Lactation Cookies

Our lactation cookies recipe is not only easy to make they’re also the best lactation cookies recipe we’ve ever tried. Filled with healthy ingredients like brewers yeast, oatmeal, quinoa, flaxseed, and pumpkin seeds, some of the best foods for breastfeeding.

I breastfed my daughter for 4 years and lactation cookies were a great treat for me to keep up my breastmilk supply. I even had to stop eating them sometimes because I would get too much milk! They really worked wonders. I always had a fresh batch of cookies in the oven so I could share with other nursing moms at our local breastfeeding meetup.

Do lactation cookies work?

Yes! These lactation cookies work and they’re the best lactation cookies I’ve ever tasted! I’ve tried my fair share of store bought.

Why did I breastfeed for 4 years? I know most only breastfeed for a year, but my daughter had a rare food allergy called FPIES. She was extremely underweight and eventually fell off the growth chart. I was constantly told she was sick, but it was actually her stomach, she was allergic to many different foods and we couldn’t even supplement with formula. I had to avoid her trigger foods and her main source of nutrition was breastmilk.

I worked on this Lactation Boosting Cookie Recipe for about a month. My sister in law was the main reason I wanted to come up with a really good lactation cookie recipe. I wanted lactation cookies that not only worked but tasted like a delicious cookie. She had tried to breastfeed her first son and she had some difficulties, she didn’t produce enough so she had to start supplementing. Unfortunately, at that time I wasn’t even a mom and had very little knowledge about breastfeeding.

When she saw me breastfeeding my daughter she said she prayed that she could breastfeed her next baby, and I promised her we would make it happen! I was beyond thrilled when my homemade lactation cookies helped boost her breastmilk supply. My brother in law asked me to make more so they could keep up her supply, so I made a bunch of dry cookie mix in a jar so they could just add in the wet ingredients before baking cookies. I always make a batch of lactation cookies for baby shower gifts, even if the mom won’t be breastfeeding, the cookies are delicious!

Who wants to eat a boring and weird tasting cookie?! I tried coming up with a few recipes and then started to tinker in the kitchen. The results were good and bad. I tried to make healthy lactation cookies using coconut oil, but the butter definitely helped it more than the coconut oil for flavor and texture. I combat the butter issue by using only grass-fed butter which is much better for you.

One thing that concerned me was that some recipes had cups of sugar, both brown and white! I wanted this cookie to be sweet and delicious – but not full of sugar.  I took these cookies over to my in-laws where my sister in law was visiting too.  She just had the baby so obviously, everyone was there and they all wanted to try the cookies! 🙂

I made plenty since I was actually testing the recipe.  I like to try my recipes 3x at least before posting to make sure it’s perfection!  The results were unanimous. They all LOVED the cookies!  At first, I didn’t tell them that the cookies were actually to boost lactation in nursing mothers. Do lactation cookies really work? Absolutely, but if you’re not a lactating mom they’re still a great treat. Besides the ingredients are not harmful to people who aren’t nursing – they’re actually healthy and good for you ingredients.  So kiddos and daddy can enjoy them too!

Lactation cookies that taste delicious! I have had many readers even email me telling me they loved this recipe and it makes my heart so happy when they tell me it helped them increase breastmilk supply for their baby.

What is Brewers Yeast

Brewer’s yeast is actually an ingredient that is used in the production of bread and beer. It is classified as a fungus. Brewer’s yeast is commonly used as a nutrition supplement for things like increasing breastmilk, regulating blood sugar, vitamin B, and a probiotic for digestion. Brewers yeast can counteract with certain medications so it’s always best to speak with your doctor before trying any new medications or supplements.  (Where to buy brewers yeast I went to my local vitamin store to ensure it was fresh.)

Brewer’s Yeast Benefits

While many use brewers yeast for breastfeeding it has many other benefits as well. 

