The Best Lactation Cookies & Energy Bites for Milk Supply

Okay, here’s my honesty right from the start. These lactation cookies alone will NOT increase your milk supply. I wish eating a bunch of oatmeal chocolate chip cookies was all it takes – but it’s not. Eating the right foods, taking supplements, adding pumping sessions and nursing sessions – ALL of this is part of the milk supply story. But, if chocolate chip treats might help? Well then sign me up!

Who is The Labor Mama and Why Am I Here?

Hey friend! I’m Lo – also known around here and social media as The Labor Mama. I’ve spent my nursing career in labor, delivery, and postpartum, have birthed 3 of my own babies, have labored thousands of mamas at the bedside, have taught hundreds of students online, and have even delivered a few speedy little babies with my bare hands (oops).

Here at TLM, I offer online birth classes to empower you the way everyone should be. The education + support I offer gives you experience, evidence, and empathy; you’re getting all of my years of “clinical” RN knowledge, beautifully combined with my real experiences as a mama and a nurse. These are not your hospital birth classes (those won’t do it, I promise), and honestly, birth doesn’t follow a textbook or protocol anyway – you need to know so much more than that.

If you want to connect with me further, head to Instagram. There are hundreds of thousands of us over there learning together daily.

What are lactation cookies?

I’m going to share two of my favorite lactation recipes below: Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Lactation Cookies (the best lactation cookies!) and Oatmeal Peanut Butter Lactation Bites (another favorite lactation recipe). Both of them include brewer’s yeast. This is one of the primary ingredients that often makes something more of a lactation recipe – so don’t skip it. I usually have a hard time finding it at a traditional grocery store, but I can always find it at places like Sprouts, Trader Joes, Whole Foods, etc. You can also easily order if from Amazon. Oatmeal is another food commonly purported to encourage milk production, so you’ll find that in both recipes below too.

READ MORE: A Better Milk Supply from Day One

Do milk supply cookie recipes actually work?

Before we get to those lactation recipes, are you simply wondering what all of the hype is about? I get that – it’s hard to believe that breastfeeding cookies might be the answer to increasing milk supply. And you know what? You’re right to be skeptical. Like I mentioned prior, nursing cookies or other lactation recipes might help – but on their own, they are not responsible for increasing milk supply. Milk supply is a physiological process that is all about how much milk you are asking the body to make, how often the breasts are empty, etc. We just can’t solve any milk supply challenges with lactation cookies…but, they can be a delicious part of the whole story.

Lactation recipes, like breastfeeding cookies, contain something called galactagogues. These are ingredients that are believed to be helpful in increasing milk supply (flaxseed and brewer’s yeast are two common ones). Typically, a lactation recipe also has a variety of other nourishing ingredients to help keep postpartum mamas energized and well-nourished as their body does the work of healing, caring for babe and self, and making milk.

First, the best lactation cookie recipe

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Lactation Cookies

Yield: 30-ish cookies

I’d encourage you to bake a batch or two of these before your little one shows up. I like to bake them ahead of time and then freeze them in bags of 6-12 or so. Once baby arrives, I then pull out one bag at a time and work my way through them those first couple weeks. Honestly, these are often my breakfast and/or that 4am ‘omg I am so hungry’ snack you so desperately need.

INGREDIENTS

• 3 C oats
• 1 C flour
• 1/2 C wheat flour
• 1/4 C ground flaxseed
• 1/3 C brewers/nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 12 TBSP butter, soft
• 4 TBSP coconut oil
• 3/4 C white sugar
• 1/4 C brown sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 C chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In electric mixer, beat together butter and oil on medium speed until creamy. Add sugars and beat 2-3 minutes, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Add in eggs and beat until combined.

In separate bowl, whisk together all dry (remaining) ingredients. On low, slowly add this dry mixture into your wet mixture, again scraping sides as needed, just until combined. Stir in chocolate chips.

Scoop dough into approximately 1 TBSP scoops on cookie sheet and bake about 10 minutes.

Ok, so that’s my best lactation cookie recipe. These nursing cookies do dry out quicker than a traditional cookie, so I really do recommend freezing smaller baked batches right away and then pulling them out as you want to eat them. You can also freeze the dough for baking later. If you bring some to a friend? I’d bring some fresh and then others packaged for freezing for them to pull out later too.

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Now, I wanted to sneak in one more lactation recipe here for you. These aren’t lactation cookies, but they have many of the same ingredients in the form of a quick grab, ‘OMG, I am starving’ snack bite.

Next, milk supply recipe #2

Oatmeal Peanut Butter Lactation Bites

Yield: 16-ish bites

These I make on an as-needed basis. They are so quick to whip up and you have a lot of freedom in adding your own likes/dislikes – things like raisins, chopped nuts, sunflower seeds, etc. If the mixture ever starts to seem too wet or too dry, just add in a bit more peanut butter or a bit more oats until you can easily handle the mix and roll it into those bites.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 1/2 C oats
• 2 TBSP ground flaxseed
• 2 TBSP brewers/nutritional yeast
• 3/4 C peanut butter (smooth or crunchy)
• 4 TBSP honey
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 C mini chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

Mix all ingredients in mixer. I do think an electric mixture (like a Kitchenaid – this is the one I have and love) works best. If the mixture is too sticky to touch/shape, add a shake of oats. If the mixture is too dry, add another scoop of PB. There really is lots of freedom here!

Once the mixture is shapeable, use your hands to roll it into golf ball sized balls. I then refrigerate mine and pull them out when I want one!

As much as I love preparing these for myself, these are an awesome porch drop off for another new mama you know and love. That is my go-to ‘welcome baby’ treat for new postpartum mamas and I usually combine it with this soup or this salad (or both) depending on the weather. It’s such a simple way to say “hey, I know you’re in it, I’m proud of you, I’m here for you, and have a cookie.” I’d encourage you to consider doing this the next time a friend has a baby!

What do you think? Have you tried them? If you make any fun modifications or additions, let me know in the comments! xx – Lo

More resources (and freebies!) for you to take a peek at:

• Comprehensive Birth Plan and Birth Priorities templates
• A complete Third Trimester Checklist
• The RN + mama of 3 Ultimate Packing List
• The Labor Mama online birthing classes for every family

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