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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1,884 Comments on “Lactation Cookies.”
These cookies are delicious. Thank you for the recipe.
These turned out amazing!! I grinded up steel-cut oats into flour and substituted that for regular flour, and I used Earth Balance Vegan Soy-Free butter instead of regular butter. I also added at least a tablespoon or two extra of brewers yeast and flaxseed. And I used two tablespoons of vanilla because I personally feel like that makes all cookies better. Next time I make them I’m going to try an egg substitute to make them completely vegan!
Also I substituted normal sugar for 1 cup coconut sugar 1/2 cup organic cane sugar, but I think they probably only need a cup, if that. :)
I made them without eggs by replacing one egg with a mashed banana and the other egg with flax (1T flaxmeal mixed with 3T water). It was a delicious hint of banana, without being overwhelming.
So you ground up the oats and used them for flour and added the whole oats on top of that? I can’t have dairy so I use vegan butter… did they turn out moist?
Yes the ground up steel cut oats as flour as well as the regular oats. And yes they were still moist with the vegan butter!! They were not as moist when I tried without the egg but I used applesauce instead of banana so maybe that would be better!
Any idea regarding calorie count? I eat like three at a time 😐
I entered the recipe into MFP and it said 267 calories a cookie per 24 cookies.
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How many of these cookies do you eat to make a good supply of milk?
I was eating 2-3 cookies for my midnight snack and then one or two during the day and had a huge rush of supply. They really do work amazing!
What if you can only fine nutritional yeast over Brewers yeast? Should I add More vanilla or something else to cover up the nutritional yeast taste?
You need brewers yeast for the lactation benefits. I would check online if you can’t find it local.
I found Brewers Yeast on Amazon (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IFHPPJK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1)
i found brewers yeast at my local GNC store.
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I love making these cookies for my new mom friends! Made them for my sister when she had her most recent baby, and her whole family loved them. My bro-in-law asked if they would make him lactate and I assured him they wouldn’t 😂😂
Holy wow these are delicious! I even stuffed up the recipe a bit (threw in all wet ingredients instead of mixing individually, whoops) and they turned out SO good! I used plain white store flour but will be trying wholemeal next time, and would love to find a substitute for the butter that works. I also had some chocolate raspberry truffle powder in the cupboard that I added, so they are extra chocolatey with a touch of raspberry (would be perfect with cherries in it!). I can’t wait to play around with the recipe to make a slightly lower calorie content cookie (worked out roughly 150 cal per cookie 😯)
It came out delicious. I used mire coconut oil and a little less butter because I love coconut. But these were amazingand and my family loves them.
My wife has used these to increase milk and has been sharing the recipe with breast feeding mothers. Who swear by its ability to help. The reason for my post is we substitute flour with cricket flour. Still great taste with a little something unique. The cricket flour we used was a combination of cricket powder with regular flour. The cricket flour was made up of 1/4 cricket powder with 3/4 flour to make 1 cup of cricket flour.
These cookies are delicious! My dough was also crumbly but forming it into a flattened balled with my hands worked perfectly. They were very tasty and this recipe made a gallon sized bag full. I’ll have a hard time not eating them all too fast! The only change i made was that I blended my rolled oats a bit to make them a little smoother.
Can I use raw flaxseed instead of ground flaxseed?
I did
You’ll need to grind the flaxseed. I use a coffee grinder. Our bodies have a difficult time digesting whole flaxseed.
Anyone tried coconut flour instead of regular flour?
Any idea how to make these more moist? More butter and coconut oil maybe? They taste good but they are hard to chew (Mild TMJ). I used whole flaxseed instead of ground because it’s what I had…didn’t seem to make a difference in consistency. It was really hard to fold In The chocolate chips due to the dryness of the dough…I would use less chip because of this.
Mine were too and I don’t know what else to do. They just crumble now that they are baked and I tried baking for only 10 mins. I basically have to use them as granola as I don’t want to waste all the ingredients.
