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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?"



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