Lactation Cookies + Video
It works! These lactation cookies help boost your milk supply thanks to 3 key ingredients. Freezer friendly, and super delicious, these lactation cookies are a breastfeeding mama’s best friend.
We’re getting personal in here today! Haha. If you’ve followed my blog regularly, you know I have a baby boy, who is 8 1/2 months old now. So I’ve been nursing him, but when I started my health challenge in January, about 2 weeks into it, my milk supply dropped dramatically!
He was waking up constantly in the night to nurse, but he would try to eat and just cry. Repeat that during the daytime, and I felt so awful, but I really wanted to lose weight while nursing, so I had to figure out a way to do both. I know I was getting plenty of water (I was drinking 12 cups a day), and I had tried increasing my caloric intake by 300 calories (to about 1600 calories a day), but nothing was working. It’s been said that as long as the baby stimulates the breasts, your body will make more milk, but I got desperate.
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I scoured the internet for a lactation cookie recipe that sounded legit, and I tweaked it to have less sugar, chocolate chips instead of raisins, and I used half coconut oil & half butter to incorporate some healthy fats (compared to just using all butter). Those adjustments created super delicious (and almost healthy) oatmeal chocolate chip lactation cookies. My husband and kids all love these too, and you don’t have to freak out. It’s not going to give them milk making abilities just by eating them. Everyone can enjoy these tasty cookies!
I ate 2 cookies the day I made these, and 1 each day after that. My supply was back and even better than before by the 2nd day, roughly 24 to 48 hours later! I continued my 6 week health challenge, eating 1 cookie a day for my milk supply, and I still lost 11.8 pounds by the end of it. Success!
The 3 milk boosting ingredients in these lactation cookies are: flaxseed, brewer’s yeast, and fenugreek. I found everything but the brewer’s yeast at Walmart. I had to go to a health store for the brewer’s yeast, which is the most effective ingredient out of the three. (I hear if you have a Whole Foods, they have it there. Or you can buy brewer’s yeast on Amazon.) All-in-all, I spent around $22 on those three key ingredients, which isn’t bad when you think about having to continually buy formula.
The old fashioned oats in these cookies also help with milk production, but I was eating oatmeal and that alone wasn’t helping. The combination of all 3, or rather all 4, saved my milk production! I even gave some to another one of my nursing friends, and she said they tasted better and worked better than a different recipe she had tried, so there you go!
Breastfeeding can have so many ups and downs, making milk shouldn’t have to be one of the stresses. Thank goodness I have these cookies! My favorite thing is to individually wrap them and put them in the freezer. I pull one out each day after lunch and nuke it in the microwave for 30 seconds. It’s a delicious treat that helps me continue feeding my cute baby boy. Win-win!
Print or pin the recipe now! You won’t want to lose it! Share this post with your breastfeeding friends, it’s a great resource to have in case of emergencies. 😉
Lactation Cookies
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp flaxseed meal
- ¼ cup (59 ml) water
- 2 cups (304 g) whole wheat flour, (stir, spoon, & level)
- ¼ cup (60 g) brewer's yeast, (this is the main ingredient for milk production)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 9 fenugreek capsules, (empty capsules and discard)
- ½ cup (113 g) butter, softened
- ½ cup (113 g) coconut oil, softened
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup (150 g) light brown sugar, gently packed
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups (240 g) old fashioned oats
- 1 cup (170 g) semi-sweet chocolate chips
Equipment
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Mix flaxseed meal and water; set aside.
- Stir together the flour, brewer’s yeast, salt, baking soda and fenugreek, set aside.
- Blend butter, coconut oil, and sugars well. Blend in eggs. Stir in flaxseed mixture and vanilla; mix well.
- Add dry mixture. Mix until just combined. Stir in oats and chocolate chips.
- Scoop 2 Tbsp of dough, 1 to 2 inches apart, onto a silicone lined baking sheet. (About 8 cookies per tray.)
- Bake at 375˚F for 9 to 10 minutes, until matte on the top.
- Once cooled, individually wrap cookies in plastic wrap and place them in a container the freezer. Eat at least 2 cookies the first day, and one each day afterwards. (I have one every day after lunch. Just unwrap it and nuke it in the microwave for 30 seconds.) Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Did you make this?
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Can you make them as bar cookies to save time?
I don’t see why not. They’d probably take about 20-25 minutes.
Have you made a double batch of these before??
I haven’t, but I don’t think that would be a problem at all.
How much powdered fenugreek do you suggest using, as I don’t have the capsules?
Each capsule is 610 milligrams. So times 9 is 5490 milligrams or 5.49 grams.
Hi, I am 2 week postpartum and BF and pumping. I am working on building a supply so I thought I’d try these. I went out and bought all of the supplies and the only thing I did differently was I only used 1 cup of brown sugar, no white sugar. I did have to leave them in my oven for 15 mins, but ovens vary. The cookies taste AMAZING! I already ate 3! I am very impressed! Just thought I would give that insight in case anyone is on the fence about making these.
Thanks again, I hope these work!
Thanks for sharing your experience Esperanza!
A friend made me these cookies and they were delicious and they worked great! I can’t wait to make them myself! On a side note, what was the 6 week health challenge that you completed?
That’s great Emily! The health challenge I did (and do occasionally when I get off track) is this one: http://www.nodietsallowed.com/game-health-challenge/
I tried making the cookies twice but the oats always turn out hard as if they’re still raw. Do you cook the oats first or put them in the processor before adding to the recipe?
That’s strange. Maybe try quick cooking oats then. Is your cookie dry too?
Just baked these delicious cookies today & ate 4!!!! I don’t have a problem with supply for my baby but the breast pump yes!! I can only pump 1.5 oz at a time. It takes so long to try an build a stash for when I want a night out. I’m really hoping these cookies can help me out with pump output!
I hope it helps! Good luck!
Hi, there!
I love these cookies! I’ve made two batches for myself, and a batch for a friend. I’m about to make another batch, but I need to make them without any eggs. I’ve read that I can use flaxmeal or applesauce as egg substitutes. Do you have any experience or recommendations?
Thank you!
–Kate.
Hi Kate! I’m sure either of those would work fine. The texture of the cookie might be slightly different (it might not spread as much so you may want to press it halfway down before baking), but I would just go with the one you feel most comfortable with.
SERIOUSLY. BEST COOKIES EVER. I would make a batch and a half of these at a time and freeze half – as well as pass them along to my girlfriend’s that had babies after me!
They were perfect to help with the 3am hunger and you just needed a little pick me up.
I’m sad that I don’t need these anymore – they Totally worked for me – but am excited to pass along my leftover brewer’s yeast & fenugreek to a friend along with a small batch.
When I made the batch & a half I would also use coconut sugar and coconut butter as replacements for the half batch of sugar and butter. The chocolate chip chunks you can buy were Really good in these as well!
Hi Jenny! I’m so glad to hear you enjoyed these cookies so much! Thanks for taking the time to share your experience! I hope your friend enjoys these as well!
So I am having a RCS in 2 days and my milk supply was very very low with my first. I am trying to do things to be prepared this time around. I was planning on making these cookies today. Would you think I should wait until my daughter is born before I start eating the cookies? Or I had even thought of freezing them and waiting to start eating them until I got home from the hospital if my supply was low. Thoughts?
I would freeze them and eat them as soon as you get home. I believe it’s safer to use the supplements after baby is out. Just make sure you nurse the baby like crazy in the hospital. Don’t give the baby any formula. If you look up size of baby’s stomach at birth and look at the images, you will see that the baby doesn’t need much. You can do it!