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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1,869 Comments on “Lactation Cookies.”
Just made the recipe :) are we able to bake these in an air fryer too?
This are WONDERFUL and DELICIOUS! I’m not sure what brand of the ingredients the not so great reviewers were using but I used “It’s Just!” brand brewer’s yeast powder (purchased from Amazon) and Nestle dark chocolate chips, Bob’s Red Mill Old Fashioned Rolled Oats, Domino sugar, store brand all purpose flour, store brand unsalted butter, and I added store brand sliced almonds to my recipe. I smashed half of the chocolate chips in a ziplock bag before adding so they’d give the cookies chocolate in every bite and I added some mini semi-sweet chocolate chips that I had around the house since the bag of dark chocolate chips that my husband bought was smaller than the recipe called for in measurement. The cookies were delicious and my whole family enjoyed them! They were compared to Chick-Fil-A’s chocolate chunk cookies (which is a huge compliment!)
How many are recommended a day?
Can I freeze the baked cookies? I saw that you said the dough can be frozen but I wasn’t sure about the already baked cookie.
Thank you.
I’ve frozen the cookies and defrosted them as needed and I actually preferred the flavour of the defrosted to the fresh.
I’m the same! I prefer them out of the freezer than I do fresh. I feel like they’re chewier, which I like!!
How many do we eat a day?
How many cookies per day do you recommend to eat? Debittered yeast was perfect in these.
It would be much easier to make these exactly if the recipe was in weight.
I just posted my take on the recipe. I used weighted measurements!
Love it! Thank you, so much better this way!
What If you can’t have yeast ? Does this recipe absolutely need to have yeast ?
I’d recommend baking powder instead. Might taste differently, but it would have a similar rise.
Brewer’s yeast doesn’t have any rising abilities… it is deactivated yeast and used in recipes for the flavor as well as the vitamins and minerals it contains. Lol.
Can you use chia seed instead of flaxseed for same results?
Likely yes, though I’d recommend using ground chia seeds.
I have made this several times for myself and for friends who have babies. They have turned out wonderfully! Here is my take by weight :)
300g old-fashioned rolled oats
180g unbleached organic all-purpose flour
40g brewers yeast (too bitter when I tried to add extra, used Now brand)
26g ground flaxseed
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons organic unsalted butter (1 regular stick)
120g unrefined organic virgin coconut oil
300g organic cane sugar
1 large egg + 1 large egg yolk (do NOT use two whole eggs, it comes out weird)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
283g dark chocolate chips (I just use the whole 10oz bag I buy from trader joes)
How much does the butter weigh?
The butter is 113 grams
These are the best cookies ever. I ate 6 batches after giving birth and enjoyed every bite. Also make them as gifts to girlfriends who deliver. Thank you!
I should add: I use coconut sugar and gluten free all-purpose flour. Results are good!
Thank you for this note! I’ll be trying these tonight with coconut sugar and Bob’s red mills GF flour
What could I substitute the yeast with? New mom that I’m making these for is allergic.
Brewer’s yeast is different than baking yeast, but if she is allergic i would leave it out all together.
The brewers yeast in these is what makes them lactation cookies and boosts milk supply so its my understanding that they’ll just be normal cookies without it…
I LOVE these cookies! I may actually be obsessed with them as they are all I want to eat .
I made these for a friend today, and I definitely think I scooped on the smaller side, as I ended up with 3+ dozen cookies (2” diameter)!! These cookies are SO good. Thank you for this recipe!
These cookies are amazing!!
I made them for a friend. Similar to everyone I found the recipe dry and hard to form balls even when using ice cream scoop. I did increase to two whole eggs (600g per dozen). I found it less dry and that way I don’t have left over egg white. I did press down the balls before making, Otherwise it remained in ball form even after baking.
These taste yummy but r kind of dry. I’ll try the recipe again with more fat and more sugar. I’m wondering how many cookies r a serving? Like how many should I eat per sitting to increase my breast supply. Three cookies and a glass of milk filled me up so for now I’m gonna do that.
The brewers yeast isn’t for the rise, you can use savory yeast – it’s for the nutritional benefits of helping improve lactation.
I made these with a few substitutions to make them vegan and they are so good!! I used 1 and 1/2 chia egg instead of eggs, subbed in plant butter, vegan chocolate chips, and coconut sugar. The first batch stayed in a ball while baking, so I flattened out the second batch and they came out great. 12 minutes got them golden and a bit crispy. The recipe yielded 32 cookies for me, and I’m freezing half to thaw later once I’ve gone through the first half. Will definitely be saving this recipe!
These are very good! They’re a nice treat without being too sweet, and the flavor is really balanced even with the brewers yeast. (I agree with the notes that it could probably handle 1 Tbsp more without tasting bitter.)
After reading the recipe notes at the end, I did use about 8 Tbsp each of butter & coconut oil because I had more coconut oil on hand than butter. I used one full stick of butter (8 Tbsp, 113 grams), and then 1 Tbsp water + enough coconut oil to make 113 grams. Since butter has more water content, I did this to balance out my substitution, and it worked great.
