Homemade Gluten-Free Lactation Cookies

Being pregnant was one of my favorite times of my life, although my husband will disagree with me ;). I think every woman should get to experience the joy at least once in her life. When you became pregnant there are a lot of things to plan for and save for. A big question that comes up for most new mothers is whether you will nurse or bottle-feed; I am a believer of both as I did both with my son. Many nursing moms don’t realize it can be difficult, but there are ways to help! We had Hybrid Rasta Mama develop these delicious Gluten-Free Lactation Cookies for two main reasons. Primarily to help increase milk supply for breastfeeding moms, but also to give those who have an allergy sensitivity themselves or don’t want to expose their newborn to any possible allergens an option.

Ingredients

  • 1 tablespoon fenugreek to make 4 T brewed fenugreek tea

    The delicious finished product!

  • 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal
  • 1 cup Kelapo coconut oil, melted
  • 3/4 cup raw honey
  • 2 eggs
  • 3 teaspoons vanilla
  • 3/4 cup peanut butter or other nut/seed butter (I really like sunflower seed butter in these)
  • 1/2 cup coconut flour, sifted OR 2 cups gluten free all-purpose flour
  • 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
  • 2 teaspoons aluminum free baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon sea salt
  • 3 1/2 cups gluten free oats
  • 1/2 – 3/4 cup raisins or dried cranberries (optional)
  • 1/2 – 3/4 cup chocolate chips (optional)

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees
  2. Brew fenugreek in 8 ounces of hot water until grains are soft.
  3. Mix flaxseed and 4 tablespoons fenugreek tea and let sit for 3-5 minutes. DO NOT DISCARD THE GRAINS!
  4. Beat coconut oil and honey.
  5. Add eggs and vanilla and mix well.
  6. Fold in the peanut butter/nut or seed butter until well combined.
  7. Add flaxseed mix and fenugreek grains and mix well.
  8. Add flour, nutritional yeast, baking powder, and salt. Mix and if using coconut flour see ingredient notes below.*
  9. Mix in oats until well combined.
  10. If using raisins or cranberries and/or chocolate chips, slowly fold these in.
  11. Round off a large tablespoon of dough and place on cookie sheet. Press it down slightly.
  12. Bake for 15 minutes then check for doneness. Continue baking (checking every 3 minutes) until the outside is a bit brown with crispy edges. The inside should still be slightly moist and soft.
  13. Let cool on cookie sheet for a few minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.

Ingredient Notes From Hybrid Rasta Mama 

1. Coconut flour has the tendency to soak up a ton of liquid. Every brand varies. If your batter seems dry at this point, add in a tablespoon at a time of coconut milk or your other favorite milk until the consistency is more doughy and moist. If you overdo it, add in sifted coconut flour in 2 teaspoon increments.

2. This batter is really sticky! Do not try to form dough balls with your hands. It will be a mess. A yummy mess at least! I like to grease my spoon with a little coconut oil. It helps the dough slide right off!

3. This recipe is not incredibly sweet although if you use the dried fruit or chocolate chips it does sweeten up! If you prefer a really sweet cookie, add some additional honey and/or vanilla. For every 1/4 cup of honey you add, you will need to increase the coconut flour by 2 tablespoons and the oats by 2 tablespoons.

4. The reason that honey is used and not sugar is because honey has tremendous health properties which a mother can pass on to her breastfeeding infant. Unless you are allergic to honey, please do not substitute the honey with sugar.

“Lauric acid is the most plentiful medium chain fatty acid (MCFA) found in mother’s milk AND coconut oil,” explains Hybrid Rasta Mama Blogger, Jennifer Saleem, explains. “And the ratio of lauric acid to other MCFAs in human milk is IDENTICAL to that in coconut oil.”

“The Medium-Chain Fatty Acids in coconut oil improve the absorption of nutrients already existing in the mother’s diet. These nutrients are of course passed onto the nursing infant through the breast milk. For these reasons, it is important that a mother’s breast milk contain as much medium chain fatty acids as possible,” Jennifer continues. “According to research, when a lactating woman adds foods rich in lauric acid to her diet, the amount of lauric acid available in her breast milk increases substantially to levels three times the original level and nearly double the amount of capric acid. A single meal with coconut oil can significantly affect the breast milk fatty acid compositions for 1 to 3 days with the maximum increase occurring during the first 10 hours.” Jennifer will be joining us in July as a guest blogger!

These cookies sound so delicious – I don’t feel like I need to be pregnant to eat them! Whether you are a first time mom or this is your 4th time around, give these cookies a try for increased supply. I know I will for sure be making these if/when there is a baby #2 in my household. Have you ever made anything at home to help with nursing? Did the ingredients contain the wonderful coconut oil? Please share..we would love to hear!

-Lani

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