Cranberry Chocolate Coconut Oatmeal Lactation Cookies
It’s been nine days since I made these cookies. Currently right now it’s Oct 12, 2021. I made these on the 3rd in an attempt to have a recipe ready to go so that when the baby showed up I could help The Witch ensure her milk supply. Well, surprise! Our little girl came the very next day. She was born at 10:04pm on 10/4. She was 4 weeks early and 5lbs 5oz. Since most babies lose up to 10% of their weight in the first few days we’re pretty shocked that today she weight 5lb 6oz. She’s already above her birth weight, which is great. Mom is doing well. She’s healing and holding her own too.
Our friends and family have been amazing. We received so much hand me down stuff. Tons of friends have stopped by with food so that we didn’t have to make it. One of them has even ruined fried rice for me. He made a smoked pork fried rice that was out of this world. I’m hoping to convince him to share the recipe. Family has been great. They’ve come over and watched the baby so that we could sleep or go to the store. Pretty sure they’re just stoked to have a grandchild, but we’re stoked to see them and get the reprieve.
These lactation cookies are great! I won’t lie I definitely made them like regular cookies with some additional ingredients that help with milk creation. The only problem now is that I’m eating them too. Gonna be a weird day when I start to lactate, but who knows, maybe that’ll be helpful. I have a few tweaks from another recipe that can beef these up as well. You can swap some of the flour for oat flour, and add a tablespoon of brewers yeast as well. The cranberries and coconut bring some extra flavor and pair well with the chocolate which is for mom. We didn’t want a dried out cookie or one that tasted like paste. These are a great balance and a more akin to an oatmeal cookie. The brown sugar, butter, and eggs all add just the perfect amount of moisture. A slight reduction in oven temperature, and baking them for a bit more, allows them to retain their chewy texture. Rolled oats are great as they become oatmeal cookies. They also help with the production of milk for mom and baby.
The best part of this is that it makes a lot of dough. That’s great because you can bake half a batch and then freeze the rest of it. Once frozen there’s no need to way for them to thaw before baking them. It will take longer in the oven but they work perfectly from freezer to oven. It will allow you to have cookies whenever you want them.
Ingredients
1 Cup unsalted butter
1/2 Cup granulated sugar
1/2 Cup dark brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 large eggs
1 Cup all purpose flour
1/2 Cup flaxseed meal
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon Brewers Yeast
3 Cups rolled oats
2 - 3.2oz dark chocolate bars 70%
1 Cup sweetened dries cranberries
1 Cup sweetened flakes coconut
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Cream the butter, granulated sugar, and dark brown sugar in the bowl of your mixer with the paddle attachment
Mix in the vanilla
Beat in the eggs, one at a time
In a separate bowl mix together the all purpose flour, flaxseed meal, Brewers Yeast, salt, baking soda, and baking powder
Slowly mix in the flour
Slowly mix in the rolled oats
Chop the Chocolate bars to desired chunk size
Add the chopped chocolate, dried cranberries, and coconut flakes and mix gently until just combined
Scoop in 1 1/2 Tablespoon portions onto a parchment lined baking sheet
Bake in the oven, pre-heated to 350, for 14-16 minutes
If baking the frozen dough, bake at 350, but extend the time to 22-24 minutes.
Cool on the pan for 5 minutes
Remove from the oven and let rest on the pan for 2 minutes
Move to wire rack to cool completely
