These lactation cookies are soft, chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies made with rolled oats, ground flaxseed and brewer’s yeast. One batch makes about 36 cookies in under 30 minutes: 15 minutes to mix the dough and 10 to 12 minutes in a 350°F oven.
They taste like a good oatmeal cookie, not a supplement. Vanilla and brown sugar cover the slightly bitter edge of the yeast, and the dough freezes well, so you can bake four at 3 a.m. without starting from scratch.
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- Yield: about 36 cookies, scooped with a tablespoon
- Time: 15 minutes prep, 10 to 12 minutes baking
- Oven: 350°F (175°C), parchment-lined sheets, dough 2 inches apart
- The lactation trio: 3 cups old-fashioned oats, 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed, 3 tablespoons brewer’s yeast
- Optional mix-ins: ½ cup chopped nuts and ½ cup shredded coconut, plus 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Keeps: 3 days airtight at room temperature, about 3 months frozen
Do Lactation Cookies Increase Milk Supply?
Honestly, nobody can promise that. Oats, flaxseed and brewer’s yeast have been passed between nursing mothers for generations, but the research on them as milk boosters is limited and mostly anecdotal. Milk supply depends mainly on how often and how well milk is removed, by the baby or a pump.
What these cookies do well is feed you. Oats bring fiber and some iron, flax adds omega-3 fats, and a cookie with a glass of water is easy to manage with one hand during a long feed. If supply is a real worry, talk to an IBCLC lactation consultant or your doctor. A cookie should be a snack, not the plan.
Brewer’s Yeast vs Nutritional Yeast: Which One to Buy
Brewer’s yeast is the ingredient that makes these lactation cookies. This yeast is inactive, so the dough will not rise, and it tastes nutty with a bitter finish. Look for a jar or bag labeled “debittered brewer’s yeast” in the supplement or baking aisle. The plain kind works, but you will taste it.
Nutritional yeast is a different product, grown for a cheesy, savory flavor that suits popcorn and tastes odd in a chocolate chip cookie, so I keep this recipe on brewer’s yeast. Never use active dry or instant baking yeast here: it is alive, tastes like bread dough, and does nothing useful in a cookie.
For scale: 3 tablespoons spread across 36 cookies is less than ¼ teaspoon of brewer’s yeast in each one.
Mixing the Oat Cookie Dough
Start the flax first. Stir 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed into 3 tablespoons of water and leave it for 5 minutes. It turns into a thick gel that looks a bit like egg white and helps hold the oats together.
Use ground flax, not whole seeds like the ones in this bowl. Whole seeds stay loose in the water, never really thicken in 5 minutes, and end up as crunchy specks in the cookie.
Beat the soft butter with the light brown sugar and granulated sugar until the mixture is pale and fluffy, about 2 to 3 minutes. Then beat in the eggs, 1 tablespoon of vanilla and the flax gel. Do not skip the vanilla; that tablespoon is what softens the yeast flavor.
Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt and brewer’s yeast in a separate bowl so the yeast is spread evenly and nobody gets a bitter bite. Add it to the butter mixture and stir just until no dry flour shows.
Fold in the oats last. Old-fashioned rolled oats give the chew; quick oats make a softer, more cakey cookie. If your kitchen is warm and the dough feels greasy, chill it for 20 to 30 minutes before scooping so the cookies do not spread thin.
Walnuts, Almonds or No Nuts at All
The recipe card lists ½ cup chopped nuts as optional. Walnuts, as in the bowl above, give a soft crunch and blend into the oats. Chopped almonds are firmer and a little sweeter. For toddlers, leave the nuts out and use mini chocolate chips.
The ½ cup of shredded coconut adds chew and a faint toasted flavor. Skip it and you get a plain oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, close to my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. If you like the coconut, my oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with shredded coconut lean into it even more.
When to Take Them Out of the Oven
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. They are ready when the edges are lightly golden and the centers still look puffy and slightly wet. It feels too early. Leave them on the hot sheet for 5 minutes and they set into soft middles; wait for golden centers and they cool into hard, dry cookies.
Bake one sheet at a time on the middle rack. Two sheets at once usually means pale bottoms on one and dark bottoms on the other.
Freezer Dough for Night Feeds
This is the habit that makes the recipe worth it in the newborn weeks. Scoop the whole batch onto a lined tray, freeze for an hour, then tip the dough balls into a freezer bag. Bake straight from frozen at 350°F, adding 1 to 2 minutes. Four warm cookies are about 25 minutes away, oven heating included.
