Salted Toffee Cookies (Vegan Lactation Recipe) (2024)

Medically reviewed by Abbey Sharp, Registered Dietitian (RD), BASc.

These Salted Toffee Lactation Cookies are naturally gluten-free, vegan-friendly, and packed with ingredients said to help increase breastmilk production (but they’re so good, even non-breastfeeding folks will love them!)

Well, folks, I am officially in the thick of this newborn breastfeeding life. If you recall from my first postpartum experience, breastfeeding was a massive struggle for me. I didn’t have enough milk (supply issues), and our latch was so bad E just would never be able to stay on the boob for more than a hot minute without screaming his head off. This time around, I had enough milk to get me going (not a crazy amount but enough to feed O plus a bit to freeze), but our latch wasn’t the greatest. I do notice that when my boobs are extra full with milk that he drinks better (and therefore sleeps better), so I’m anxious to make sure my supply doesn’t dwindle. That’s where these amazing lactation cookies come in. Packed with a sweet flavour and lots of nutritious add-ins for mama’s milk, these salted toffee cookies make amazing breastfeeding fuel AND a sweet treat for the whole family.

Why This Recipe Works

Need some convincing reasons to enjoy these toffee cookies on repeat?

• They’re so tasty
• Not just for new moms. Everyone will love these!
• Packed with healthy goodness
• Vegan-friendly
• Gluten-free
• Freezer-friendly

Key Ingredients

Toffee Bits — If you are strictly vegan, follow my recipe below for homemade toffee bits. Otherwise, you can purchase toffee bits at your local bulk store or in the baking aisle.

Ground flax — This is to prepare the flax eggs to keep these cookies vegan. I like to mix it with almond milk just for extra flavour, but you can always use water. The flax also adds healthy omega 3s, fibre, and protein, and is said to help promote breastmilk production.

Gluten-free quick oats — No not use steel cut oats in their place.

Gluten-free all-purpose flour —If you’re not gluten-free, you can feel free to use regular all-purpose flour here.

Brewers yeast — Brewers yeast doesn’t really have much of a flavour (maybe just kinda toasty), but it is said to be one of the best ingredients for promoting milk production.

Vegan butter — If you don’t need to keep these vegan, feel free to use regular butter instead.

Dark brown sugar — I like a good molasses-rich dark brown sugar, but you can also use light brown sugar in its place.

Cashew butter — If you don’t have cashew butter, peanut or almond will work. I just prefer cashew in this recipe because it is relatively neutral in flavour so it allows the toffee to shine.

Fleur de sel — Adding a little salt on top takes a good cookie and makes it a GREAT one.

How to Make This Recipe

Step 1: To make the toffee for these toffee cookies, line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat and set it aside. Have a small heavy saucepan heated to medium-high and add the butter, sugar, soy milk, and salt. Stir until the sugar and butter melts.

Step 2: Cook until it reaches the hard crack stage (300 F or 150 C) – watch your thermometer like a hawk because it can easily get too hot. Turn off the heat, and carefully (using gloves) pour the toffee onto the parchment or silpat and spread it out quickly. Place in the fridge or freezer until set (about 10 minutes in the freezer).

Step 3: Remove the baking sheet from the freezer and smash the toffee into tiny pieces. Set aside.

Step 4: Prepare the flax eggs by combining 2 tbsp of flaxseed with 5 tbsp unsweetened vanilla almond milk. Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes until it looks thick and gloopy. In a mixer, beat the vegan butter until softened. Add in the sugar and beat until it looks smooth and fluffy. Preheat the oven the 350 degrees F and line three baking sheets with parchment paper or a silpat. Add in the cashew butter, flax eggs, and vanilla and beat until mixed.

Step 5: In a large bowl, mix together the oats, gluten-free flour, brewer’s yeast, flaxseed, baking powder, soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry and then fold in the toffee pieces if using.

Step 6: Roll the toffee cookie batter into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter and place on the baking sheet with about 2 inches between them. Gently press the cookies down just a touch. Sprinkle generously with fleur de sel. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the bottoms are light golden brown. Allow to cool for at least 5 minutes before picking up.

Expert Tips

Purchase toffee bits instead of making your own to save time making these toffee cookies.

Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days, or in the freezer for 6 months. You can leave them at room temperature.

Want to make this more fun? Add some chocolate chips to the toffee cookies!

To smash the toffee bits, you can use a meat mallet or rolling pin.

The toffee recipe that worked the best used Earth Balance and was heated to a hard crack (300 F) vs a soft crack. The toffee recipe down below makes around double of what you need. Cutting the recipe any smaller would require a very tiny pot. You can always store the extra toffee in an airtight container in the fridge for another recipe.

Recipe FAQs

More Recipes You Might Like

We love lactation cookies around here and a lot of them are vegan! Here are some of our favourites if you love these toffee cookies:

• Vegan Carrot Cake Lactation Cookies
• Salted Chocolate Almond Vegan Lactation Cookies
• Lemon Poppyseed Vegan Lactation Cookies
• Vegan Salted Tahini Cookies

What are you trying to eat more of if you’re breastfeeding to increase your breastmilk supply? Leave me a comment below with your thoughts!

Updated on August 30th, 2022