There’s hunger and then there’s nursing hunger. And as anyone who has ever breastfed a baby can tell you, it’s nothing short of “eat-everything-in-the-house-and-then-search-for-what-you-dropped-in-the-couch-cushions” ravenous.

Feeding a baby is hard work and can require what feels like near-constant eating—especially if you’re concerned about your milk production. Of course, there are plenty of milk-boosting foods (also called galactagogues) that you can easily fold into your daily diet, but when your hands are full or you’re trapped under a sleeping baby, sometimes you just want to grab something that’s easy and delicious. One of the quickest and easiest ways to satiate you both while including ingredients that can help turbo-charge your milk supply? Lactation cookies.

What are lactation cookies?

Simply enough, lactation cookies are cookies that are made with ingredients that can help boost milk production. Most recipes include four standouts that are heralded for their milk-boosting properties: Oats, fenugreek, flaxseed and brewer’s yeast. And while calling them cookies does suggest they’re a bit of a treat, they’re more densely packed with vitamins and nutrients than your standard TollHouse.

Do lactation cookies work?

Well, that depends. According to International Board-Certified Lactation Consultant Dr. Sharifa Glass, there is minimal medical research on the efficacy, recommended dose and safety of herbs, spices and foods for milk production. “Whether these substances truly work or the positive results are due to a placebo effect is unclear. Mothers should be cautious when ingesting any herbs or spices as they may cause adverse side effects in the mother and the infant, and they may alter the efficacy of maternal medications.”

Still, one of the most important things when you’re nursing is fueling your body. In fact, it’s recommended that you consume more extra calories while breastfeeding than throughout pregnancy. So while a lactation cookie may not magically help you pump extra ounces, healthy snacks and lots of water certainly can. Check with your doctor to see if there are any ingredients you should avoid, but otherwise, many lactation cookies are an easy to grab snack to stock your pantry with.

Yes, you could definitely bake up some of your own—after all, the recipes generally feature easy-to-find ingredients like rolled oats, brewers yeast and flaxseeds. But if baking is (understandably) at the bottom of your priorities list, there are lots of super tasty and effective pre-packaged lactation cookies on the market today.

We’ve rounded up reviewer’s highest-rated, most talked-about and best lactation cookies that can be delivered!

Best lactation cookies

MilkBliss Dark Chocolate Chip Soft Baked Lactation Cookies

MilkBliss

$24.99

Dark Chocolate Chip Soft Baked Lactation Cookies

If you prefer a soft-baked cookie, stock up on the pint-sized dark chocolate chip cookies from MilkBliss. Not only are they wholesome and delicious, but they were formulated specifically for breastfeeding moms based on the science of galactagogues—also known as milk boosters. The all-natural, fenugreek-free recipe contains milk boosting ingredients like organic whole rolled oats, GMO-free brewers yeast and organic flaxseed and come wrapped in individual serving sizes to keep them fresh.

Munchkin Milkmakers Lactation Cookie Bites

Munchkin Milkmakers

$22.99

Lactation Cookie Bites

Since 1990, Munchkin has evolved into a brand that’s ubiquitous with parenthood, so it’s no surprise their Milkmakers Lactation Cookie Bites are Amazon’s top-selling lactation snack. With 21k+ ratings, the bite-sized crunchy cookie packs are perfect for on-the-go snacking and made with all-natural milk boosters like oats, flaxseed and brewer’s yeast. It’s worth noting they’re higher in calories and sugar than any other cookie on our list, so if you’re keeping track of either of those things, you may want to try an alternative.

Booby Boons Lactation Cookies

Booby Boons

$9.98

Lactation Cookies

Formulated with the help of an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC), Booby Boons are a gluten-free mama’s answer to convenient milk-boosting snack attacks. The wheat, soy, fenugreek and corn-free cookies are made from non-GMO and 100% gluten-free ingredients to help keep you and your baby satisfied at home or on the go.

nunona mama balls

Nunona

$34.99

Mama Balls

After spending her entire career traveling the world focused on infant nutrition and developing infant nutritional products, Nunona’s founder Krista Maas de Villiers became a mom. Only then did she realize she was no longer interested in the synthetic products she helped develop in the corporate world. Instead, she wanted to nourish her body and her baby with plant-based nutrients—an option that she found hard to come by. So she set to work creating the all-natural, evidence-based products the market was missing—and the result is delicious. Formulated to help improve the quality of breastmilk, Nunona’s mama balls are dairy and gluten-free and made from all-natural, plant-based ingredients like nut butters, dates, brewers yeast, flaxseeds and oats. They’re more dense than their cookie counterparts which makes them satisfy like real food. And true confessions? We’ve been known to eat them even when we’re not breastfeeding. They’re the perfect post workout snack!

Take 20% off your order with code MOTHERLY20

Boobie Bar Superfood Lactation Bars

Boobie Bar

$17.99

Superfood Lactation Bars

Technically not a cookie, but there’s chocolate chips involved, so we’re including! These convenient bars are packed with six superfoods that keep milk flowing (moringa leaf, cinnamon, shatavari root, turmeric, flaxseed, and whole grain oats), and like the rest of the brand’s products, they’re formulated by founder IBCLC and RN Nurse Wendy Colson. Since its launch as the first-to-market lactation bar in 2015, it’s become a go-to snack for nursing mamas.

Café Baby Mommy's Milk Lactation Cookies

Café Baby

$23.99

Mommy's Milk Lactation Cookies

We love a small mama owned business. Made for mamas by mamas, Café Baby’s big and delicious cookies are baked fresh daily without preservatives and shipped out right away. (They’re basically what you’d make for yourself if you didn’t have a baby attached to your boob 23 hours a day.) Each one is packed with whole grains, fiber, iron and amino acids to give your body a legit nutrient boost between meals. Pro tip: They’re soft and chewy and made even more delicious by a quick pop in the microwave!

 A version of this article was originally published July 19, 2021. It has been updated.