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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1,883 Comments on “Lactation Cookies.”
I have made these about ,5 times now and I always love them! I’m always hungry and these are so convenient to grab when there’s so little time with little one and they’re so darn good! A tip for anyone using whole wheat, I recommend under baking the cookies a bit and letting them stay on the pan for a bit after; they come out amazingly soft! Love this recipe!
I found these cookies very dry, I followed the recipe as it is written. Possibly adding a little water and the egg white to the second egg might help? any suggestions?
I’ve included both egg whites and use all butter before. They came out softer, not so dry. I also add half butterscotch chips half chocolate. One of my favorite cookies! Made these about a dozen times. I always double the recipe and freeze half.
Try to blend 2 cups out of 3 oat until powdered then it’s not dry anymore. Also I use brown sugar.
I’ve made these atleast 6x now, and what I’ve found that works is using 2 whole eggs, and then adding in 2 tbsp water at the end and gently mix it with a spoon or your hands. I’ve also found that zapping the cookies in the microwave for 13 seconds before eating is so much tastier 😋
Do you think adding overripe bananas would help make the cookies a little more moist?
Has anyone tried making these with a butter sub like greek yogurt? Or a sugar sub like honey? Trying to find a way to reduce the calories and add some more nutrients!
I was worried about the calories too. The second round I made the cookies, I used 8 tbs butter and 3 tbs yogurt. Omitted the chocolate all together and used1/4 less sugar. I also used 9 tbs of brewers yeast and two tbs of whole flaxseed. Quite a lot of changes but the cookies were delicious! A little softer compared to the original recipe but still sweet enough and yummy!
Yes, I just made them and used greek yogurt instead of butter and raw maple syrup (not even the full conversion amount) instead of sugar. Also, used less chocolate chips. Came out soft and delicious and not too sweet :) Hope this helps.
good site thanks for sharing :)
Have you ever made these with less yeast?
Isn’t the brewers yeast the entire reason you are eating these cookies? Isn’t that the ingredient that helps with lactation? Maybe I’m wrong…. correct me if I’m wrong
Yes it is, but these have become my family’s favorite cookies and I was low on yeast. I only had 3TB instead of 5. I was just wondering if they come out very different.
Samantha, I have made them without yeast and with 4 TBL instead of 5. I think brewers yeast is SO bitter lol so they taste sweeter and not as bitter. Do not get me wrong they are not bitter as the recipe is now with 5TBL but you can tell they have the brewers yeast in them compared to other cookies. When I was waiting for my yeast to come in, I omitted the yeast. They were perfect. Sometimes when I make them to share with my kiddos I use 4. Anyway, 5he yesst is an extra galactogogue. And yes the purpose is to help bresstmilk, but the yeast is just 1 of many glactagogues in the recipe.. the oats and flaxseed help too :)
Good to know! Thanks! :)
Any idea how many calories a cookie is? They are great!
I calculated the calories based on the ingredients (with 7 tbs of brewers yeast powder) and it’s 5,764 calories per batch. I made 22 cookies with this batch, so it’s 262 calories per cookie.
What brand of Brewers yeast would you recommend?
I use this one from amazon, and it lasts forever! I’ve made the cookies atleast 6x now.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B01LB30AQ8?psc=1&ref=yo_pop_mb_pd_title
Does anyone know how many cookies per day we should eat to increase supplies?
When I was making a similar recipe after my son, I was eating 3 to 5 cookies a day (or more 😉) and seeing a decent increase. I did make them strong though and added walnuts to mine but for the most part the recipe was the same. I would say eat one or two between meals or any time you need a snack and you should see some kind of improvement. My limited supply was caused by medications too, so hopefully you will see an awesome increase!! Try one cook with a cup of lactation support tea! Best combo ever!! 😊
Thanks! And what month were you? I’m four months postpartum and have been struggling with low supplies from the beginning. I’ve tried anything I read about and pump as much as I can. Is there any hope 4 months postpartum? A Lactation nurse told me my supplies are pretty much established by now :(
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Do you have to use all organic stuff? I can’t afford to get all new things. And is the coconut oil necessary or can it be subbed for something else?
I’ve made it with all organic stuff in the beginning but couldn’t really afford it so I switched to regular store brand stuff and I feel that they still work the same. Just cheaper lol.
