I never thought that I would have to worry about milk supply with a one-year-old. But alas! little M turned 14 months and started nursing like an infant again (growth spurt? developmental leap? who knows!), and my boobs just can’t keep up! I’ve been upping my lactogenic tinctures and eating more milk boosting foods in general, but I needed a little extra oomph. That’s where these delicious lactation cookies came in! Seriously, this recipe is the best one I’ve found, and I’ve searched far and wide.
These cookies are loaded with oats, brewer’s yeast, almonds, and flax—all super milk boosting foods—and have the added benefit of healthy fats (grass-fed butter, coconut oil and flakes, and eggs) to keep a nursing mama going strong. Remember, while you’re nursing is NEVER the time to go low-fat or skimp on your nutrients. Your body prioritizes your own functions first, so if there isn’t enough healthy fat in your diet (emphasis on the healthy—ice cream and burgers don’t count), your milk supply will suffer.
The addition of dark chocolate chunks makes the cookies a little sinful, while still being oh-so-healthy! Better to get our sweet fix from a food that is doing our bodies a load of good than to sneak less-than-ideal sweets out of the cupboard while nobody is looking… Right?!
I limit myself to 2 cookies a day (one with my after-lunch Mother’s Milk Tea and one before M’s bedtime) and can attest to the fact that these delicious cookies really work. My supply has increased in just one day, and my mood is much improved as well!
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup coconut flour organic
- 3/4 cup whole wheat flour organic
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats organic
- 5–7 tbsp brewer’s yeast
- 3 tbsp ground flaxseed
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 10 tbsp unsalted butter organic and grass-fed
- 6 tbsp virgin coconut oil organic and unrefined
- 1 1/4 cup coconut palm sugar organic
- 2 large eggs organic and cage-free
- 2 tsp vanilla extract organic
- 3/4 cup dark chocolate chips or chunks organic
- 2 tbsp almond butter, raw and organic if possible
- 1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes organic
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
- In a large bowl, whisk the first 9 ingredients (everything dry).
- Using an electric mixer, beat the butter and coconut oil on medium speed until creamy. Add coconut palm sugar and beat on medium to high speed until fluffy—approximately 4 minutes, stopping to periodically scrape down the sides of the bowl. Add eggs and vanilla extract and beat until combined, about 2–3 minutes. Add almond butter and beat until combined.
- Slowly add the dry ingredients, on low speed, until combined. Stir with the chocolate chips and coconut flakes with a spatula until they’re evenly distributed.
- Using a spoon or ice cream scoop, place roughly 1 inch scoops of dough on a parchment lined baking sheet, 2 inches apart. Bake for 10–15 minutes, or until the bottoms are golden brown.
- Cool on a cooling rack before storing in a sealed container.
Recipe Notes
- The dough can be frozen very easily. Freeze the scooped dough balls for two hours and then put in a zip-lock bag until you’re ready to bake them! You may need to add a few extra minutes to the baking time.
- You can adjust the butter to coconut oil ratio to suit your taste, as long as your total amount is 16 tbsp. The recipe can be made vegan by using all coconut oil, and flax eggs instead of eggs, but I haven’t tried this variation, so I can’t attest to the specifics!
- The recipe can be made gluten-free by substituting your favorite gluten-free flour mix for the whole wheat flour.
- Make sure you use brewer’s yeast and not baking yeast or nutritional yeast—they are not the same thing!!
You might need about 10 min for prepping and 15 min for cooking. You can prepare about 24 cookies with the quantities mentioned here.
