Butterscotch Lactation Cookies

Lactation cookies have been a lifeline for me...three times now.  Breastfeeding has never come absolutely easy for me, but I've come across methods of helping me out in my breastfeeding relationships that ARE easy.  And one of those methods is throwing together some beneficial, and also tasty, lactation cookies.  I've tried many mama milk cookie recipes throughout the years but never found one I really liked.  A majority of them made me barfy and also irritated that I put the time and effort into baking a batch of cookies that just ended up tasting like stale ass with a chocolate chip on top.  And I'm all for a piece of ass, just not a stale one.  Then I threw together this recipe, and the clouds immediately parted and the heavens rejoiced...and then my boobs sprouted a much needed leak.  True story.

If you've tried every lactation cookie recipe under the sun and are convinced that they're all gross and grainy and too tasteless to suffer through eating, please give this recipe a try and then re-evaluate your stance on lactation cookies.  I love these cookies.  My kids love these cookies.  My boobs love these cookies.  Though my 7 year old daughter was sorely disappointed recently when, to her dismay, after eating these cookies for a week straight she still hadn't produced any breastmilk and was convinced the recipe was crap and did not work.  I had to break it to her gently that even though they're cookies meant to produce more milk, they could only do so if you'd just had a baby and were currently nursing it.  She was not happy...but still enjoys the cookies anyway.

There are a lot of ingredients in these cookies, I won't lie.  But it's for a reason.  These ingredients, in combination, are what help your body produce more milk.  The brewer's yeast has been known for a long time to increase milk supply as well as increase a mother's energy in general as it's packed with B vitamins.  Flax is also said to increase supply while also giving a mother better digestive health.  The oatmeal is also a great milk boosting ingredient because it is packed with iron and healthy nutritional energy that nursing mothers need.  It is very common for breastfeeding moms to become iron deficient from the frequent nursing since babies leech the iron from their mother, so it's always a good thing to include a lot of iron rich foods in your diet along with the oatmeal. I eat between 2-4 of these cookies a day, and I see a 2-3 ounce milk increase per pump session within a couple days.  Seriously.  OH!  And there is no protein powder in these cookies.  In the above picture, there is a plastic tub of Nectar protein powder.  But if you notice right above the label it says Whole Wheat?  It is a fabulous container that can be reused for things like wheat flour storage, bread flour storage, etc. so that's why that is included in the picture, just to clear up any confusion.  :)

Butterscotch Lactation Cookies   (Print Recipe)
(makes approx. 3 dozen)

Ingredients
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
1 3/4 c. rolled oats (not the quick cooking kind!)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3/4 c. crunchy peanut butter
1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
1 c. finely ground flax seed (the finer the flax is ground, the smoother the cookie texture will be)
3 tbsp. brewer's yeast (you can get this inexpensively at your local Sprouts)
1/3 c. water
1 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 tbsp. pure vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 bag milk chocolate chips
1 bag butterscotch chips

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Set to the side.

In a large bowl add peanut butter, butter, sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, brewer's yeast, flax and water.  You want to beat this mixture together until it is light and creamy.  Now let me tell you about a nifty little measuring cup that I ordered at a party over ten years ago and still use regularly to this day.  It's a Pampered Chef Measure-All® Cup and it is wonderful.  I paid a mere $10 for it and I cannot say enough good things about it.  It's been beaten up, dropped, thrown, microwaved, frozen, put in the dishwasher, etc. and it's still like new and one of my kitchenware best friends, especially when working with sticky substances like peanut butter.  Any time I have a recipe that calls for some creamy, peanuty goodness, I reach for this measure cup.  All I have to do is set the inside cup thing to the line for the amount I need and then scoop the peanut butter into the cup until it is flush with the top.  Then all you have to do is hold it over your mixer, push the little inside cup up and out pops a perfectly formed hunk of peanut butter that you have to just slide off into your bowl with a spatula.  No digging it out of a cup and getting peanut butter everywhere.  It's just a scoop, plop and done.  LOVE it.  Get one.  You're welcome.

Once you've creamed your ingredients, add in the eggs and beat until combined.

Gradually add in the flour mixture until well combined.

Add the bag of chocolate chips and the bag of butterscotch chips, and remind yourself that all of the sugary deliciousness in these cookies is for the greater good of both yourself and your baby.  It's of utter necessity.

Add the oats to the cookie mixture in small amounts at a time and beat until just combined.  Then roll out even balls of dough and place them on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  After the balls of dough are lined on the cookie sheet, press each one down with a fork like you would peanut butter cookies.  This helps flatten them out so that they cook more evenly.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 14-16 minutes.

I personally like these cookies on the crispier side.  They're perfect when the outside is lightly crispy and the inside still has a slight softness to it.  These really aren't the kind of cookies that are tasty when they're underdone or doughy.  When you bake them for the right amount of time, the butterscotch chips get a delicious caramelized texture and the chocolate chips accompany it perfectly. When the cookies are done, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool completely before putting them in a container.  Or grab one warm and dig in immediately, because let's face it, who can resist melty chocolate inside a fresh-from-the-oven cookie?