“Lactation cookies” is not a very cool name.

I love breastfeeding my little girl. I feel like a nature goddess earth mama, capable of performing miracles. However, it’s not as easy as that. I had to really work hard to get my supply going. I tried EVERYTHING that I heard that seemed at least a little reasonable. Including about 4 different cookie recipes. They all worked, but not for my taste buds.

The first had SO much butter that the cookies were oily. The second ended up kinda bland. The problems kept going from there. So I did what any competent adult would do. I started playing.

What resulted is a cookie that is kinda cake, kinda oatmeal bar, kinda trail mixish. But in the end, if it looks like a cookie, call it a cookie. A lactation cookie.

Sounds delish, right?

They totally are.

Even my husband eats them. And he knows what they are for. And he could care less.

That’s a winning recipe in my book.

So, for this recipe you will need the following ingredients:

• 3 cups old fashioned oats
• 2 cups flour- I use unbleached all purpose white.
•  4 tbsp brewer’s yeast
• 4 tbsp ground flax seed
• 6 tbsp water
• 1/2 cup softened unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 & 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup regular peanut butter
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup raisins

Preheat your oven to 350. Don’t forget to do this, especially if your oven is a 30 year old electric oven that thinks it’s running 50 degrees hotter then it actually is.

In a small bowl, combine brewers yeast, ground flax seed and water. It will become a thick paste. Make sure to mix this thoroughly.

In another medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking soda and salt. Put this aside for now.

In a large bowl, combine the softened butter, applesauce and brown sugar. Use a blender on low speed to mix these together.

We make our own applesauce every year. In fact, we noticed that apples are starting to ripen already. We have quite a few things we do with apples every year. But that’s some other time.

Next is to add the eggs, and blend those in completely.

After those are mixed in, grab your yeast and flax seed mix. Throw that in and use your blender to mix well.

Now, put in the tsp of vanilla extract and 1/2 cup peanut butter. Use your blender, one last time and make sure this is all mixed in very well.

Ok, so it’s time to to ditch the blender in favor of your handy rubber spatula. Mr. Gillis and I own 5 of these in different sizes and shapes, for good reason. They are awesome. I am personally obsessed with the fact that it’s one solid piece.

You want to have nightmares? Go grab your two piece spatula, and take it apart. Proceed to throw it away and go get yourself some silicone or rubber ones like ours.

Fold it in, slowly at first so you don’t end up with a face full of flour. It will take a couple minutes, but soon it looks like this.

Put in the oatmeal, raisins and chocolate chips. Fold these all in until they are really well incorporated. And there is a lot of wiggle room with the chocolate chips and raisins. I think craisins and walnuts would be worth a try. Or butterscotch chips and pecans. Ohhhh, we have cinnamon chips that I think would be worth a try….

Just make sure you use the three cups of uncooked old fashioned oats. The dough needs the stability.

Once everything is all mixed in, get ready. This recipe makes a lot of cookies, so I bake a dozen and portion and freeze the rest. The cookies are best fresh so don’t make them all at once. Seriously. This yielded 77 cookies total.

Grab a spoon and dish out your cookies on a VERY LIGHTLY greased cookie sheet.

Bake in your totally preheated to 350 degree oven, for 12 to 15 minutes. While your cookies are baking, get out another cookie sheet, line it with freezer paper, and portion out cookies. Since you’re freezing them, you can put them a lot closer to eachother.

Check the cookies in your oven often after the ten minute mark. You want them to be brown at the edges before you pull them out.

Let them cool on the pan for five minutes and then transfer them to a wire cooling rack. Enjoy one, or three, while still warm with a cup of coffee or tea.

Meanwhile, don’t forget your freezer cookies. I store mine in a Tupperware container. I’ve had them keep for up to three weeks, but that’s because I eat them by then, not because they go bad.

To cook the frozen cookies, heat your oven to 350. Pop the still frozen cookies on your baking sheet. Cook for 15 – 17 minutes or until edges are browned.
Do not let these cookie thaw before cooking.

So there you have it. I keep these around as a healthier-ish snack instead of grabbing for other stuff (I’m looking at you Nutella fudge). I still have a whopping 30 lbs to lose to get to my pre-pregnancy weight… But breast feeding is hungry business. So these help and I don’t feel so bad indulging a little.

Another way I pseudo indulge is my brunch smoothie. But I make it in a way that it’s super healthy. And that is the topic of my next blog- the art of making a perfect smoothie. It’s a little more complicated then throw stuff in a blender and smash some buttons. But I’m getting ahead of myself.

Until next time- have a wicked good day.