These are really tasty, but I’ll say they were very hard to scoop out and put on the baking tray without them just falling apart. I feel like more liquid is needed to bind them. I’m no professional baker, so I can’t say what the amounts should be. Off the top of my head I’m thinking a little apple sauce would do the trick. Otherwise, they did bake nicely and were delicious. Still waiting to see an increase in my milk supply
Hi! How long can I keep the cookie dough in the freezer? Thank you!
Made these yesterday and while they are tasty and I like the variety of ingredients I do feel the dough is a too dry which results in drier, crunchier cookies (I like mine chewy). If it’s possible to alter the recipe for a more chewy texture it’d be great to have that option. I also love adding more chocolate to my recipes and in this case I added exactly what was recommended and it was actually too much! The amount of chocolate made it more difficult for the dry dough to stick together.
I used coconut sugar & brown sugar instead of cane sugar. Just did half and half and they aren’t too Dry or crunchy. Not super chewy but definitely a bit softer.
I make these cookies for my daughter-in-law, and she is absolutely obsessed with them! Only thing I do differently is I add two full eggs instead of the one egg and one egg yolk. The consistency is amazing, they are gooey and chocolatey and just wonderful!
How do you make these cookies with a table top electric mixer?
I love it!!! It’s so simple to follow and the result are impeccable!!!
I’ve made these so many times and they always turn out delicious. I’ve even made batches to give as gifts for other new parents. So good!
Made these with Nuttlex as a replacement for butter and they are still delicious!
These were delicious!! Unfortunately mine were super crumbly for some reason…not sure if it was my brewers yeast because everything I make with it seems to be crumbly. I reduced sugar by 1/4c and used brown instead of white since that’s what I had open. Other than that, I followed the recipe to a T. I did add 1/4c unsweetened coconut, so delicious!! Will make them again for sure if they help increase supply!
What kind of brewers yeast should we use? Any brand recommendations?
What kind of brewers yeast do you use? I am having a hard time determining what kind to buy? Is it the kind you would find at GNC, or from a brewing supply company? Or it is simply nutritional yeast. Trying to make a batch tomorrow.
I used Nature’s Answer brewers yeast. You can find brewers yeast at health food stores and Whole Foods etc. It’s different than nutritional yeast and is the main ingredient for increasing lactation. Hope this helps!
Delicious!! I cut out 1/2 cup of sugar and switch a 1/4 cup of the flour for protein powder and increase the brewers yeast to 7 and it makes such a great breakfast cookie too.
I made these cookies because I felt like my supply was dropping. I used all the same ingredients, no subs & my supply nearly doubled. I ate two cookies & pumped an hour later
Excellent cookies!!
My go to. So yum and they really work for making more breastmilk.
I have made these more times than I can count!!! I make them with two whole eggs because they do seem drier with one egg and one egg yolk. But other than that i use whatever brand of ingredients i have on hand and they turn out great every single time!!
Can I sub all purpose flour for oat flour? What will that do to the texture and consistency
Delicious! Just made them tonight. The recipe says yields 20-22 cookies so the cookies turned out much larger than stated in the recipe . I used 6 tbsp of debittered brewers yeast and hoping to see a boost in my milk production soon with these cookies. Also added 1/4 C of chopped almonds and 1/4 C of Pepitas (green seeds) was perfect without making the cookies too coarse and added a nice nutty flavor.
I made these without the brewers yeast because I couldn’t find it at my store. These are amazing and definitely help my supply and help me to make sure I’m keeping my calories up!! 10/10
You can find it on amazon! That’s what I had to do because all the stores out where I live didn’t carry it.
Can we use something else instead of coconut oil?
Delicious!! Can you eat too many of these?? I can’t stop! I actually made some with Nutella instead of choc chips and they were sooooo good!
Also used coconut sugar and brown sugar instead of cane sugar and they are a good amount of moist 😊
I actually swapped out 1/2 cup sugar and the eggs for one single packet of no added sugar apple sauce (3.2 oz) they turned out great!!!
Trying to add in blueberries instead of chocolate chips for a blueberry muffin, fingers crossed!
I’m obsessed with these! I eat about 2-4 per day lol and I’ve noticed a significant increase in my milk supply. I’m also dairy free because of a milk protein sensitivity in my little one, so these help keep my calories up. They are approximately 250 calories each the way I make them. I used country crock plant butter and nestle toll house dairy free dark chocolate chips and noticed no difference in texture or flavor. My batches are 25 cookies.
Does it have to be dark chocolate or can I use milk chocolate?
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Hi there,
I made these cookies using 1-1 Bob’s Red Mill gluten free flour and they are absolutely delicious! This recipe is definitely staying in my cookbook even post breastfeeding
This is my to Go recipe always. I love it and I love the raw cookie dough 😂 I can’t never have enough. I do adjust the amount of sugar, and I measure all the ingredientes by weight instead of the “old fashion” way because it does give me a better results that way. Thank you for sharing this recipe is amazing.
What should I change if I want to make a cocoa one
Replace a portion of the flour with cocoa powder. As in, instead of 1 & 1/2 cups flour you would do 1 cup flour and 1/2 cup cocoa powder. If you wanted less or more cocoa just measure out the flour and then remove X cup flour and add X cup cocoa.
These cookies are delicious!!
However, my bottoms always seem to burn and they are in there for UNDER 10 min…… any ideas???
These are amazing! I had to take out the chocolate and sun the butter due to a dairy intolerance but they still turned out perfectly.