I substituted half to a third of the butter with applesauce and they were not too hard. Also make sure you take them out while still slightly soft and let cool on the pan before putting on cooling rack. This will slowly bake them the rest of the way without drying them out. Yummy!
I can not wait to try this recipe. I just got the lactation ingredients from swanson products.com they are the besg price out there. I am going to try adding chia and hemp seed powder as well to this recipe. I am wondering if adding alot more of the brewers yeast will affect the taste. I dont want to have to eat 6 cookies a day to make it work bc of the calories of course. I would like to try to make it to whrre i can eat only 3 cookies a day. If i double the brewers yeast do you think it would atill turn put right?
Yum! The cookies are so much tastier (and cheaper) than the store bought ones. I followed the recipe (minus the ‘organic’ part on some of the ingredients) and slightly increased the yeast/flax as someone had suggested. The cookies came out great, although the dough was slightly dry. Even though the cookie is quite crumbly, I still rate them 5 stars.
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Can I make this without the oats and get the same benefits?
Does anyone know if these cookies cause your infant to have gas?
They apparently can because of the brewers yeast.
These cookies tasted awesome! Because I had such a hard time stirring them towards the end, I added some milk to make the consistency smoother.
These were so delicious! I made them with whole wheat flour (just half a cup) since that’s what I had on hand, and they came out divine. Also added in some walnuts. I’ll be making this recipe again and again even when I stop nursing! My husband and son loved them, too.
I followed the recipe but the dough was quite crumbly and didn’t come together very well. Is there something I should add more of or do you know why this might be? I really have to mush balls together in m hands to get them to stay together on the tray. Thanks! Otherwise they are delicious!!
Did you soften the butter before you beat it with the coconut oil?
Yes, I softened the butter and coconut oil
I made these cookies last night, ate them this morning, and my supply has increased significantly already! I made them as a crap shoot, just to try and see if they would increase my supply, and I was so pleasantly surprised that they worked! The dough does seem crumbly when you make it, but I used my hands to roll them into balls instead of using an ice cream scoop, so I molded them together and they stayed together and baked perfectly. I also added an extra two tbsp.’s of the brewer’s yeast for an (at the time–*hopeful*) extra boost in supply , and they still baked to perfection. I also used regular sugar because it was what I had on hand. These cookies are absolutely delicious!!! This was my first time using coconut oil, and I absolutely loved the flavor it gave the cookies. Add on the fact that they worked–I’ll definitely be making them again! Thank you so much for this recipe!
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Hey so I just made this and changed a little by using nonorganic stuff cause couldn’t find some, and too expensive too, but also ground up the oats cause I hate the texture of oats, and they get stuck in back of my throat sometimes too, probably should have added more coconut oil to help because they didn’t spread at all and I had to one press them into balls…very crumbly dough, but still taste good so not complaining! But should have added like maybe a tablespoon more of coconut oil since it made the oats more fine and absorbed more of the moisture
How many cookies should you eat a day for best results?
I didn’t change a thing..I loved them..This is my second time making them and they help me maintain my suppply..
Hi, i was wondering if you could use raw sugar instead of cane sugar
I made these cookies yesterday. I only used butter and substituted some of the butter for applesauce (5-6 tbs) to lower the caloric intake. I didn’t have flaxseed, so I used chia seeds. I used mini chocolate chips and a smaller ice cream scoop to make and freeze the cookie dough. I added two extra tbs of brewers yeast. These cookies are delicious and I can’t stop eating them. My dough wasn’t crumbly as some other reviewers have noted. Thank you for sharing this recipe and I look forward to making them again. Next time, I’ll use the coconut oil as indicated.
