The recipe queen is rebranding the lactation cookie.
Up until fairly recently, cookbook author and recipe wizard Molly Baz wasn’t quite sure what lactation cookies actually were. “I had heard of them and definitely thought that they were cookies made of breast milk,” she says. “That should give you an indication of how much I know about this whole breastfeeding journey in general.” She’s not alone in her confusion, which is one reason why Baz, who’s expecting her first child this year, is partnering with breastfeeding company Swehl to bring more attention to the topic.
Swehl, which aims to "rebrand cringy categories" and bring humor and a sense of community to a subject that's often surrounded by shame, stress, and loneliness, had hoped to work with Baz for a while, but it wasn't until the cook herself was expecting that the time felt right. "We originally tapped Molly for a cookie collab a year ago," Swehl co-founders Betsy Riley and Elizabeth Myer shared in an email, "and while she loved the concept, [she] felt as though she couldn’t authentically participate in a motherhood conversation as she was not yet a mom. She circled back with us earlier this year once she was pregnant, and the result of our creative union has been so fun, layered, and genuinely different."
The fruits of their labor: A cookie that's shaped like a boob packed with galactogogues to stimulate milk production and other postpartum healing properties. Its name? The "Big Titty Cookie." Oh, and there's also a large-and-in-charge billboard featuring the campaign in Times Square.
Baz has shared the recipe here so everyone can make their own BTCs at home (“I made 12 versions of these in development and fed them to all of my non preggo friends with RAVE REVIEWS,” she wrote on Instagram, “so these cookies are for everyone—titties of all genders shapes and sizes [sic].”). Below, she gives us an inside look at the Big Titty-making process, her own journey to motherhood, and why she wants to inject some fun into the fourth trimester.
InStyle: What is your biggest hope for this campaign?
Molly Baz: To get really delicious, good and good for ya cookies into the bellies of soon-to-be or just post-partum mamas from all walks of life.
InStyle: What has been the biggest surprise to you in your own motherhood journey?
MB: Well, I’m only a mother to a baby that’s still in the womb, so I can’t speak to any experience beyond that just yet, but I think the biggest surprise to me has been that I, all of a sudden, sort of self-identify as a caretaker in an entirely new way. I’ve been caring for this little growing fetus for nine months now and it has brought out a side of me I didn’t know existed, or at least hadn’t made friends with yet. There is a selflessness and tenderness inherent in being responsible for the success and development of someone else’s life that has taken me outside of my own navel gazing self. I am grateful.
InStyle: Is there anything about pregnancy that people told you that you've found to be completely untrue or different for you?
MB: To be honest, the synopsis I was given has been pretty spot-on. I suppose one thing no one prepared me for is how all-consuming pregnancy can be. I think I kind of expected to be able to compartmentalize my pregnancy from the rest of my life while I wait for this baby to be born, but it’s become so intrinsically tied up in my every breath, choice, movement. Not five minutes passes without the fact that I am growing a child inside my belly coming up in some way, shape, or form in my thoughts, both subconsciously and consciously. It’s fascinating.
InStyle: What are you looking forward to most about parenthood? What about the least?
MB: I’m looking forward to spending less time thinking about myself and more time thinking about someone else. I’ve had 35 really great self-centered years and, to be honest, I could use a break. I’ve also been told that having a child bursts your heart open with a magnitude and force that you can’t fathom until it actually happens and that sounds really freaking rad. I am here for new experiences.
InStyle: Has your POV on cooking and food changed during your pregnancy? Do you think it will once you're fully entrenched in parenting?
MB: I’ve been fortunate enough to have avoided morning sickness through my pregnancy and, honestly, aside from a newfound love of gooseberries and icy cold cereal, my cravings haven’t been as wild as anticipated. My relationship to cooking hasn’t changed yet, but I imagine it will be deeply impacted in the coming months/years as I begin to think about feeding someone other than myself and my husband. Stay tuned on that front.
InStyle: What inspired you to partner with Swehl on this?
MB: I have had a lot fear around becoming a mom over the last few years. So much so, in fact, that we pushed our pregnancy timeline out substantially to allow me the time and space to come to terms with the idea fully. My husband and I set a cal invite like four years ago to “start making babies” and when the date arrived on my google calendar I was far from ready, so we repeatedly pushed it out until, well, now. Part of what scared me so much was the idea of being seen as a “mom” first and foremost, and a cookbook author, chef, whatever else you want to call me, second. My career and position within the food world has always been the thing that defined me above all else and I was really scared to give that up.
When I love about Swehl is that it’s a brand for moms of all kinds—including those who maybe don’t self-identify as moms first and foremost. It felt like a community that was speaking my language already, and would celebrate my choice to keep being me, whilst breastfeeding, parenting, juggling this new chapter, however that showed up.
InStyle: Did you know about lactation cookies before being connected with Swehl?
MB: I had heard of them and definitely thought that they were cookies made of breast milk! That should give you an indication of how much I know about this whole breastfeeding journey in general.
InStyle: I love that these are fun, like so much of what you cook and do on social media…I would describe very little about pregnancy or the fourth trimester as fun. Why was that important to you?
MB: FUN is at the center of everything that I do. I have always held the belief that if cooking isn’t fun, ain’t nobody gonna spend their time doing it. It’s pretty simple honestly. We, as humans, largely seek out things that make us feel positive emotions and avoid things that feel tedious, cumbersome, boring, or negative. At the end of the day, these are just really delicious cookies (for the whole fam!) made by a woman who finds almost all of her joy in cooking. I hope that comes through. The campaign is meant to be playful and not too serious because that’s just the kind of person I am, and I think the conversation around pregnancy could use a little light-heartedness here and there.
InStyle: How do you feel about seeing your Big Titty Cookies large and in charge in Time Square?
MB: I think I’m more in awe of seeing my big titties large and in charge in Times Square than I am my cookies. But, regardless, a billboard in Times Square is a bucket list item that I certainly did not foresee unfolding this way. And you know what, I’m stoked.