I whipped up a batch of these cookies for a friend who recently returned to work. Her pumping output has decreased a bit and we all know how worrisome that can be when your little one is relying on mama’s milk around the clock. She messaged me this morning that she had gobbled up a bunch of cookies over the weekend and nursed lots in preparation for a week of pumping at work. And, as I’m sure you guessed … nursing lots plus lactation cookies gave her a fabulous pumping round this morning. Woohoo! Three cheers for a less stressed mama and a full baby! Truly, extra nursing sessions and skin to skin time is the ideal thing when you’re needing to boost your milk supply since your body will always respond best to baby. But, yummy cookies filled with galactagogues are a close second :)

These cookies are different than regular chocolate chip cookies specifically because of the galactagogue ingredients. Galactagogue foods help to boost milk supply, so when you’re a nursing mama, it’s wise to make these foods part of your regular diet. In this recipe, the brewer’s yeast, oats and flaxseed are all key. The rest of the ingredients make them palpable and frankly, that addictive kind of delicious! Often, I’ll make a double batch and freeze half of the dough for a second round of baking a few weeks later. Or, you can always freeze the baked cookies and just give them a quick defrost before enjoying.

Lactation Cookies

• 1 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1 cup brown sugar, packed
• 4 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal – if you have flax seeds you can pulse them in a food processor to turn them into meal
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 cup oats
• 1 cup chocolate chips or chunks – I’ve recently become a big fan of the chunks sold at Trader Joe’s!
• 4 tablespoons brewer’s yeast flakes – smells awful, works wonders and you don’t taste them in the cookies 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl whisk flaxseed and water and let sit for 3-5 minutes. It will turn into a mushy paste. In a mixer, blend butter and sugars. Add eggs and mix again. Scoop in the flaxseed mixture, add vanilla and mix until incorporated. Add the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt and brewer’s yeast). Mix it, mix it real good! And then gently fold in the oats and chocolate chips. 

Scoop into cookie dough balls (this is my favorite kitchen tool for cookies, seriously, buy one now) and bake for 15-18 minutes.

This supplement is another winner when it comes to increasing milk supply. Often you just hear of fenugreek as a milk boosting herb, but every mama’s body responds differently and thus, sometimes you have to play around with what works best for you. The combination of fenugreek, blessed thistle, goat’s rue and fennel in this blend give you the ultimate herb dose to keep milk flowing!

Read more of my breastfeeding posts here!