How to substitute eggs in baking

Eggs are one of my favorite ingredients. Probably not surprising since I love baking and they are used in countless baking recipes. And for me using eggs is not an issue at all. I don’t not have an egg allergy and I am not on a special diet that restricts the use of eggs.

However, I do know there are a lot of people who cannot use eggs due to egg allergies and need to use egg substitutions for all their baking and cooking. And that can be quite a challenge. Now while eggs have a pretty specific use in a lot of recipes you cán replace them.

Another good reason is the fact that egg prices are going through the roof. And with vegan baking on the rise that is another good reason to have some alternatives ready. I’ll tell you how to substitute eggs in baking.

Egg substitutes for baking

So in this article I will explore the best egg substitutes and how to use them. It is good to know that substituting eggs will give a different result, depending on which alternative you go for. The good news is that you can still continue baking, even though you cannot use or don’t want to use eggs. The reason why can vary of course.

It’s also good to know that I am not specifically talking about plant-based recipes or vegan substitutes. Even though most will work as a vegan alternative as well, but that aways depends on the rest of the recipe. Also I am not talking about any commercial egg replacement product as I have not tried those myself.

Using these alternatives is also great if you do not have eggs at home and don’t want to go to the grocery stores. Of course that is assuming that you have the following alternatives available to you!

Common alternatives to eggs

The below options are all common alternatives to the use of eggs and are ones that you will likely have in stock in your cupboard.

Flax eggs

Flax eggs are made from flax seeds and 3 tablespoons of water. The ratio is one tablespoon of flax seeds to 3 tablespoons of water.

Chia eggs

Another almost similar replacement is chia seeds. Same as with a flax egg, for chia eggs you keep the same ratio of 1 tablespoon chia seeds to three tablespoons of water.

Peanut butter

Now here is one that might come as a bit of a surprise but you can use peanut butter as well. If you think about it and I’m sure most people can relate, stick a tablespoon of peanut butter in your mouth and that sticky feeling?

Well that’s exactly why it works. For replacing one egg you would need 3 tablespoons of peanut butter.

Unsweetened applesauce

For replacing one egg you would need 80 grams of apple sauce. That’s about 1/3 of a cup of applesauce.

You can also use other fruit purees. In that case you’d need 3 tablespoons of fruit puree.

Banana

Yes, ripe bananas can also function as a great substitute for a whole egg. You need about half a mashed banana for 1 large egg.

Yogurt

To replace an egg for yogurt in baked goods you will need about 60 ml or 1/4 cup of plain yogurt.

Aquafaba

Another replacement for an egg is 3 tablespoons of aquafaba. Aquafaba is the liquid you will find in a can of chickpeas. It’s pretty magical stuff a you can use to make meringue and mayonnaise too!

No guarantees

Now while the above are popular egg substitute options it does not give you any guarantees and a lot of these things take a bit of trial and error for best results.

It will vary from recipe to recipe and the final product will also be slightly different than the original with eggs.

The eggless recipes we have on the site right now are all tested, so those are a sure bet, but if you want to try your own hand at using some replacement than it would really need some testing.

Not all replacements work for all recipes. You can imagine that a banana would work really well for banana bread for instance, but it might not be a good idea for quick breads.

Also something like peanut butter has a distinct flavor so you would want the nutty flavor to work with the rest of the ingredients.

Leavening function

Now as you probably know eggs also have a leavening function. The replacements are not necessarily a leavening agent. So you might have to look at another way to increase the rise in your baked goods.

Think about extra baking powder, baking soda and/or apple cider vinegar.

Binding function

Eggs have a pretty strong binding function. Stronger than most of the ingredients above. So the finished product will have less binding and will be a bit easier to fall apart.

You can counter balance some of that by using something like arrowroot powder and tapioca starch in addition to the egg replacements. Both can be used interchangeably and are great binding ingredients.

Some eggless recipes to get you started:

• Vanilla cake without eggs
• Mug cake with chocolate
• Pumpkin spice cookies