Also you can substitute the coconut oil for more butter
I used stevia instead of sugar and added four tbsp of peanut butter. These were so dry I had to squeeze them into balls and they didn’t spread at all completely breaking apart on me. I ended up pulling the second batch out and adding water to moisten them up and they still didn’t spread. Not sure what else could have gone wrong, but I used up the last of my oats on this recipe. On the plus side even the crumbs taste good.
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It’s because you used stevia instead of sugar. Sugar is integral to the texture of baked goods.
Actually it depends on the recipe. Personally I haven’t tried this recipe yet, but in the past few months I’ve used Stevia in no bake cookies and pumpkin roll with no problems (actually I recieved a lot of complements on the no bakes- I also used dark chocolate since it has slightly less sugar than milk). I have gestational diabetes so I can’t use all the sugar and I’m looking ahead for lactation cookies thinking about prepping some in advance since baby could come any time now. I should be fine using sugar for after baby but the whole experience has made me want to cut back on sugar in general; it’s insane how much is in most items.
I made these today. The only changes I made were using half cane sugar and half brown sugar and 2 whole eggs. With my oven, I have to keep them in for 16 minutes and transfer them to cooling rack immediately and they came out great! I normally don’t eat Oatmeal Cookies but these taste great and if they end up helping my supply, even better!
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i LOVE these. I eat them for breakfast everyday. They are really tasty and filling. To make them healthier I replaced half the butter (6 tbs) with 6 tbs of unsweetened apple sauce and removed a half a cup of flour adding a extra half a cup of oats and they tasted great!
If you like the above you can also replace 1 cup of sugar with 2/3 cups of agave but I would make sure you use a electric mixture and do the full 5 minutes on high. It will look watery at first but will whip right up in the mixer!
Hope this helps!
As a follow up if you go the agave way I would lower the temp to 325 as it will brown faster.
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Made them for my sister who had a baby a month ago! She as well as my sister and her husband and I loved them! Can’t say anything yet about the increased production but I can say that they are delicious. The hint of cinnamon adds a perfect touch. I decreased the butter by about 3 tablespoons and the sugar by a bit and fhe cookies turned out fine! Stayed put together just the oats stood out a bit more than the pictures.
Will make again for sure!
I make these all the time! I am 4 months postpartum and have made these probably 15 times ,Woops.. . I have tried many variations. The written recipe is the best but I have substituted:
– both super fine almond flour from Cosco(but use about 2x as much as regular flour- look at a conversion table), and oat flour (steel cut oats in vitamix). Both turn out fine but I add 1/2 tsp more baking soda
-all unrefined coconut oil and no butter (cookies are hard when they come out but are super delicious `crunchy` if that makes sense. Very flavorful and good with milk but definitely not chewy)
-without yeast (I don’t notice a difference in taste) and extra flaxseed to make up for it
-recipe as followed with extra flaxseed (5/6 tbsp instead of 3)
-vegan flaxseed egg instead of real egg (1 tbsp ground flaxseed to 3 tbsp milk. Let sit for 5 minutes to thicken)
-1 cup sugar instead of 1.5 (I usually do this)
-all baking soda instead of half baking soda and baking powder
My reasoning for all of these adaptations was probably because I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand and wanted to make these, or there was a period where I had to cut out dairy and gluten so hence the almond flour and coconut oil.
Long story short… They have come out delicious every single time. My husband eats them too. Great recipe! Breastfeeding is hard but Its nice I have an excuse to make yummy recipes like this :)
BTW I cannot say if this specifically increases supply but it should. I exclusively pump and only do it 3 times a day and I usually have just enough for my little one. Which is great considering I only do it 3 times a day. I make these cookies when I need a boost!
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Can these be made with active dry yeast? If so how much and does the active dry yeast have the same affect as brewers yeast on increasing milk supply ? Thank you!
No, brewer’s yeast is th key ngredient tht boosts milk supply. It is totally different from the yest you use in bread baking. It doesn’t make them rise.
I’ve been making these for my daugher, first two years’ ago when she had her son and now because she had twin girls. I’ve shared the recipe with other moms and grandmothers and made them a ifts for new mothers
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Great tasting recipe!! I used coconut sugar and cut it in half—still 5stars! Also, I added some ground fenugreek. I do a lot of gluten free baking, and if you’re GF, you could
easily do 1 cup of almond flour for the white flour.