While I took Brewer’s Yeast to increase breastmilk supply it also had great benefits that I wasn’t expecting. I noticed that my indigestion was much better and that even my hair and nails were much stronger! Here are some benefits that you may see when you try Brewer’s Yeast.

• improves digestion – I personally noticed my digestion was much better while consuming brewer’s yeast daily.
• fewer migraines – I noticed fewer migraines and I still take brewer’s yeast during that time of the month when women are most likely to get migraines.
• increased energy – I attribute my increased energy levels to the vitamin B.
• helps balance blood sugar levels, reduce high cholesterol (source)

Brewers yeast is excellent for breastfeeding, but it tastes horrible. I remember trying to make some brewers yeast oatmeal or brewers yeast in a smoothie and I had to literally choke it down. Brewers yeast is often used to increase breastmilk supply and it works for many women, but it doesn’t work for everyone. If you’re having an issue with producing milk it’s always best to consult with a lactation consultant.

How to increase breastmilk supply

There are several ways to increase breastmilk supply but our a favorite way is by providing your body with optimal nutrients needed to produce breast milk. Drink tons of water! I always had my reusable water bottle filled up and ready to go, your body needs water to create breastmilk. Ensuring your baby has a proper latch is also a great way to ensure not only good milk flow but also prevent damage to the nipple. Skin to skin helped us tremendously in the beginning as well.

Good Food for Breastfeeding

Your breastmilk needs to be full of vitamins and nutrients for the baby so taking a prenatal, not skipping meals, and ensuring a healthy diet is ideal. Try avoiding gassy foods as these can cause gas for baby as well. Find more info on foods that are great for breastfeeding here.

Foods that were an essential part of my breastfeeding diet

• water!!!! – can’t stress how important it is to drink more water for breastfeeding
• fresh, organic fruits and vegetables
• brewer’s yeast
• sesame seeds
• quinoa
• rolled oats – no instant oatmeal
• fenugreek
• salmon – omegas for baby and mom
• cumin
• sweet potato
• chickpeas

These were my favorite foods to eat while breastfeeding to increase milk supply and the one food I did avoid was tuna as tuna has large amounts of mercury. There are other fish that should be avoided, I stuck with salmon and sardines and limited those as well. I made sure to get a prenatal vitamin as well as prenatal DHA daily. I also enjoyed a strawberry banana breakfast smoothie pretty often.

Know a nursing mom?  Make her a batch or two and she’ll thank you forever. They make a great gift for new nursing moms and you can even give them cookies in a jar! Just put the dry ingredients in the jar with and let them add wet ingredient using the instructions. They’re easy to make and eat 😉  I’m proud to say that both myself and my sister in law have noticed an increase in milk production eating and enjoying these lactation cookies.

how to make lactation cookies

Preheat your oven and start combining the ingredients. In a large bowl, you’ll combine the butter, white sugar, brown sugar, and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl combine all of the dry ingredients, the whole wheat pastry flour, baking soda, brewers yeast, flaxseed, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and also add in the egg. Fold in the oats quinoa, seeds, and chocolate chips and mix just until the dough forms. Now you’ll chill the dough for at least 2 hours. Place the cookies on a cookie sheet when you’re ready to bake and bake for 12-14 minutes. Remove them from the baking sheet and place onto a wire rack to cool before enjoying.

These are like a delicious bakery style chocolate chip cookie. If you want you could even add in peanut butter or almond butter for a little more protein.

recipe tips:

• we recommend rolling the cookies into balls then flattening into a cookie shape, not pancake flat.
• If you notice the cookies aren’t getting flat enough take a metal spatula and press them down about 10-12 minutes in.

Per request, my original recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract
• 1 extra large egg
• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup brewer’s yeast
• 1/8 cup ground flaxseed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup rolled oats (not quick oats)
• 1/2 cup quinoa flakes
• 1/8 – 1/4 cup sprouted sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds (I use the mix from Go Raw)
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips