Lactation Cookies (+ Video)
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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.
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
- 1/4 cup of water
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1/4 cup of 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)
- 1/2 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup coconut oil, softened
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 cups of old fashioned oats
- 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
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 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!
Recipe Notes
WARNING: Consult your doctor before making this recipe. Discontinue use and consult your doctor if any adverse reactions occur.
133 Comments on “Lactation Cookies (+ Video)”
Hi! I’m gonna try them tomorrow. Can i substitue almond and coconut flour for the whole wheat flour? What ratio would you suggest? ….will it be the same texture without adding the capsules? Thank you!!!
Hi Adriana,
Almond and Coconut Flour cannot be swapped cup for cup with Whole Wheat Flour because they are very different. Coconut Flour especially requires a LOT more eggs to keep your baked goods from drying out. You can use a gluten-free all-purpose flour (affiliate link) if you need it to be gluten free.
It will also be fine without the capsules. There’s not enough of it to make a difference with the texture of the cookie.
I tried it by substituting the ww flour with 1cup oat flour and 1 cup almond flour. Turned out a little more on the cakey side but just fine. I also made them like bars instead of cookies since the batter was a bit runny. Loved your recipe.
Glad you got it to work out with your alterations. 🙂
Omg these cookies are to good!! I love them but with all the calories I need to be careful. Hopefully they help with my milk supply
I hope so Desiree!
They didn’t seem to “flatten out” hopefully they are cooked enough and my supply increases with them!!
They’re definitely a thicker cookie. Maybe press them down a little bit next time. As long as they work though! Fingers crossed for you!
Hi Amber! So I’m planning to bake this cookie tonight. I’m just curious since I’m watching out my sugar consumption can I just use the 3/4 brown sugar and eliminate the other sugar in the recipe? Or what can you recommend? Also is it supposed to be chewy in terms of texture? Thanks a lot! I’m looking forward to have my milk supply up with this cookie.
You are always free to try and alter the recipe if you want to. I fear that without the extra sugar, it will be more crumbly and not spread as much. Maybe try doing 1 cup of brown sugar and then eliminate the granulated sugar. This cookie is pretty chewy, compared to crunchy. Especially if you freeze and microwave it. Good luck!
Thanks! Will let you know how it goes
Will be baking my 4th batch of this cookies today and it totally increased my milk supply. Took my first cookie and it immediately increased my supply. So my husband was so inpressed with the output that he’s funding all my baking needs to make this cookie!
By the way, can I replace the chocolate with raisin or a cashew nut? How many would I need if that’s the case?
I’ve only made with raisins and I used the same 1cup quantity. Also added 2tsp cinnamon!!
I’m so glad this recipe is working for your Lyna! You can absolutely substitute the chocolate with equal amounts of raisins or nuts. Feel free to customize it the way you would like. 🙂
I couldn’t find brewers yeast but the lady at the store said nutritional yeast was similar. Will the recipe still come out?
I’m betting it will still be okay. Good luck!
Just for the future- I found some brewer’s yeast at my local Sprouts. So maybe try a health food store next time since I don’t think most grocery stores carry it!!
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!
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!
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.
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!
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?
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/
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!
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.
Have you made a double batch of these before??
I haven’t, but I don’t think that would be a problem at all.
Can you make them as bar cookies to save time?
I don’t see why not. They’d probably take about 20-25 minutes.
I just wanted to say thank you. I had a hard time with my supply and found these cookies on pinterest and they helped a lot. Fast forward to two months I broke two toes and was on some pain killers and we just switched to formula I was 10 days into not breastfeeding and my LO was on formula, and I decided no I’m not quitting. Pulled the cookies I had left in the freezer out, read every article I could find on relactating, and within a day of me eating these cookies I went from pumping drops and crying because I didn’t think I could reestablish my supply to now pumping 4 ounces again, still eating two cookies a day. Thank you so much for all that you do.
I’m so happy this helped you Tiffiany! Thanks for sharing your story!
Hi! I am currently taking organic moringa pills right now. You think it’s okay to mix it in like the Fenugreek? Thanks!
You’re going to have to ask your doctor that one. I’m not sure. Sorry!
Hi! This recipe is awesome! Thanks so much! I was wondering if you could share the health challenge that you went on? Thank you!
Hi Sarah! Thanks for your comment! I have done several rounds of The Game On Health Challenge. It always helps me get back on track when I start to get off balance. Love it!
I made these cookies and they are fabulous. Definitely helped my milk supply. I didn’t use the white sugar and I found the cookies to still be delicious (wanted to take out some unnessasary sugar if it was possible & and it was). I also froze them all together in a freezer friendly container which worked great (didn’t individually wrap). I would eat one cookie per day right from the freezer and they are soooo good … in fact I’m making another batch right now for a friend and myself! One batch makes a generous amount! Thanks for the great recipe!
Thanks for sharing your alterations with us! Glad these cookies are working out well for you!
These cookies are amazing!!!! Thank you so much for this recipe! I wish I would have made a double batch =]
Glad you are enjoying them! Definitely double the batch next time. 🙂
I made these cookies, but I couldn’t handle the smell/taste of the brewers yeast. Any ideas?
Molly
Extra chocolate chips? Unfortunately, it’s just something you have to get used to. You could try taking it out of the recipe, but it may not work as well to help boost your milk supply.
Hi, I only have whole Fenugreek, not the capsules. How do I make the substitution?
Thank you,
Eleni
It would be about 5.49 grams of whole Fenugreek. I would try grinding it with a coffee grinder or in a food processor before using it in the recipe.
Thank you for this recipe!! It really does work! I made these the week of my due date and froze them and started eating 2 per day (one in the morning and one at night) as soon as I got home from the hospital. My baby never lost weight and was back up to birth weight in a week which I’m pretty sure is due to the cookies. I stopped eating them to lose weight and my supply seemed great. Then my baby girl just turned 6 months and my period started again so my supply started dropping. Back to the cookies! Within 48 hours of eating the cookies my supply doubled! I am not eating dairy and soy free so I used a full cup of coconut oil and omitted the butter and used dairy/soy free chocolate chips and they were still so so good!! Thank you!!
I’m so glad to hear that this recipe helped you! Thanks for sharing your experience with us!
I am already taking Motherlove More Milk Plus Capsules and i was told to make sure i don’t use the same ingredients in cookie etc. while taking the pills, so i would not be able to use the fenugreek in this recipe, is there any thing that you recommend i could use in place of this ingredient?
Volume wise, there is not a lot of fenugreek, so I would just leave it out and make the recipe as is. It should be fine.
Hi! Will be ok to substitute the sugar for swerve? And can I substitute ww flour for almond meal/flour? Idk if it would destroy the cookie flavor. Thanks!
Swerve for sugar should be fine, but almond meal/flour for whole wheat flour might not work so well. It’s more dense, so you may want to try a gluten free all-purpose flour instead.