My Favorite Lactation Cookies
Lactation + Cookie? What now, you say?
As a dietitian, I find that quite a few women I speak with have concerns about a healthy diet post-partum and being able to supply enough breast milk for their baby.
Let me first say, you are doing great mama! Whether you choose to breast feed for 1 week or 2 years I’m a HUGE fan of providing that nutrient-dense goodness to your little.
I will secondly say…
Some of the ingredients in these cookies DO have evidence that show they could support a lactating mother.
BUT
I do not think we can simplify “best foods for lactation” down to 2-3 pantry ingredients.
In fact, it is much more important for new mamas to focus on consuming a nourishing, well-balanced diet abundant in vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds, whole grains, healthy sources of fat and quality proteins at a calorie intake high enough to support the demands of breastfeeding.
That being said, let’s talk about COOKIES.
I am generally a very hungry person. And after my first, in those hazy weeks of round the clock breastfeeding I was like, REAL hungry. And sometimes you just want a sweet snack, amirite?
I prepped these cookies before Lia and now I’ve prepped a mega batch for impending baby and I am so glad I did. They provide convenient energy, filling fat, a sweet tooth craving cured and bonus ‘lactation-supporting’ ingredients!
So I bet you’re wondering what ingredients make these ‘lactation’ cookies:
- Brewer’s Yeast: a powerful nutritional supplement bursting with B vitamins and iron which has been shown to increase milk supply.
- Oats: a rich source of the fiber, beta-glucan, which can help boost the lactation-supporting hormone, prolactin.
- Flaxseed: high in phytoestrogens which may help boost milk supply.
- Coconut oil: consumption of healthy and adequate fats supports your body in the demands of breastfeeding. Coconut oil is particularly high in lauric acid which is an important component of breastmilk.
This recipe includes all four of these ingredients, score! It also contains a fair amount of butter, sugar and chocolate. So I ain’t pretending these cookies have a health halo…but they ARE delicious and meant for everyone! Brewers yeast, oats, flaxseed and coconut oil are all nutritious foods and can be enjoyed by anyone, regardless of breastfeeding status.
This is a very large batch of cookies because I am always making them to keep in the freezer. Feel free to halve the recipe if desired!
I know I will probably get a lot of questions about substitutions, so make sure to check out the notes section under the recipe. I think this recipe is best written as is and I have not tried it many other ways. But if you do make substitutions that work well, drop a comment below so others can benefit!
What are you waiting for? Your post-partum mama friends will love you SO much when you prep them a batch of these delicious cookies!
My Favorite Lactation Cookies
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 11-13 minutes
- Total Time: 43 minutes
- Yield: 40 large cookies 1x
Description
Delicious chocolate chunk cookies bursting with lactation-supporting ingredients like Brewers yeast, flaxseed and oats!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cup oats
- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 cup Brewers yeast
- 1/2 cup ground flaxseed
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 1/2 sticks butter (20 tablespoons), softened to room temperature
- 8 tablespoons virgin coconut oil
- 1 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 1/2 cup sugar
- 4 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 4 large eggs
- 4 cups chocolate chunks, chopped chocolate and/or regular or mini chocolate chips
- flaky sea salt (for garnish, optional)
Instructions
1. In a food processor, process the oats until fine, essentially making an ‘oat flour’. You can leave them whole, but I’ve tried both ways and really love the texture of these cookies made with oat flour.
2. In a large bowl combine the pulsed oats, flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, Brewers yeast, flaxseed and cinnamon, stir to combine. Set aside.
3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and coconut oil until light, 2 minutes. Add the sugars and cream for additional 4-5 minutes, until very light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time beating well after each addition for about 30 seconds. Add the vanilla extract and lemon juice.
4. Gradually add dry ingredients into the batter, this is a mega batch so your bowl will be FULL. Fold in the chocolate. Line a baking tray with parchment or a baking mat and scoop cookies (using cookie or ice cream scoop) into mounds. I like pretty large cookies (about 3-4 tablespoons each) but choose whichever cookie size you desire! Place in freezer for 1-2 hours.
5. Preheat oven to 350. Place cookies on lined baking tray 2 inches apart. Bake for 11-13 minutes until just BARELY golden on top. Do NOT overbake these! It’s better to slightly underbake than overbake, keep a close eye out because all ovens are different and if you change the size of the cookie, the baking time will vary.
6. Sprinkle with sea salt as a final garnish if you’re feeling fancy like that.
Notes
If you choose not to bake these right away, here are the freezing instructions. Complete through step four (placing mounds on cookie sheet and freezing for 2 hours). Once cookie mounds are completely frozen, transfer cookies to a gallon-sized Ziploc bag, seal tightly and lay flat in the freezer. Label the bag with the date, cooking temp and time. Cooking time for this recipe is 11-13 minutes, from the freezer they will take closer to 13 minutes. Cookies last 3 months in the freezer. When ready to eat, preheat oven to 350, place desired number of cookies on a tray and bake straight from frozen (no need to thaw).
I use this food processor and this stand mixer.
I don’t love the smell or taste of Brewer’s yeast (see video lol!) but I promise, you cannot taste it in these cookies!
I have never tried this recipe with gluten free flour but it’s certainly worth a shot if you’d like to try!
As far as making these vegan you could try subbing vegan butter and doing flax eggs instead of regular eggs.
You could certainly use all chips in this recipe. But I think they are even more amazing when you use a combo of either chopped chocolate (from a bar) or chocolate chunks and mini or regular chips. The variety is everything and gives you wonderful rich pockets of chocolate!
There is quite a lot of fat in these cookies from the butter and coconut oil. You can attempt to reduce the fat but it will result in a drier cookie. The amount of fat here makes for a filling snack and can support the calorie needs of a breastfeeding mom.
This is a VERY large batch of cookies- my philosophy is that if you’re going to go to all this effort, may as well make it worth it! And these freeze beautifully, I have never actually cooked them all in one go.
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Holy moly! This is the second lactation cookie recipe I’ve tried. The first cookies I tried, I saw a slight increase in my supply (pumped about 4 extra ounces a day) after eating 2 to 3 cookies every day for a week.
They tasted very similar to these cookies and had similar ingredients, but did not have as much brewers yeast or flaxseed in them.
I just made these cookies. I think they are the perfect amount of sweetness and this is the first time I woke up ENGORGED in several months after only two days of eating these cookies.
I am 10 months postpartum and have struggled my entire postpartum journey with being an under supplier or just enougher.
I’m making these for all my mama friends!
Thank you for a great recipe!
Yaaaay! I’m so pleased to hear this Kayla! 🙂
Amazing! Just make it!
The softened butter makes all the difference (don’t melt it)
Absolutely LOVE this recipe. Have made them for all my friends after they’ve given birth and they are always raving about them and asking for more even if they are not breastfeeding!
Have a little one of my own now and I swear by them. Maybe its a placebo, but I swear whenever my supply wanes I make a big batch and I’m back lactating in full swing and even freezing excess milk.
Greetings from Chile!
I was disappointed in these cookies. They look nothing like the picture – why post a picture that looks nothing like the end product? They did not spread at all. They came out looking like hockey pucks. The second batch I flattened, but they didn’t spread out any more.
Hi Kathie, I posted that picture, because that’s how these cookies turn out for me every time. Did you follow the recipe exactly? Sometimes what I do is bang my sheet pan a few times on the counter halfway through baking to help them ‘fall’ a bit. Maybe this would help? Sorry they didn’t turn out for you!
Best,
Erica
What if I don’t have time to freeze them before baking? I’m making for a friend who just had a baby and just now realized I might need to freeze before I can bake them 🤦♀️
Can you pop them in the freezer for just a few minutes? Then bake!
Thank you for this recipe. My household is gluten free and these were easy to convert. I used Bob’s Red Mill GF 1-to-1 Baking flour.
For anyone using GF flour I highly suggest letting the cookie dough sit covered in the fridge for at least 1 hour before scooping/shaping…I prefer overnight. This allows the flour enough time to hydrate and produces a soft chewy cookie instead of a grainy texture. (I do this with ALL my cookie recipes)
Also, weigh ingredients if you can. For this recipe I used 590g of BRM flour. I tend to weigh anything that is measured in cups.
My oldest, who asked me to make these back in 2024, is expecting her 2nd later this year and my youngest is expecting soon and these cookies came up in a recent discussion. We will be making them again very soon. Thanks again!