When I received the shipment of the Kangaroo Tube Top from MilkandBaby.com, a recipe for lactation cookies was very smartly tucked inside. What a clever idea! As a new mom purchasing nursing wear, I was very happy to find this little surprise!
While my milk supply is well-established with no sign of diminishing, I like the idea of snacking on a special treat that will support abundant and healthy nutrition for my little Ben. These cookies were easy to prepare and they store nicely in the fridge. With top lactogenic ingredients like oats and flax, they taste great and keep me full. When I need a little pick-me-up (which happens often thanks to massive sleep deprivation!), I can count on this homemade sweet treat. These cookies would make a great gift for new moms!
My only issue with this recipe is the amount of sugar – 2 cups is a lot. I reduced it by 25% and the cookies still turned out great! Also, the recipe calls for brewer’s yeast. After looking (incorrectly) in the baking aisle for this unfamiliar ingredient, I found it in the health and nutrition section of Whole Foods. Turns out that brewer’s yeast is a well-known lactogenic food that not only increases milk supply, but can also combat fatigue and the baby blues.
No Bake Lactation Cookies (courtesy of milkandbaby.com)
2 cups sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 sticks butter (I used an equal amount of coconut oil and the results were great)
1 cup milk
5 cups rolled oats
1 cup peanut butter
1 cup crushed walnuts
6 tablespoons brewer’s yeast
1 cup flaxseed (meal or ground)
2 teaspoons vanilla
Set up cookie sheets with waxed paper.
Mix oats, brewer’s yeast, flax and nuts in a large bowl.
Bring first four ingredients to a roaring boil and cook for 1 minute.
Remove from heat. Stir in peanut butter and vanilla extract. Pour into oat mixture. Mix thoroughly and quickly. Spoon onto cookie sheets and allow to cool.
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Is it possible to use homemade applesauce instead of butter and sugar?
I don’t know if that would work – the butter and sugar seem to help bind these cookies together.
Butter is important in no bake cookies of any kind. I left it out on accident once. Trust me, it doesn’t work.
I have made some other no-bake cookies and truffles using coconut oil and maple syrup instead of butter and sugar. Just a thought; ) I am going to try making these and substituting with those ingredients. We’ll see how they turn out!
You are amazing. 4 kids, one a newborn, and you still find time to make cookies. I am impressed! 🙂
I made these today. I am storing them in the refrigerator, but do you know how long they should keep?
The first batch I made kept for nearly a week in the fridge.
Do you think you could freeze some? The recipe seemed to make a lot, unless I just made mine small. Just not sure I can eat all of them in 1 week.
I froze about half of the batch and pulled them out as I needed them. They were still great!
I would think these would freeze fine – just pull one out of the fridge a few minutes before you want to eat it, and it’ll be great!
I used 1 1/2 cups brown sugar came out great!
That’s what I plan on using. I prefer raw sugar but I like brown sugar.
Super yummy, very easy! I am hoping it will help me finish this first year of pumping.
I really just don’t care for chocolate. Would it hurt if I left out the cocoa?
If you don’t like chocolate, you could try this recipe instead: https://homemademothering.com/2014/05/homemade-coconut-almond-lactation-granola-bars.html
For some reason mine came out bitter!
Seems like way too much cocoa when compared with other peanut butter no bake recipes…maybe that is why it was bitter for one poster? Is the extra cocoa to cover the taste of the brewer’s yeast?
How many do you eat a day to boost supply? And how many to maintain?
I usually had 1-2 per day and that seemed to do the trick.
Will the cookies still have power without the brewers yeast?
Yes. Oats are really helpful at supporting milk supply.
I’m wondering if you have any idea the calories and serving size
I made this with some moderations. I used only 3/4 cup sugar. I used only 1 stick butter and added 1/2 c coconut oil. Used 2% milk and omitted the walnuts. The rest was per recipe. I ended up with 6490 calories in the total batch, making 59 slightly heaping tablespoons cookies at 110 calories each.
If you used the full sugar it would add an additional 966 calories to the batch. Using butter only would reduce the calories by 100. Keeping the walnuts would add 784 calories. So if you made say 60 cookies following the original recipe, you’d have a total batch of 8140 calories at 136 calories per cookie.
Impressive math! Thanks for crunching the numbers!!