Skip to main content

Banana Chocolate Lactation Muffins

You'd never know the magical powers of this unsuspectingly delicious muffin.

I'm still not sure whether there's any statistically significant benefit of lactation cookies/muffins, or whether they're just an excuse for women to eat baked goods in their first weeks of motherhood. But I'm willing to keep eating these muffins either way.

I've tried a number of different varieties in the past few weeks: really delicious cookies (too much calorie consumption while being stuck at home all day), really delicious muffins (same deal, and they didn't have as much of the beneficial ingredients as I wished they did), really disgusting healthy cookies (chock full of the healthy stuff but it's a stretch to call them "cookies"), really REALLY disgusting oatmeal (it went into the garbage uneaten), and finally, these muffins. These are the winners... lots of galactagogues, not too many calories, and just the right level of decadence such that I look forward to eating them without being tempted to eat the whole batch in one sitting.

The problem ingredient in these lactation foods is brewer's yeast. It's really gross. That's what ruined the oatmeal. So the trick is masking the brewer's yeast taste (and aftertaste) without adding gobs of sugar. Banana helps with that.

I started with this recipe from Yea Yea Pueblo. I slightly decreased the amount of brewer's yeast (out of fear after the oatmeal incident), increased the amount of flax seed, replaced most of the butter with applesauce, decreased the amount of sugar, swapped the sugar for brown sugar, increased the amount of oats, and swapped half of the flour for oat bran. It should be noted that I barely tasted anything from the brewers yeast, so I think it would be safe to go up to 6 tb next time.

If I can muster up the energy to bake ever again (maybe when Miles is 5 and I don't need them anymore?), I'd love to make these again. More likely, I'll hang onto this recipe so I can make them for someone else when I don't have a new infant of my own.


The Recipe:
8 ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 c applesauce
2 tb butter, melted
1 1/2 c brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 1/2 c oat bran
2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
5 tb brewers yeast
8 tb flax seeds, ground
1 1/2 c oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1 c dark chocolate chips
  • Mix wet ingredients, then incorporate dry ingredients
  • Pour into muffin tins and bake at 350 for 25 minutes

The Verdict:
Overall grade: A-
Overall reason: Yummy, healthy, and no brewers yeast aftertaste
Time to prepare: Ask me again when I'm not taking care of a baby at the same time.
Husband quote: "Can I have one, or will I start lactating?"



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Kitchen renovation!

BEFORE: AFTER: Still to come: a beautiful new induction range and some wood shelving on the left side, above the backsplash. And maybe the shelving unit on the wall facing the cabinets should be green, but we're going to live with a while before making that decision.

Red lentil dal

Cucumber salad is key. This dal is perfect. Most of us took seconds, and I'm really excited to eat the last portion that's sitting in the fridge right now. The accompanying salad is really great for adding texture, crunch, and acidity to the meal. I wouldn't skip it. I got it from  Tea for Turmeric  and prepared it pretty much as written, but doubled and with none of the optional ingredients. This recipe doesn't mention any seasoning/dressing on the salad, but adding lemon and salt to it really brightened things up. The Recipe: (from Tea for Turmeric) 2 c red lentils splash of avocado oil 2 tsp cumin seeds 2 small onions, finely chopped 1 inch ginger, grated 4 small tomatoes, chopped 2 thai chilies, minced 2 tsp cumin powder 2 tsp coriander powder 1 tsp cayenne 1 tsp turmeric 2+ tsp kosher salt 2 tsp lemon juice 1/2 c cilantro, chopped For serving: basmati rice and plain yogurt Salad ingredients: 1/2 english cucumber, sliced 10 cherry tomatoes, quartered 1/4 onion, slic...

Curry Fried Rice

Excited for these leftovers. One of the things I wanted to try with my  new jar of curry powder  was fried rice. Years ago, Miles got fried rice at  Korea House  and it was the best fried rice I'd ever had. I suspected there was curry powder in it, but at that time I had never really cooked with curry powder, so I tucked that knowledge away for a later date. After reading a few recipes, I went rogue on this one. I couldn't even begin to effectively guess at what proportions I ended up with, so the recipe below is more of a rough guideline of ingredients. The "Recipe" (sorry no quantities; follow your heart): leftover jasmine rice tofu, cubed and crisped in the oven with avocado oil and salt vegetables: garlic, onion, cabbage, red bell pepper salt curry powder (I used a Vietnamese one) soy sauce sugar sesame oil future topping ideas: runny egg, sesame seeds, green onion Saute the vegetables in avocado oil until softened, and salt them to taste Add the tofu and toss to...