Healthy Gluten Free Lactation Cookies

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These healthy gluten free lactation cookies are perfect for nursing moms! These vegan cookies are low in sugar, easy to make, store well, and contain wholesome ingredients to help boost milk supply & production for breastfeeding. They also happen to be delicious!

This one is for all the new moms out there! Whether this is your first baby or not, milk supply issues can arise such as hormonal imbalances. When I was nursing both of my kids, I remember looking for anything that would naturally boost my milk supply without having any unwanted side effects for me or my kids!

Lactation cookies were recommended to me by so many other moms and by my lactation consultant. However, all the store-bought lactation cookies I came across were loaded with sugar, empty calories, and refined grains.

I didn’t want to have to eat the equivalent of a candy bar multiple times a day in order to boost my milk supply. I decided to come up with a much healthier version of a lactation cookie that still tasted as good as a regular cookie! These really are the best lactation cookies – they not only taste delicious but they are healthy too. They are vegan, low in sugar, and gluten free – so you can feel good about eating a couple of these a day while you’re breastfeeding your little one. Oh and the most important thing — these gluten free lactation cookies WORK!

You can have peace of mind knowing you are supplying plenty of milk to your sweet baby.

Even if you are not a nursing mom, the ingredients in these healthy breastfeeding cookies are safe for anyone. Plus, they are the perfect gift to bring over to a friend or family member when visiting and meeting the new baby! If you’re more of a brownie fan, try these lactation brownies instead!

👩🏽‍🍳 Why You’ll Love These Healthy Lactation Cookies

• Boost Milk Supply: Of course, the main reason to love these delicious lactation cookies is that they are perfect for a new mama in need of some supply help!
• Gluten-Free & Vegan: These cookies are naturally gluten-free and vegan so the recipe works for so many moms out there regardless of your dietary preference.
• Healthy & Delicious: This really is the best lactation cookie recipe packed with whole grains, vitamin B, and nourishing milk-boosting ingredients. It’s much healthier than most lactation cookie recipes out there, and it also happens to taste amazing too!
• Easy To Customize: These vegan gluten free lactation cookies are versatile and can be adjusted to fit your dietary needs and flavor preferences. See our variations below for ideas!

Latest Recipe Video!

🥘 Ingredients

These gluten free lactation cookies are made with nutritious ingredients that you can easily find at the grocery store. Check out the recipe card at the bottom of this post for exact measurements.

• Rolled Oats: You’ll grind some of these into your own oat flour, and keep some whole. To ensure these healthy lactation cookies remain gluten free, use certified gluten free oats. I don’t recommend other gluten-free flour because oats are one of the main ingredients in these cookies that increase breast milk production!
• Ground Flaxseed Meal: Ground flaxseeds are much more effective than whole flax seeds at helping to increase milk supply. We turn the flax meal into flax eggs to use in place of eggs to make this recipe vegan.
• Coconut Oil: Coconut oil serves as a vegan substitute for butter and works great in this breast milk cookie recipe.
• Coconut Sugar: Add a touch of sweetness with coconut sugar for an unrefined sugar option.
• Debittered Gluten Free Brewer’s Yeast: This is one of the key ingredients to helping boost breast milk supply! It is a great source of B vitamins and protein. Do not confuse brewers yeast for nutritional yeast, which would give off a cheesy flavor. Make sure to get a gluten-free certified brewer’s yeast! My favorite brand is Anthony’s Brewer’s Yeast.
• Vanilla Extract And Sea Salt: To enhance the natural sweetness of these gf lactation cookies without adding too much sugar, use vanilla extract and sea salt.
• Baking Soda: Baking soda serves as a leavening agent to help these eggless lactation cookies rise!
• Dark Chocolate Chips: Optional, but delicious! Use dairy free dark chocolate chips instead of regular to keep this gluten free lactation cookie recipe vegan!

🍲 Ingredient Substitutions

• Oat Flour: If you do not want to blend your own oat flour, you could just use store bought.
• Whole Wheat Flour: If you are not gluten free, you could use whole wheat flour which would add healthy whole grains to these gluten free lactation snacks and you’d still get the added benefits of oats with the whole oats.
• Oats: If you prefer a chewy texture you can try this healthy lactation cookies recipe with quick oats, instead of the old-fashioned oats.
• Oil: Instead of coconut oil, use avocado or olive oil for different flavor profiles. You can also swap the coconut oil for vegan butter if you want, or regular butter if you are not vegan.
• Sugar: Other sweetener options for these gluten free lactation cookies include maple syrup or brown sugar, if you prefer those over coconut sugar.
• Almond Extract: For a different flavor, you could substitute almond extract for the vanilla. Both are great options that compliment the cookies well.

🔪 How To Make Gluten Free Lactation Cookies

When you see how easy they are to make, they will quickly become your favorite lactation cookies! Here is how to make this gluten free lactation cookies recipe:

Preheat Oven and Make Oat Flour: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Pour 1.5 cups of oats into a blender or food processor, and process them into a fine flour. (Don’t take the blender lid off right away– set the blender aside while the flour settles.)

