One of the unexpected things in my life is the desire to increase my breast milk production. It is so irksome to me to have to feed my child an artificial supplement. Beside relieving stress which turns out to be impossible, there are a few things recommended out there for the nursing mother: mother’s milk tea (I dislike hot beverages), blessed thistle and fenugreek capsules (I am resistant to the idea of choking down five giant capsules two to three times daily, as I only learned to swallow pills a few years ago, prescription medicine (a no go for me on principle), and certain foods known as galactagogues (which autocorrect amusingly wanted to make galaxy agonies). These foods include anise, garlic, carrots, sesame seeds, fenugreek, fennel, oatmeal, ginger, brewer’s yeast, nuts, green papaya, and a mysterious thing called lactation cookies. I now know how to make these as a tasty treat because I was not going to pay the outrageous prices asked for commercial cookies.

NOTE: These are tasty for all and should not cause lactation in those not nursing.  No promises, however, I am not a doctor.

Paleo Chocolate Chunk Lactation Cookies (Desserts) Makes 36-ish.

• 2 cups almond flour
• 1/2 cup flax seed meal
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp ground anise seed
• 1 tbsp ground sesame seeds
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tsp fenugreek powder (~6 capsules)
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1/2 cup dates, chopped or dried cranberries
• 2/3 cup chocolate chunks or 1 fancy bar dark chocolate, hammered

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Grease or line a cookie sheet.
2. In a medium-large bowl, combine flour, flax, baking soda. and ground spices.
3. In another bow, whisk together eggs, coconut oil, maple syrup, and vanilla extract.
4. Make a well in the dry ingredients and slowly add wet ingredients.
5. Fold in nuts, fruit, and chocolate.
6. Using cookie scooper or large spoon, drop onto lined/greased cookie sheet, pushing down to spread, and leaving an inch between them.
7. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let stand ten minutes on pan, then transfer to cooling rack.  Repeat as needed.

Nut-free and Not Paleo: substitute all purpose flour for almond flour and rolled oats for the nuts.  Consider adding 1/2 cup sunflower kernels and/or pumpkin seeds and doubling the ground sesame seed for texture and more galactagogue content, which you lose removing the nuts.

Gluten-free and Not Paleo: substitute oat flour for almond flour and sunflower kernels and pumpkin seeds for the nuts.  Make your own oat flour by grinding rolled oats, not steel-cut, in a blender or food processor.

Pro-Tip:

• You can form cookies and freeze on lined pan, then transfer to freezer bag for baking later OR freeze after cooling.  This is especially usefully with fresh foods lacking in preservatives the you may not consume quickly.
• Leave the cookies to sit on the pan to form the full ten minutes.  Paleo cookies are fragile and need time to firm up.
• If you accidentally overcook one batch, put them at the bottom of your cookie jar/airtight container.  The contained environment with the rest of the cookies will re-moisten.

This last tip is especially useful if you decide they need two more minutes but the person setting the timer sets them for two hours and you only realize something is amiss after five or so minutes.  True story.