Apple Choc Milk Bites – Lactation Mini Muffins

I’d heard about lactation cookies and their power to increase or stabilize milk supply for lactating mothers. I don’t have any issues with milk supply, but it is something that I can’t help but wonder about – especially on the days that I exercise. I have been a little light on the exercise lately *le sigh*, I’m hoping that will change soon. After all, I need to get ready for my half marathon in April – eeek! Anyways, back to milk supply…My go to website about breastfeeding is kellymom.com. With both this pregnancy and the last, I’d heard alot about galactagogue. What are galactagogues you ask? Well the definition from KellyMom.com is :

A substance that increases milk supply is called a galactagogue. Some of the most commonly used herbal galactagogues are fenugreek, blessed thistle, and alfalfa. There are also several prescription medications that can increase milk supply.

Of course, if you feel you have a severe milk supply issue, you should probably seek out help with La Leche League or your doctor.

But, if like me you want to make sure you keep a steady supply while pumping extra milk for your baby, or you want to make sure heavy exercise doesn’t disrupt your flow, you can try making my Apple Choc Milk Bites. These lactation mini muffins have been created by looking at various recipes for lactation cookies, and my research on galactagogues blended together with other ingredients to create a great taste. These have a specific purpose, so there is no frosting, just yummy goodness – many of the cookie recipes I saw had waaay too much sugar and other non-essentials for my liking. Also, as someone deathly allergic to nuts, my recipe is completely nut free. The website granolababies.com was my main inspiration for these little goodies.

Cool Tip for Mamas

These are lower in sugar that your regular muffin recipe and taste great. The added bonus to these Apple Choc Milk Bites is that they also aid digestion. Don’t be surprised if you are suddenly a little more regular, if you know what I mean. And don’t worry about the whole family digging into these. If you aren’t already producing milk, you won’t suddenly start to (phew, my husband was wondering!). In fact, Monkey #1 loves these and identified the apple taste instantly.

The oats and the brewer’s yeast are the 2 ingredients that are the most responsible for increasing the milk supply. Oats are easy enough to find (no quick cook ones please, we want all the goodness we can get) but for the nutritional yeast, you will have to go to a health food store. And if you are wondering, the answer is yes I noticed an increase in supply. 

Ingredients

1 cup regular oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 TBSP of flaxseed meal

3 TBSP of Nutritional/Brewer’s Yeast

2 tsp of baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

3-4 crushed raw cacao beans

1 cup of yoghurt (flavor of your choice)

1 egg

2 large mashed bananas

1/2 cup of coconut water with the pulp

Ingredients for Apple mixture

2 large apples

1 TBSP cinnamon

1 lemon

1/2 cup of water

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Directions

1.  Peel and core the apples, then chop finely. Add them to a saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add cinnamon and squeeze lemon to the apples. Add at least 1/2 cup of water. If the mixture starts to stick to the pan add more water.
3. Let the apple mixture stew while preparing the rest of the mix, stirring occasionally.
4. Add all the dry ingredients together in one large bowl, making sure everything is all mixed together properly.
5. Mash the bananas and mix together with the liquid ingredients.
6. After about 20 minutes the apple mixture shout be tender. Remove from the heat and add the liquids ingredients.
7. Combine the dry and liquid ingredients and mix thoroughly. The final mixture will be quite thick.
8. Using either a mini cupcake baker (like I have) or mini cupcake trays, use a tablespoon to scoop out the Apple Choc Milk Bites.
9. Whatever method you use to bake, you’ll know these are ready when they are lightly brown on the outside.

Enjoy! These really are tasty, but remember what i said about them making you regular. Like everything else you ingest, they will also make baby regular, so eat sparingly.