I’m sure those who have had children can understand our sporadic and few and far between blog posts at the moment!
This post was created as i needed an easy to make, relatively healthy, energy boosting item of food that i could just grab and eat. Also as i am breastfeeding, i was curious about “lactation cookies” and their supposed benefit in boosting milk supply however wanted something a bit healthier. The ingredients in lactation cookies that help with your milk supply are oats, brewer’s yeast and flax. So i played around a bit and this is what i came up with. I haven’t added flax to these however you could definitely give it a try.
This recipe is based on the ANZAC Inspired Breakfast Bars by Heike at Heike Herrling. I adapted them as to what ingredients i had on hand, added some extra vitamins and minerals and the addition of the brewer’s yeast. If you aren’t breastfeeding, these are still a delicious and relatively healthy snack so you can easily omit the brewer’s yeast.
You could also easily make these gluten free by using certified gluten free oats.
ANZAC Inspired Breastfeeding Squares
Ingredients
Dry
2 1/2 cups rolled oats (i used quick oats because that’s what we had)
1/2 cup unsalted pumpkin seeds
1/2 cup unsalted sunflower seeds
1 cup shredded coconut
1 cup unsalted pecans, broken into pieces
200g mixed dried fruit
2 tablespoons brewer’s yeast, sifted (sifting is crucial, people)
Wet
50g melted butter
50ml Blackstrap molasses (the original recipe calls for golden syrup, which makes the traditional ANZAC biscuit or slice however Blackstrap molasses is full of vitamins and minerals including a high content of iron so hence why i used it instead)
395g can sweetened condensed milk
Method
- Preheat oven to 120°C fan forced and line a 29cm x 19cm baking tray with baking paper.
- Place all your dry ingredients into a large mixing bowl and mix well.
- In a separate small bowl, place all of your wet ingredients and mix until combined.
- Add the wet mixture into the dry mixture and with a spoon, mix until it’s well combined and the dry is completely incorporated into the wet.
- Press the mixture into your prepared tray and bake for 1 hour.
- Let it cool for 15 minutes in the tray and then slice into your desired size (i got about twenty squares). Then let the squares cool completely before breaking them apart. They aren’t meant to be hard and crunchy, more soft and chewy.
The Chef and the Waitress 