Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies with Flaxseed

A great, great friend of mine had her first baby this week and it was thrilling, absolutely thrilling. The anticipation, the joy of new life and happy new parents. My day has improved infinitely whenever I think about holding that tiny, beautiful, cooing baby surrounded by love, joy and hope. I can't even imagine what it is like to have it with you all the time. I keep going back to thrilling, and I bet exhausting but still intoxicating with love and new life. The baby came a few days early, which I do believe was as a nice relief to my lovely couch bound friend. I spent an afternoon with her last week, in an attempt to make being on the couch all day a touch more bearable. I came with a bag full of chick flicks and the fixings for this outrageous idea I had heard about called “breast milk cookies”.

I don’t really remember where I read about the small company producing them, but they are just regular cookies (no breast milk added), with natural ingredients that promote the production of healthy nutrient filled breast milk. Oats flaxseed and brewer’s yeast have some pretty amazing health benefits for the lactating, and in fact, for the rest of us. Since oats and flaxseed super easy to pick up at the grocery store I figured we could spend the afternoon making our own, while Sarah Jessica Parker and friends flaunted around in ridiculous outfits in the background. I didn't have time to track down brewer’s yeast, but I think I will have to locate it for the next batch, since the baby is now here and ready to drink her fill. Even without it, I think we all enjoyed the cookies immensely, I used a delicious recipe from Molly Wizenberg and we spiked it with enough flaxseed that we all agreed these were definitely “health cookies”. I am sure that there will be many more batched of these cookies to come. Maybe spiked with nuts, or delicious dried fruits, anything to improve dinner time for my smallest new friend.

Chocolate Chunk Oatmeal Cookies with Flaxseed adapted from Orangette

Yield about 2 dozen plus cookies

2 cups all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons ground flaxseed

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

1 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1 egg

1 1/2 cup dark chocolate chunks (or chocolate chips)

1 1/2 cups rolled oats

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees fahrenheit. Grease cookie sheets with cooking spray or line them with parchment paper.

2. Sift together the flour, flaxseed, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

3. In a medium bowl, cream together the melted butter, brown sugar and granulated sugars until well blended. Beat in the vanilla and egg, mixing until light and creamy.

4. Mix in the sifted ingredients, working until blended.

5. Stir in the chocolate chunks and oats.

6. Chill dough in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to one hour.

7. Roll tablespoon full of the dough into balls and place 2 inches apart on a cookies sheet. Press the cookies flat with a spatula. Bake cookies for about 15 minutes, or until the edges are lightly browned. Cool and enjoy.