A Lexington mother who launched a cookie to help other breastfeeding families is expanding her business.
The Leaky Momma, which started as a home bakery, is opening a store on Southland Drive. And shipping will be added soon.
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Owner Mercedes Eckman, who also does all the baking, said she hopes to open the store later this summer. She started the company just after having her second child in August 2020 (she now has three), taking a break from her teaching career and looking for a “side job” to make money.
Her gourmet breastfeeding cookies, which come in multiple flavors, are aimed at breastfeeding mothers, but many people, including the firefighters who work with her husband, eat them just because they taste so good.
What’s in Leaky Momma Cookies?
These cookies not only go with the milk, they also help make it.
What makes them special? The extra ingredients.
For those who may not know, sometimes mothers need help to boost their milk production.
Eckman made the nutritional cookies for himself, packed with oats, flaxseed and brewer’s yeast, ingredients that can stimulate milk production if you are breastfeeding or expressing breast milk.
But her husband, Travis, loved them too, saying, “You could probably sell these, they’re that good.”
“I was up at 2 a.m. thinking, ‘I bet I could be sell them,” she said.
And soon she was. First just online with curbside pickup/delivery, then at the Lexington Farmers Market and now at the Local LEX Market in Southland, where her cookies will be available until the store opens.
“I loved selling at the farmers market,” Eckman said. “You get a diverse audience and people can see it, come talk to me, ask questions. That really started to give Leaky Momma a boost.
She took a break from the market and returned to teaching after her third child was born and now she is ready to pursue baking full-time.
Cookie flavors, gluten-free versions
In addition to its original oatmeal cookies with chocolate chips, raisins and a hint of cinnamon, Leaky Momma also sells several other varieties, including a vanilla and almond sugar cookie.
She also offers seasonal “Fancy Milkies,” such as the CinnaMOM Roll and the Fun Betty, a playful twist on Funfetti Cake in a cookie. They are on a rotating menu and also include brownies, blondies and granola bars. Current prices range from $4-$6 for one, $22-$27.50 for a half dozen and $44-$55 for a dozen.
The leaking mother
Where: 468 Southland Dr.
Opening hours: AFTER
Online: facebook.com/TheLeakyMomma/
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