By Vicki Little
There are many reasons why some people choose to go eggless in their kitchens. For one, the price of eggs is on the rise, and it doesn’t look like it will be going down anytime soon. Another reason is that the number of people with allergies has grown over the past 10 years. Finally, some people just don’t want eggs in their diet for health or personal reasons. Personally, I still enjoy my scrambled eggs and toast, but to keep costs down, I need to find egg substitutes for my baking. It may seem complicated, but baking without eggs is actually easy once you learn some simple steps.
In addition to being a common breakfast item, there are three main uses for eggs:
- As a BINDER, which is a substance added to a recipe to improve the texture or to thicken food.
- As a LEAVENING AGENT, which is something that will help bread or dough rise.
- To add MOISTURE, helping to keep foods from getting too dry.
BINDERS
For recipes that include eggs as a binder, substitutes can include flax seed, unflavored gelatin, pureed fruit or vegetables, and tofu. Egglesscooking.com states that for every egg that is being replaced, 1/4 cup of the substitute should be used. Try this blueberry coffee cake recipe that uses applesauce instead of eggs, or this pound cake that uses tofu.
LEAVENING AGENTS
For your recipes that use eggs to help in rising, or leavening, you can use 1/4 cup of yogurt or buttermilk per egg instead. According to egglesscooking.com, if baking powder is in the recipe it will also affect the leavening. In this case, use a quarter as much of baking soda instead of the powder along with the egg substitute. Check out this fun cake batter dip recipe!
ADD MOISTURE
There are many things that can add moisture to a recipe when substituting for an egg. You do need to be aware of flavors in this case, though. You can use 1/4 per substituted egg of pureed vegetables such as sweet potato, beets or pumpkin on recipes that have a strong enough flavor to cover up the vegetable. You can also use 1/4 cup per substituted egg of cooked apples or pears, or tofu for a substitute with a more subtle flavor. You can also just use milk or applesauce to substitute the egg, such as this low-fat brownie recipe.
We would love to find some more great eggless recipes if you have any to share! Let us know in the comments!
Vicki Little is a work-at-home mom with two young kids. Her son was diagnosed with ADHD in 2012. A Colorado native, she is the Publisher and Editor of Macaroni Kid Aurora and Downtown Denver. When she isn’t writing or trying to keep up with her kids she can be found volunteering, reading, or enjoying a bottle of wine with friends.
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sangeetha menon
June 21, 2015 @ 2:39 pm
An informative post. This post can be useful to those who are allergic to egg and also those pure vegetarians. They can now substitute other thing for eggs.