Baked cookies keep for 3 days in an airtight container at room temperature, or about 3 months in the freezer. Freeze them in a single layer first so they do not stick, then bag them. They thaw on the counter in 20 minutes, or in a warm oven in 3 to 4 minutes.
For a hospital bag or a meal train, pack them with a few easy protein balls or peanut butter energy balls. Nothing to bake, nothing to slice.
How to Make Lower Sugar Lactation Cookies
The full recipe uses 1 cup of brown sugar and ½ cup of granulated sugar for 36 cookies, which is about 2 teaspoons per cookie. To cut that, drop the granulated sugar to ¼ cup or leave it out. Keep the brown sugar, since it carries most of the chew and moisture.
Expect a cookie that spreads less and tastes more of oats and nuts. Swapping the semi-sweet chips for dark chocolate, or using ½ cup instead of a full cup, cuts a little more sugar without losing the chocolate.
What Nursing Moms Ask
Can anyone eat lactation cookies?
Yes. Without the nursing context they are oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with flax and a little yeast, so partners, kids and guests can eat them too.
How many lactation cookies should I eat a day?
There is no proven dose. Treat them like any snack: one or two with a meal or a glass of water is plenty.
Can I make them without brewer’s yeast?
You can leave it out and the dough still bakes fine, but then they are simply oatmeal cookies. My dark chocolate oatmeal cookies or peanut butter oatmeal cookies are good choices if that is what you want.
Can I use flaxseed meal instead of ground flaxseed?
Yes, they are the same thing: flaxseed meal is just ground flaxseed sold ready to use.
Pin these to your postpartum or freezer meal board so the dough is ready before the baby is. If you want another nut-forward bake for tea, try my almond cookies or the chewy coconut cookies. Tell me in the comments what you added or left out.
Lactation Cookies Recipe
These lactation cookies are soft, chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies made with old-fashioned oats, ground flaxseed, brewer's yeast, brown sugar and butter. One batch makes about 36 cookies in under 30 minutes, with 10 to 12 minutes in a 350°F oven. Ground flax soaked in water for 5 minutes binds the dough, and plenty of vanilla softens the slightly bitter taste of the brewer's yeast. They make a filling breastfeeding snack for night feeds, hospital bags, postpartum meal trains and new parent gift boxes, and the whole family can eat them. Leave out the nuts for toddlers, cut the white sugar for a lower sugar batch, and freeze the baked cookies or scooped dough for up to 3 months.
Ingredients
- 1 cup unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
- 3 tablespoons water
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons brewer's yeast
- 3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)
- 1/2 cup shredded coconut (optional)
Instructions
PREHEAT THE OVEN: Set the oven to 350°F (175°C) and line baking sheets with parchment paper.
PREPARE THE FLAXSEED MIXTURE: In a small bowl, combine ground flaxseed and water. Let it sit for 5 minutes to thicken.
CREAM THE BUTTER AND SUGARS: In a large mixing bowl, beat the softened butter, light brown sugar, and granulated sugar together until the mixture is light and fluffy.
ADD WET INGREDIENTS: Add the eggs, vanilla extract, and the thickened flaxseed mixture to the creamed butter and sugar. Beat until fully combined.
MIX DRY INGREDIENTS: In a separate bowl, whisk together the all-purpose flour, baking soda, salt, and brewer’s yeast.
COMBINE WET AND DRY INGREDIENTS: Gradually add the dry mixture to the wet ingredients, stirring until everything is fully incorporated.
ADD MIX-INS: Stir in the rolled oats, semi-sweet chocolate chips, chopped nuts, and shredded coconut if using.
SCOOP DOUGH: Use a tablespoon to scoop portions of dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing each about 2 inches apart.
BAKE: Place the baking sheets in the oven and bake for 10–12 minutes, until the edges are lightly golden and the centers remain soft.
COOL: Let the cookies cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
Use debittered brewer's yeast if you can find it. Do not replace it with active dry or instant baking yeast, and nutritional yeast tastes cheesy rather than nutty. Use ground flaxseed (flaxseed meal); whole seeds will not thicken in 5 minutes. Take the cookies out when the edges are lightly golden and the centers still look puffy; they set on the hot sheet. The nuts and shredded coconut are optional. Store baked cookies airtight for 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. To freeze dough, scoop it onto a tray, freeze until firm, bag, and bake from frozen with 1 to 2 extra minutes. Lactation cookies are a snack, not a treatment; for milk supply concerns, talk to a lactation consultant.
Nutrition Information
Yield
36Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 170Total Fat 9gSaturated Fat 5gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 4gCholesterol 24mgSodium 110mgCarbohydrates 21gFiber 2gSugar 11gProtein 3g
