Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Lactation Cookies

Y’all know I love my chocolate. When I started noticing my pumping supply taking a hit, I thought it was finally time to try my hand at lactation cookies. A friend gifted me a mix to try out and while they were delicious, I couldn’t fathom spending $25 on a cookie mix for 2 dozen cookies! A quick Google search returned this recipe and after ordering some brewer’s yeast on Amazon, I was off. This recipe makes 4.5 dozen cookies and it’s recommended to eat 2 per day to help increase supply… Good luck with that 😜 I have yet to eat less than 3 in 1 sitting and I’ve definitely noticed a slight bump in my milk production. Let me know how they work for you! 

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 4 tbsps water
• 2 tbsps flax seed meal
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 2 -4 tbsps brewer’s yeast (I used 4)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and prepare a couple of cookie sheets with parchment. Gather your ingredients, particularly your star milk-making players:  

In a small bowl, mix together flaxseed meal and water, then set aside for 3-5 minutes. It’ll gradually turn into a thick, almost paste-like mixture. 

In a medium mixing bowl, toss together the flour, brewer’s yeast, baking soda, and salt and set aside.  In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat together butter and sugars until well combined. Beat in eggs completely, then add vanilla and flaxseed meal/water mixture. On low speed, add the dry ingredients to the wet. Fold in the oats and chocolate chips with a spatula. 

Scoop dough in tablespoon-sized drops onto prepared baking sheets and bake for 8-12 minutes (depending on your oven- I think mine’s been running hot!). Allow to cool in sheets for a couple of minutes before transferring to a baking rack. Store in an airtight container.  

Happy World Breastfeeding Week from me and my milk-lovin’ chunk! 😍 

Recipe from Food.com. 

THE BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies

I will preface this recipe by saying I can take zero credit for any of it. Not its creation, not purchasing the cookbook it came from… I’m not even entirely sure I found the recipe in the book. My mother in law gifted us the Better Homes & Garden’s Prizewinning Recipe book at our wedding shower over six years ago, and I’ll be honest- it didn’t get much use early on. As I’ve grown into cooking more at home (and obviously baking), I’ve found several excellent recipes in its pages. I suppose that’s why “prizewinning” is in the title, eh? 😜

Anyway, these cookies are about as perfect and classic as they come. Crunchy edges, soft and chewy center, with juuuuust the right amount of chocolate. Friends and coworkers love when I show up with these, and it’s definitely a favorite in our house when we’re craving something sweet. Plus it makes a good amount of cookies, so you’ll have dough leftover to freeze for your next chocolate chip cookie fix. Winning indeed! 

Ingredients (makes about 4 dozen cookies):

• 3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened 
• 1/4 cup shortening
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 tsp baking soda 
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 eggs 
• 1 tsp vanilla 
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 cups (1 package) semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit and line 2 medium cookie sheets with parchment. In the bowl of your mixer, beat the butter and shortening on medium-high speed until combined and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add sugars, baking soda, and salt and beat until combined, then beat in eggs and vanilla. On low speed, add flour until no dry streaks remain. Stir in chocolate chips with a rubber spatula. *Adorable, pants-less, chocolate chip stealing helper optional.  

 Drop rounded teaspoons of dough onto cookie sheets about 2 inches apart. Bake for about 8 minutes, or until edges are lightly browned. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  

 
Recipe from Better Homes & Garden’s Prizewinning Recipes, pg. 244. 

Texas Sheet Cake Cookies

Guys, fair warning- these may be the simplest cookies ever. So stinkin easy, and I’d be willing to bet you have everything in your pantry to make them RIGHT NOW. They’re so easy, I made them twice in one week after my mother-in-law posted the recipe. My husband greatly appreciated this as Texas sheet cake is his all-time favorite. 😉 The cookies are soft, almost brownie-like in texture; the icing literally melts in your mouth. Just chocolatey enough without being overwhelming. You’ve been warned. 

Ingredients:

For the cookies:

• 1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 and 1/3 cup flour
• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted

For the icing:

• 1 stick unsalted butter
• 2 tbsps cocoa powder
• 3 tbsps milk
• 2 and 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper (you’ll end up with about 2 dozen cookies). In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In the bowl of your stand mixer, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about a minute or two. Add the egg and vanilla. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Put chocolate chips in a small, microwaveable bowl and microwave in 30 second intervals until completely melted. Add melted chocolate to the stand mixer bowl and blend well.  

  

I think the dough ends up looking like chocolate ice cream! 😋

 

Use a measuring tablespoon to scoop dough and roll into small balls. These don’t puff up too much so don’t worry about putting them too close together!  

