Lactation Cookies are a specially designed biscuit to boost milk supply in breastfeeding Mums. Stop worrying about low supply and boost your breast milk with these yummy treats!
Tips on low supply from a lactation consultant
When my best friend had her baby, I was determined to load her up with a whole heap of meals and snacks so that she could focus on settling into motherhood and not having to worry about cooking. In my research for meals, I discovered Lactation Cookies or my personal favourite name for them… Boobie Biscuits. Lactation cookies are designed to be a nutrient dense snack for hungry breast-feeding mums that are full of ingredients that are going to give them energy but also help support their milk supply.
There are a lot of different ingredients that people use but typically there are 4 very key ingredients – oats, blackstrap molasses, plenty of healthy fats and nutritional yeast. Oats are a great source of fibre and protein but are also said to be a lactogenic food, supporting breast milk production. Molasses is full of B vitamins and minerals and nutritional yeast also provides a B vitamin boost. Both have a strong flavour so a word of warning, stick to the recommended quantities otherwise things will taste a little funky. Also make sure you buy nutritional yeast flakes also labelled brewers yeast not baking yeast for breads etc. Your local health food shop should stock them. For the healthy fats, I like to use a combination of coconut oil and butter but if you are strictly dairy free then just use coconut oil.
Then it is a matter of doing a bit of mix and match with seeds, buckwheat groats, chopped nuts and a variety of dried fruit. This turns them into more a muesli cookie and masks the over powering flavour of molasses and yeast. Feel free to play around with different nut and fruit combos, my favourite has definitely been pecans, apricots and dried figs, with dried cranberries, pistachios, and figs a close second.
Finally, the cookies are a totally yummo snack for anyone not just lactating mummas so just rename them muesli cookies if calling them lactation cookies freaks you out and enjoy!
Lactation Cookie Recipe
Lactation Cookie RecipeMakes 24-28 generous cookies
Refined Sugar Free and adaptable to gluten and dairy free
Ingredients
¼ cup Butter
¼ cup Coconut Oil, softened
½ cup Rice Malt Syrup
2 tablespoons Molasses
1 tablespoon Vanilla extract
1 teaspoon Ground Cinnamon
Pinch of Nutmeg
2 Large Eggs
2 cups Rolled Oats – to make these gluten-free you can use buckwheat flakes, you just need to add an extra ¼ of a cup
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
½ Cup Buckwheat Groats, preferably activated
½ cup Linseeds/Flaxseeds or I have even substituted chia seeds
½ cup Desiccated Coconut
1 cup Almond Meal
1 cup Chopped Dried Fruit – Figs, Apricots or Cranberries are my fav
¾ cup Chopped Nuts – Pecans, Walnuts or even just flaked almonds
Lactation Cookie Method
Heat oven to 170 degrees in a fan forced oven.
In a mixing bowl, combine the softened butter, coconut oil, rice malt syrup, vanilla, molasses, nutmeg and cinnamon. Cream together until light and fluffy.
Add the 2 eggs and beat together again, the mixture may look a little curdled but don’t worry, it will smooth out.
Fold through the oats, baking powder, buckwheat, coconut, nuts and dried fruit. Stir until well combined.
Take tablespoons of the mix and roll in balls before placing on a lined baking tray. I normally do this with damp hands to avoid it getting too stuck to your fingers.
Press the biscuits to flatten slightly and then bake for 18-22 minutes until golden, depends on how chunky you make them. They will firm up as they cool and you want them to retain a slightly chewy texture.
Allow to cool on the tray, before transferring to an airtight jar.
Lady Homemade is all about real food recipes for real people. All recipes are developed by Sarah in her little apartment kitchen in Collingwood, Melbourne. After many years of battling digestive discomfort, Sarah found that switching her diet to being full of nourishing, unprocessed foods did wonders for her health and wellbeing.
Alternative lactation cookie recipe available
