[UPDATE: To see just how well these cookies worked for me, go check out my results post here.]
Milk supply dwindling? Fear not, my breastfeeding mamas, cookies to the rescue!!
Say what?
Eat yummy cookies to help boost my milk supply? As if I needed another reason to have a cookie!
Hell to the yeah, pass me another one. In fact, just leave the cookie jar here with me!
But before you get ahead yourself, we’re not talking about any old cookie. So put down the double stuffed oreos (or not), and have a look-see here
…
You see, Ive been a little (a lot) stressed of late. Home. Work.And sleep deprived.Or maybe its just the sleep deprivation itself thats making me feel stressed. Either way, Im pretty much exhausted. Exhausted to the point where I just couldnt get myself to get up and go express. And sometimes I get so engrossed in things at work, that before I know it, pump time had come and long gone. So, as the week went on, my boobs no longer even became hard if I missed a pump session, because obviously, my boobs got the memo about “supply and demand”. Before I knew it, I was expressing less than half of what I used to. In fact, now, which is two weeks later, I am barely getting much out from the one boob.No biggy, right? Breast feeding has to end sometime or the other. I mean, beasty is well past the six months mark now.
But with winter right here with us, and all the colds and flu that tag along with it, I decided to re-adjust my breastfeeding goals from “lets see how long baby wants it” to “lets get through winter”. Because Lord knows how hard it is on everyone when you have a sick smally. Once I get through that, I think I might go back to “lets see how long baby wants it”.
So with this in mind, I decided to delve back into my treasure trove of milk supply increasing tactics. I’d been here before, so no biggy, it can totally be done. Ive come back from nothing before.
But on re-inspection of my research, I came across this gem: Lactation Cookies!
I got far too excited by that hyperlink, when I saw it. It had me at “cookie”. Hell, even if it didnt work, I’d probably still just try it for the sake of enjoying some baked crunchy goodness. It came with rave reviews, none the less, and I was totally bets for being my own guinea pig. So without further adue, here is the lactation cookie recipe:
Ingrediants:
- •1 cup self raising wholemeal flour (I used 1 cup plain flour with 1/2 tsp baking powder)
- •1/2 cup low fat butter (or if you’re on the health schpiel, try a healthier option of organic, virgin coconut oil instead which is super good for you! I used 100g coconut oil and 25 g Stork bake butter)
- •3/4 cup brown sugar (or less if you’re not a sweet tooth try just 1/2 cup)
- •2 tablespoons flaxseed meal (its often called flaxseed powder in the health stores, and also one of the magic ingrediants)
- •1 egg
- •2-3 tablespoons of water (depends if you prefer moister cookies, i prefer crunchier, but 3 tablespoons was enough.)
- •1 tablespoon vanilla (optional, for flavour)
- •1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional, for flavour – but it does make a huge difference to yumminess, so i highly recommend it)
- •1-2 tablespoons of brewers yeast (do not substitute with bakers yeast or any other yeast – very important to it efficacy).
- •1/2 teaspoon salt (use himalayan salt if possible)
- •1 & 1/2 cups oats (get the thicker cut oats if you can, like jungle oats or woolworths oats)
- •OPTIONAL: 1/2 cup of your fave biscuit ingredients (like raisins, cranberries, chocchips).
Note well, my bakers, DO NOT leave out or substitute the brewers yeast for any other products or yeasts. It’s part of the magic formula that make these suckers work!
Method
•In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and sugar then add the egg and vanilla. Mix well.
•In a separate bowl, combine the flaxseed and water, let sit for a few minutes before adding to mix. ( it should look like a dry paste)
•Add the dry ingredients (apart from the oats and your additional ingredients) and mix well again.
•Finally, stir in the oats and your additional ingredient.
•Make the biscuits (I use a heaped dessert spoon as a rough size guide) and place them onto a lightly greased or lined baking tray. Flatten them a little with a fork or spoon– if you like a soft centre, don’t flatten them down too much.
The recipe says to bake for around 10-12 minutes depending on how well cooked/crunchy you like your biscuits, but I baked it for 15 min, and it was perfectly crunchy on the outside, and still slightly soft in the centre.
The best part is, you get to eat the WHOLE batch! Eat about 2 cookies at every feeding or expressing time. Then sit back and watch the milky magic happen in your boobies, as your beasty enjoys the feast!
Thats right, for once cookies are actually good for you! And not just good for you ito good for your soul.
You might have tried many other things before – like gingerbeer, stout, champagne, etc- and figured, pshhhh(!), just another old wives tale. But, I had some of the dough (apparently its more potent), and an hour later, I had leaky boobs again. And I havent had leaky boobs for the past two weeks now. So whilst my test trial is still on, I can definitely say there was a difference. And it happened quite quickly. So yes, the most magical deliciousness might just be the thing that does it for you! No harm in trying it. At the very worst, it does nothing, and you get to enjoy a treat.
By the way, the recipe itself was not the only gem I discovered, that whole website is awesome. Lots and lots of breastfeeding knowledge to tap into over here. Enjoy ladies, and let me know how this worked for you. Dont forget you need to ensure you empty your breasts often, whether feeding or expressing. Else all your efforts are worth little. No matter what you supplement with, the supply and demand principle is what rules the boob.
I will be publishing my trial results too once its done.So watch this space for those results! Happy munching!
Wow sounds like a win-win all round mama! Will def try when baby number two comes ! Thanks for a cool post!
My absolute pleasure Olive&rose. And thank you for stopping by!keep us posted if you ever do use it.
Thanks for sharing this awesome recipe and lactation cookies from your first batch 😉
Besides the awesome taste it definitely helped filling up my boobies, especially the one which always have less milk. That just an hour after enjoying one cookie.
Your help and advice is greatly appreciated!
Its always a pleasure to know when my ramblings and scribbles on this blog are helping someone out there, Fuzz. Very glad it helped you too. Lord knows there are days when we can all do with a little (alot) of help. Happy breastfeeding!
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Hi, I am super excited to try this recipe… Where do I find brewers yeast?
Hey Lee, im so glad you came across this recipe – it honestly did work for me and tasted real good! 😉 I had luck with my ingredients at specialised health stores. Im cape town based, so I used the health store at Canal walk mall and the wellness health store in Parklands.
where does one buy brewers yeast?
Can I use gluten free flours in this recipe?
HI Lizle
I don’t see why you cant. 🙂
Let me know how it turns out.X
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