 

Bake for about 7 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. They make still look shiny and not baked through- this is ok! You don’t want to over-bake them and the baking sheet will finish them nicely while they’re cooling.  

 

While your cookies are cooling, whip up the icing. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, cocoa powder, and milk.  

 

Mix together on medium heat until butter is completely melted. Remove from heat and whisk in the powdered sugar.  

 

Use a spoon to drizzle icing generously on top of the the cookies…  

   

Then attempt to wait a while for the icing to completely set before eating. I don’t think we’ve made it more than 15 minutes without taste testing and they’re fine… Just a bit messy. 😊  

 

Stupid easy, amirite? Enjoy with a cold glass of milk or a cup of coffee, or standing over your kitchen sink before your toddler comes in demanding a cookie for himself… What? 😜 

Recipe adapted slightly from Kylee’s Kitchen.

*I apologize for the abysmal quality of the photos. It was dark, rainy, and generally gross when I made these!

Almond Crescent Cookies

Do you have a particular item of food in your family that holds sentimental value? I definitely equate certain things with certain family members… Brownies and my dad, fresh bread and my grandma, and (for some reason) chicken noodle casserole and my mom. Before I went to my husband’s family Christmas for the first time, I remember him talking about Grandma Peewee’s almond crescent cookies and how they’re his ABSOLUTE favorite. She didn’t disappoint- these cookies are buttery yet crunchy, almond-rich in flavor and coated in powdered sugar. She passed away several years ago, and I know Mark misses her… And those cookies. While I don’t have the shape quite right yet, I sure hope I’ve done Peewee proud with these.

Ingredients:
Yields about 2 1/2 dozen cookies
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp almond extract
2 cups flour
1 almond flour/meal
1 cup powdered sugar, for coating

Directions:
As so many recipes start… 😉 preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line some cookie sheets with parchment. Beat together butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy. Add extracts and beat until incorporated. Slow mixer speed to avoid a mess and add flours to the mixture. Mix just until combined and a slightly crumbly dough has formed.

Now, to do this properly (according to Mark), you probably only need about a tablespoon of dough. I, however, just eyeballed some scoops of dough. Roll the dough into a small ball, then shape into a crescent.

Bake for about 15 minutes, or until light golden brown.

Now for the fun part! Dump your powdered sugar into a large ziplock bag…

<br /
Toss a couple of those delights in the bag…

Zip it up and give a good shake. Like shake and bake but for cookies! Kinda. Repeat with remaining cookies, adding more powdered sugar need be. You want the cookie fully coated!

A perfectly decadent cookie, excellent with some coffee or tea. Consider these for your last minute cookie swap! Merry Christmas! 😊🎄🎁🍪

Recipe adapted from Simply Recipes.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

In case you need a reminder, I’m pretty squarely settled in the “if it’s not chocolate, it’s not dessert” camp. For these cookies though, I’ll make an exception. These may for me even usurp Oreos as what my Dad likes to refer to as “coffee dunkers”. 😁 Thick but fluffy and infused with warm fall spices, these cookies are sure to be a hit with the pumpkin lover in your life. Or in my case, any cookie lover 😊 Plan ahead as you have to let the dough refrigerate at least an hour before baking!
Ingredients:
For the cookies:
3¾ cups all-purpose flour
1½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
½ cup brown sugar
¾ cup pumpkin puree
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
For the coating:
½ cup sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
Dash of allspice

Directions:
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Whisk to blend and set aside.

With your mixer, beat together the butter and sugars on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, then add the pumpkin puree.

Beat in the egg and vanilla until incorporated. With the mixer on low speed, add in the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated and no dry streaks remain. Cover and chill the dough for at least 1 hour.

Once your dough is chilled, assemble your coating materials. You’ll also need a cup filled with water and a flat-bottomed glass for this step (the bottom of a stemless wine glass works well for this!). Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Combine the sugar and spices for the coating in a bowl and mix to blend.

Scoop up about 2.5 tablespoons of dough and roll into a ball. Coat the dough ball in the sugar-spice mixture and place on your cookie sheet, repeating with the remaining dough to fill the sheets. You may have to make several sheets; this recipe can make up to 4 dozen cookies depending on how big you make them.

Dip the bottom of your glass into the water, then the spice mixture, and use it to flatten the dough balls slightly. Recoat the glass in the spice mixture as needed, usually after 3-4 cookies.

Bake the cookies for 10-12 minutes, or until just set baked through. Let cool on the cookie sheets about 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container and share with the ones you love! 😊 Happy fall baking/eating!

Recipe from Annie’s Eats