When it came to deciding between breastfeeding or formula it
was a no braining for me. Of course I’d choose breastfeeding, with so many
documented benefits for mom and baby, the huge cost savings, and pure
convenience I knew it was for us. I went to a one-day breastfeeding crash
course during my final month of pregnancy. All the information and techniques
seemed straightforward and I figured my body would know what to do naturally.
When JoJo was born she latched on within the first hour. I
assumed then that our breastfeeding relationship was going to be all marshmallows
and rainbows. Those first days we were textbook, and all was right in the
world.
Boy was I wrong! I’ve spent more time goggling breastfeeding
concerns then I’d like to admit. I’ve also read almost every kellymom.com and
Le Leche League article I could find that is relevant to JoJo’s age.
I would call our breastfeeding relationship “fragile”.
Generally things are okay, never great, but if anything goes off kilter then
it’s a struggle.
Two weeks ago JoJo suffered from the Roseola Virus paired with what I
expect was teething pains. This caused a huge disruption in sleeping, awake
time happiness, and of course nursing. She went on an all out nursing strike! Four and a half days
of refusing the breast, almost throwing
a tantrum when I tried to get her to nurse.
So I pumped...and pumped…and pumped.
It’s really not fair that your stress level effect your milk production because,
lets be honest, having a baby is stressful! Long story short, my supply plummeted and I was devastated!
Anyway, I’m getting away from the original goal of this post.
I present to you "lactation cookies". Yes, a round bundle of cookie goodness
mixed with a few ingredients to help boost your milk supply. The great thing
about these is you’d never know they were anything other then an awesome
oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. To be honest I'm not totally sure what it is about these ingredients that can help boost a women's milk supply but I've seen a lot of recipes out there that I had to give them a try. I've got a freezer stash to replenish and I'm hoping these will help me get there sooner.
Browned Butter
Lactation Cookies
2 sticks + 1 T Unsalted Butter
1 cup White Sugar
½ cup Brown Sugar
2 eggs
1 t Vanilla
2 cups AP Flour
½ cup Oat Flour
¾ cups Rolled Oats
3 Tbls Brewers Yeast
2 Tbls Ground Flax Seeds
1 t Salt
Directions:
In a small stockpot, melt 1 stick plus 1 tablespoon of
butter over medium heat. Allow the butter to continue cooking until it becomes
a deep color. Remove from heat and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before
using in your recipe.
In the bowl of a mixer, cream together your cooled browned
cutter, remaining stick of butter, and the sugars. Mix on medium until all ingredients
are combined and fluffy. Scrape down your bowl and give it another good mixing.
Mix in the eggs, one at a time, and the vanilla. Mix well
and scrape the bowl between each addition.
In a separate bowl combine the remaining dry ingredients. Mix
together well with a fork and add to your creamed butter and sugar. I do this
is three batches, adding the next batch before the previous one is fully mixed.
After the third batch of dry mix in added, mix until just
combined then add in your chocolate chips.
Hand mix the batter until everything is incorporated.
You could move on to baking them now, however, if you can
wait I think it’s best if the dough sits overnight in the fridge.
Scoop or spoon cookies onto a baking try and bake for 9-10
minutes or until light golden brown at 350 degrees.
Allow cookies to cool on the baking tray for a minute then
transfer to parchment paper and allow to fully cool before storing in an
airtight container.
**A note about cookie style, these are NOT thin and crispy cookies,
they are a lighter cake style so if that’s not your style you may want to
consider decreasing the amount of flour by ¼ cup.