Make Flax Egg: In a large mixing bowl combine the ground flax seeds with the water, and stir well to mix. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. 

Mix Wet Ingredients: Add in the coconut oil, coconut sugar, and vanilla to the flax egg mixture. You can also add in the gluten free brewer’s yeast, baking soda, and salt at this time, and stir again until well combined. 

Add Dry Ingredients: Gradually stir the oat flour into the large bowl until a dough is formed, then fold in the 1 cup of oats and dark chocolate chips.

Add Lactation Cookie Dough To Baking Sheet: Drop the cookie dough by heaping tablespoons onto the lined baking sheet, then use your fingers or the back of the spoon to flatten the cookies. Leave a little bit of room between these gluten free breastfeeding cookies to allow for spread.

Bake And Serve! Bake lactation cookies for 10-12 minutes, until the cookies are golden brown around the edges. At 10 minutes your cookies will be crisp around the edges but nice and soft in the center (they’ll become more crispy the longer you bake them). Let these gluten free breast milk cookies cool before serving. 

💭 Expert Tips

• Space Out Cookies: When you place the cookies on the baking sheet, leave a little room between them to allow for spread.
• Where To Find Brewers Yeast: You can get brewers yeast from health food stores, or in the health food isles of most grocery stores, or you can even find it online!
• Do Not Omit The Brewers Yeast: When making these breast milk cookies recipe with the goal of boosting milk supply you do not want to skip the brewers yeast – that’s the main ingredient that makes these delicious cookies work.
• Double The Recipe: Feel free to make a double batch of these cookies and store half in the freezer for later! That way you are stocked up and have them handy throughout your breastfeeding journey. 
• Use A Spoon: The dough can be a little crumbly, so it might be easier if you use a spoon or cookie scoop to place the dough balls on the baking pan. Alternatively, you can rest the dough in the fridge for about an hour to make it easier to scoop, but then your cookies will turn out slightly flat (they will still taste great though!)

📖 Variations

• Coconut Lactation Cookies: Next time, try these gluten free lactation cookies out with some added coconut flakes! Coconut is a galactagogue, so it will only help these cookies work more!
• Protein Lactation Cookies: You can boost the amount of protein in these gluten free lactation cookies by adding your favorite nut butter like peanut butter or almond butter. You could also use add a scoop of vegan protein powder to the batter as a 1:1 replacement of the equivalent amount of the oat flour – aim for a vanilla or unflavored option.
• Different Nuts & Seeds: Try adding in extra nuts and seeds for more health benefits! Almonds, sesame seeds, and pumpkin seeds are also go-to ingredients in lactation recipes thanks to their galactagogue properties, protein, antioxidants, vitamins, and minerals.
• Dairy Free Lactation Cookies Without Brewer’s Yeast: You can make these vegan lactation snacks without brewer’s yeast if you can’t find it or don’t like the taste. If you do omit it, I recommend replacing it with 1/8 cup ground flaxseed and 1/8 cup almond flour or oat flour (both of which have breastmilk producing properties!) But I would highly recommend trying this recipe with brewer’s yeast first, as it really does make a major difference in breastmilk supply.

🍽 Serving Suggestions

These gluten-free lactation cookies are perfect by themselves, as a snack any time of day or for a light breakfast.

For a more filling meal, try pairing this vegan lactation cookie recipe with a mango protein smoothie or sweet potato breakfast hash for something sweet and salty.

These cookies also go great with a refreshing drink! Need some ideas? Try them with this strawberry milk tea or golden turmeric latte. Papaya is another great ingredient for milk supply, so I’d suggest also trying out this Mexican Fruit Salad made with papaya!

🙌 Dietary Adaptations

These gluten free lactation cookies will already meet the needs for anyone who is gluten intolerant or needs to avoid gluten for various reasons. They are also dairy free and vegan! However, here are a couple dietary adaptations that may be helpful for you:

Low Sugar Option: These are already low sugar lactation cookies, but you can cut the sugar in half or skip entirely for an even lower sugar variation. You can also reduce the sugar by using sugar free chocolate chips.

Low Carb Option: To reduce the amount of carbs in these vegan lactation cookies you can use coconut flour or almond flour. There are even some keto all purpose flour options available. You may need to adjust the moisture accordingly, and the texture of the cookies might change.

🫙 Storage Directions

Here’s how to store and keep these gluten free lactation cookies:

Store In The Fridge: Let these dairy free breastfeeding cookies cool and transfer to an airtight container. Store in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or store on the counter at room temperature for up to 1-2 days. Note: these cookies will get a little soft the day after being baked if you store them at room temperature. So storing in the fridge is the best option to help them last longer and keep them a little firmer.

To Freeze: Let the cookies cool and transfer to an airtight freezer safe container or freezer bag, with parchment paper separating the cookies. Freeze for up to 4 months. 

To Reheat: To defrost, thaw in the fridge overnight, then reheat in the microwave!

❓Recipe FAQs

🍪 More Healthy Cookie Recipes!

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• Chocolate Chip Cookies Without Brown Sugar
• Lemon Blueberry Cookies
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📋 Recipe Card