my fist. Any tips for making the dough stick together better after refrigeration?
Let them warm up a bit after pulling the out of the fridge. When refrigerated butter and coconut oil solidify making the cookie hard. Once it starts to warm up a bit it’ll become much softer.
Soooo good. My husband found this recipe and made them for me and they are delicious.
they’re so good, have you tried substituting whole wheat flour for the all purpose flour?
Baked cookies today, swapped the cane sugar to half/half brown and white sugar and they were just so delish! also froze some as recommended above so easy to pop in oven when baby arrives. So happy with them!
So good! Hubby even snagged a few lol. Thank you!
I really enjoy this recipe. First time making lactation cookies in my life. I haven’t tried the brewers yeast on its own to know what it tastes like, so i can’t say that i am able to taste it in the cookies. I also cant remember if I put in 5 tablespoons or 3 tablespoons….. i believe i did 5…….
I have been on these cookies for a few days now and i eat 1 cookie every hour, if i remember, starting at 8am and i stop at 8pm. So about 8-12 a day, but again, thats IF i remember to eat one every hour. Majority of the time i eat 1 or 2 every 2 hours, but that also depends on how hungry i am.
So far doing this has helped my milk supply to be more consistent and not come in waves to the point where the breasts are engorged. I have also been able to pump after nursing even tho my 1 month old drinks A LOT.. and i mean A LOT.. he eats about 4-6 ounces at a time.. and i am able to pump 3-4 ounces from each breast BEFORE i feed him.
So when i feed my 1 month old first and pump afterwards, i am able to pump an ounce or more from each breast.
Just made a batch of these but only used 1 cup of sugar and they taste absolutely amazing!
How many cookies are you suppose to eat a day for it to work tho?
So I made these today and I changed things because I love baking and I can’t help it I have to change things slightly lol. I did 3/4 cup brown sugar 3/4 granulated sugar, I used avocado oil instead of coconut oil, I added shredded insweeted coconut about a cup, I did 2 whole eggs, and added chocolate and butterscotch chips and let me tell you they came out perfect.
I don’t know what I did wrong I followed everything exactly but my cookies just stayed hard balls. Story of my life finally take time to try something for myself and it doesn’t work. I’m sure the recipe is fine. I had to do it really slowly bc my kids needed attention so maybe letting it sit out is the wrong thing to do.
This happened to me too and I followed exactly.
I ended up making another recipe that I had made before but added brewers yeast which was the only difference and I added half as much as is called for in this recipe and those cookies were more ball shaped than the last time I made them. So I think maybe the brewers yeast can have that effect. I also think I cooked the original too long bc I kept them in when they were ball shaped that was def the wrong move. At least I figured it out!
I tried them one time and they turned out great. I think they would still be good with less sugar. They were a little too sweet. The cookies turned out dry, which makes them nice and crunchy. I found that the mixture was tough to keep molded together for my next batch (after refrigerating the dough.
So I tried it with some healthier substitutions. I used almond flour to make it gluten free and replaced all the sugar with applesauce. They turned out much softer and not very sweet at all. I think for the next batch I’ll add maybe a couple Theo of sugar. I don’t like things too sweet anyway. This recipe is a very good base fit lactation cookies.
Have you tried using whole wheat flour instead of regular all purpose flour? I tried substituting but they turned out rock hard. but they taste really goo. any suggestion?
Hmmm, I feel like something is missing from this recipe. I followed it exactly, but my “dough” was more like a loose granola, difficult to form balls. When I baked them, they stayed as balls and didn’t flatten out at all. Anybody else have this issue?
Did you use whole wheat flour? I think mine turned that way coz I used whole wheat instead of regular flour + it’s rock solid. If you did exactly what the recipe says, maybe its not my whole wheat flour 😂
Bur their daaaaang good
AbSolutelt amaZing cooking.
I followed the recipe EXACTLY, and they came out perfect. I have never been able to bake cookies according to recipes since they always come out weird, but THIS recipe was excellent and cookies were delicious! Thank you!
These cookies are amazing! Not only do I see a significant improvement in my milk supply when I’m eating them but they’re sooo delicious. My husband, brothers, mom, everybody enjoys them! I’ve made a handful of batches and will continue to! Thank you for making me feel better about having enough milk for my baby and for making these delicious for me!
These are yummy. Just finished making my second batch now. This time I used all butter as I didn’t have coconut oil. I’ve also used coconut sugar because it’s been sitting in my cupboard this makes them yummy too.
These cookies are absolutely delicious! I’ve been inhaling cookies since my second trimester and now that my baby is here, wanted something delicious on hand that would also help with milk production.
I substituted cup-for-cup gluten free flour for all purpose and replaced the sugar with 1 cup maple syrup-still tasty and very moist without any processed sugar!
I just made these and they didnt turn out very well.. my fault entirely though I got 1 minute quick oats not rolled oats… Flavor was really good still though they just stayed into balls cause of the wrong oats I used! I added coconut with it and it is delicious 😋.
Delicious cookies! I was wondering if there is a way to alter the recipe to make them non lactation?…so basically a chocolate chip oatmeal but using most of the same ingredients…
Hi. Hubby bought whole flaxseeds instead of ground. Can I still use them and how much should I use per this measurement? I can’t grind them as we don’t have a grinder. This is also my first time using flax seeds in anything. Thank you.
I have made these exactly according to the recipe with excellent results. They are perfect for middle of the night nursing sessions, when you’re ravenous and exhausted.
I have also made these vegan for a mother whose baby could not eat dairy or soy, and was avoiding eggs, too, just in case. I used an oat-based butter, vegan chocolate chips, and flax eggs. The substitutions made it hard for the ingredients to bind, so I had to make the cookies bigger, and they were more crumbly when finished. However, they are still full of all that good fat!
Hi! And help!! I just made this recipe and added extra Brewer’s yeast(+2 tbsp) It’s soo overpowering and taking away from the cookie. Please help me. What to I add more of to balance it back out?? I’ve baked 14 cookies, that I’ll have to eat but I just know my cousin and friend won’t enjoy it. I’d really love any feedback so I can enjoy it as well. Thank you so much!!
This recipe was really simple & delicious! I am definitely going to be making another batch 😋
I baked them just now and they’re perfect! I added 2 tbsp almond butter but I followed everything else exactly. Will make them again!
These cookies taste great! Good selection of ingredients! What is the suggested serving/ how many cookies do you recommend eating in a day from personal experience?
Has anyone ever made these into bars? Newborn, lack of sleep, I don’t have time to roll out cookies and I’d like to just put the dough in a 13×9 pan and cut into bars? thanks
I have made these for about 4 weeks in a row and have followed the recipe to a T. These cookies don’t spread out at all. I use my cookie scoop and baked them and they came out looking exactly how I put them in, only baked. Now when I make them I use a spatula to crush them down so they resemble some sort of actual cookie. They’re a little dry and crumbly after baking as well. Does anyone have any sort of suggestions to make these work a little better? I love the taste and the effects but just the cookie in general isn’t my favorite.
Thank you!
This cookies are actually good! I tried a lactation cookie recipe before this one and even though it was good… it wasn’t as good as this one!! I truly love the taste of these cookies and I enjoy eating them n_n