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These are hands down the best lactation cookies and I really, truly believe they work. My son was admitted to the NICU right after birth. My husband went home to get more items for our surprise extended stay and he made a batch of these that I had premise and froze. I ate them while my milk was coming in and had no problem with supply. My son barely dropped any weight from his initial to his two week check up. These cookies taste amazing and did exactly what I needed them to do. I would recommend them to any new mom. I usually make a batch for my friends when they are about 8 months along for their freezer. Applause all around for this recipe. We are still breastfeeding well at 10 months!
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I love these cookies! I did substitute the eggs with extra flax seed and a little extra water and they are delicious! I cant stop eating them.
Hello! Recently watching dairy intake. What could I use besides butter. Margarine has a lot of fat in it too?!
I used butter flavored Crisco (yes that is dairy free, I had to be sure for myself) and then added 1.5TBSP water, but I think I would add 2TBSP water and add 2 whole eggs instead of the 1 and 1 yolk. Mine didn’t really stay together after I added the chocolate chips. Still tasted fine though
I haven’t made these yet, but I have to ask: am I the only one bothered that the cookies pictured are clearly not what the recipe is for?! I clicked on this recipe because the picture shows either raisins or craisins, not chocolate chips. Personally I love raisins in oatmeal cookies and find it odd none of the lactation cookie recipes seem to use them. I might try subbing part of the chocolate chips for raisins or replacing them when I make the recipe. I’m just saying I wish the picture was of the actual cookies the recipe is for though.
hi DB, i’m not sure what you mean? there are not raisins in these cookies – these cookies have chocolate chips, and that is what i show in my photo above? i don’t care for raisins, but you can certainly add them to the recipe!
Great Recipe!
I made it with 2C oats and 1C Wheat germ (good for bf mums) and they still taste amazing! Thanks for sharing xx
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I just made these… holy moly they are INCREDIBLE! Thank you! Can’t wait to eat them more in a couple of weeks when baby is here, will see if they actually work that way too ;)
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I have been using this recipe for about 2 1/2 years now, since my second was born and I was looking for a good lactation cookie recipe. This is THE BEST! It’s not just a good lactation cookie, but an amazing overall cookie that everyone loves! They are some of my very favorite cookies to make. My friends and I make them just to have them and none of us are even nursing anymore, and yes, even with the brewers yeast and everything because they just aren’t the same without it. Thank you so much for this recipe!
do you let the butter soften before mixing? or can you use it straight out of the fridge?
Does anyone know if it matters if I used pressed coconut oil instead of the virgin kind? Grabbed the wrong jar at the store and already made one batch with it.
I am so impressed with the cookies. I am going to be honest, I was second guessing them while I was in the hospital having my son the weekend. I started eating them a week before my c-section and really hoping that the cookies would help me breastfeed this time. Failed with my first two. I had my son Thursday morning and by Friday night I was full and he was happy. I followed the recipe to a tee except I used 2 extra spoons of the brewers yeast. Best cookie I have ever had and works wonders. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe.
I’ve made this recipe a few times now. But I’ve done a few things different. I make it with almond flour instead of regular flour. I substitute 1 cup of brown sugar instead of 1 1/2 cup regular sugar and use 2 whole eggs. I bake them at 350 for 12 min and they are so perfect and soft once cooled!!! I also added in a heaping scoop of peanut butter this last batch! Yummy
I attempted to make these with all purpose gluten free flour (which is 1-1), but they are horribly dry and crumbly. After baking one tray, I tried adding some liquid, that didn’t help. I then added the egg white & some almond butter – a little better, but still quite dry. I guess I should have used less flour. Will try again.
The dough came out so dry so before I baked them I added half a cut of milk, three table spoons of almond butter, used coconut sugar instead of real sugar, added two table spoons of maple syrup too. With all that they came out perfect. And not to sweet. Also I used sprouted wheat flour instead of reg flour.
Just made these tonight to help with my milk supply and they turned out SUPER yummy! I did read through the comments beforehand and ended up using all butter, both whole eggs and brown sugar instead of cane sugar. I had to hide them from myself they turned out so good. I will update if I see a change in my milk supply after this batch is gone.
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I made these for my wife who is breastfeeding our two week old. Only problem I had, I can’t keep my hands off them. The wife loves them and seems to be helping produce more milk. Thank you
How many would you say is a serving?
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