I made these for my bestie who has a two month old and has been feeling frustrated with her production. I’m a baker so I played with the recipe a little and they came out great. I’m going to play a little more but these were the little changes I made after reading some of the comments. I first kept the oats separate from the rest of the dry ingredients. I creamed the butter and coconut oil, 1 cup white sugar and 1/2 cup light brown sugar, added two whole eggs (one at a time) and vanilla. Then the dry ingredients minus the oats until well combined. Then added the oats and chocolate chips until just combined and folded with a spatula until I was happy with the consistency. I baked them for 12 minutes and I feel that 90% of them came out not crumbly. I think I might up the brown sugar to dark and use a 1:1 of white to brown sugar, add more vanilla and add some different mix ins on my next batch. I really hope these work for her! 🤞
I LOVE these cookies. I double the batch and always freeze some. I’ve made them multiple times since having my little girl in September. They are delicious even if you aren’t breastfeeding. I’ve never commented on any of your recipes before but great job with everything! You rock and keep up the good work.
I decided to try these as I am trying to increase my supply. For some reason in my mind I was reading the recipe as 4 tablespoons of butter and 4 tablespoons of coconut oil so that’s what I did. I whipped it really well in my stand mixer (I use salted butter). I also added 1/2 tsp salt as it needed a little more flavor. These turned out amazing. I only discovered my error when I shared this recipe with my girlfriend. She can’t do butter and asked if I thought this would work with all coconut oil. I said for sure because I thought she would only be replacing 4 tablespoons of butter. :) So if anyone wants to know if you can reduce the fat you definitely can. These were so good with 4 tbsp of coconut oil and 4 tbsp of butter only. The dough was a little dry so I simply added some whole milk as I was mixing to help it pull together and it worked wonderfully.
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I don’t have any coconut oil. Could I use something else?
My store’s in my area didn’t carry brewers yeast. I did find something called BRAGG nutritional yeast seasoning. If I substitute this will the cookies turn out the same? What should I do
They would not turn out the same. Brewers yeast can be found in health food stores, or I believe you can find it on Amazon.
This recipe is AMAZING. I substituted 1/2 cup of organic coconut flour instead of all-purpose flour and it was perfect.
Super easy to make and they taste incredible. I eat 6 a day (2 as a snack in between breakfast and lunch, 2 more as a snack between lunch and diner, then 2 more right before bed) and I’ve seen an improvement in my supply.
Thank you so much for sharing this recipe! I’ve shared with a few of my nursing/pregnant friends!
My niece just had a baby and found this recipe and “challenged” me to make it. Wow. They are so delicious!! Easy to make and bake. The brewers yeast was a bit difficult to find and once I did find it the container is huge. Thankfully they are delicious, so I will make more! I will,have to rename them, as non-lactating people would also enjoy them.
Oh I let my batter sit for about an hour on the counter to allow the moisture to absorb into the oats and soften them a bit. This improves the texture.
I made this with just 1 cup sugar and added 3 tbsp moringa powder (moringa is a galactagogue that is abundant in the Philippines). Yummy! Thanks for the recipe! 😊
Can you grind up the oatmeal so it’s a finer texture?
I literally just made these cookies and am eating them as they cool. (I’ve already had 3) They are delicious! I cannot wait to see how it affects my supply. Based on previous commenters, I’m hoping I see the results as well. I followed everything to the T except, I used 3/4 c. of white chocolate and milk chocolate chips and added 1/4 c. of sprinkles. I just really love sprinkles and thought it would make them fun and happier. Anything to boost mood while were building supply, right?! Mine also yielded more cookies, but I used a cookie scoop so I think mine ended up being slightly smaller than the recipes.
I added two very ripe bananas with the vanilla and then about a cup and a half of unsweetened coconut with the chocolate chips. Divine!
Where can I find brewers yeast? I can only find supplements of them. I’m in the UK
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How long will these stay good for? I made a bunch but am not sure I want to freeze any…
I made these cookies and it turned just yumm!! Thanks for this recipe!!
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Just made these and they turned out great! So much better than the store bought ones and CHEAPER which is huge for this new mama. I will be making another batch for my sister who just had a baby last month (: