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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is there a calorie count or serving size for this?
Love these cookies big hit. Why do they only last 3 months in the freezer and not longer?
This is the general recommendation for food safety, but you can keep them for longer.
My whole family loves these cookies! We have made them several times since my daughter was born. We’ve used King Arthur gluten free 1:1 flour from Costco each time and have had great success! We’ve even switched out the butter for an equal amount of ghee (lactose free) and haven’t noticed it mess anything up.
These are AMAZING! I added coconut flakes to mine 🤤 I have now made two batches because they are delicious! First batch I froze already baked cookies and they freeze great too! Second batch I made with monk fruit sweetener instead of sugar and they are just as amazing. I will be making these for all my postpartum friends. Thanks for the recipe 🫶🏼
Yaaay, love to hear it Mariah! Thanks for making them 🙂
I had the store-bought cookies with my first born, which was how I knew these types of cookies existed; however, I am NOT a fan of the price tag they came with. I found your recipe via Pinterest and halved it. First of all, super easy to follow. Secondly, they are delicious! my 2nd is due in March so I made the batch in preparation for his arrival. we did have 2 sample cookies for a taste test though 😀 the rest are in the freezer. A half batch yielded me 3 dozen LARGE cookies. I used a regular ice cream scoop for my cookie dough.
I baked from frozen after mixing it my cookies did not spread like yours.
hmmmm, I wonder what happened. I generally don’t let them sit to get to room temperature but you may need to! Are you baking at a high altitude?? Another trick if they don’t spread is to bang the sheet pan a few times on the counter after they’re baked and they kind of settle/spread.
I’m not saying these have made me an oversupplier, but I’m willing to keep making and eating them just in case!!
I just made these yesterday and let me tell you… WOW!! These taste amazing, and my husband also loves them 😍🤤 #perfection 👌🏻
Just prepped these for postpartum and had to bake a few up first to try them out – amazing!! So excited to be able to pop a few in the oven whenever I need a treat after baby arrives!
this RECIPE is seriously the BEST cookie recipe i have ever made! I used a mix of butterscotch and semi sweet choco chips and the taste is CHEFS KISS!! so moist and soft and flavor is amazing! will be making another batch… or two after i run out!
Is there a recommendation for how many cookies a day to eat? Is there such a thing as too many in one day?
Signed off as Overthinker Mama🤪
Is there a substitute for coconut oil. I’m not a big fan. Thank you
You could use more butter, but coconut does help with lactation if that’s the aim here!
Am i able to freeze the cookies after baking or will they not be as good?
Yep you can absolutely do that!
Can they be baked straight from the bowl or do they need to be in the fridge first?
And I know salt balances sweet. What does the lemon juice do? I’ve haven’t seen lemon unless it was a lemon dessert.
Do you use salted or unsalted butter? Also, once ground how much oat flour is actually used (I purchased oat flour for ease in this and a few other recipes, and don’t want to end up with too dry of cookies!)
Salted butter and use 1 1/2 cup oat flour 🙂
Yes. The same thing happens to me.. I tried lactation brownies and used oat flour instead of pulsing the oats and they were super dry. Now I know why.
So instead of 4c oats, it’s 1.5c oat flour?