There are many reasons to use egg substitutions. I have no need to leave them out for health reasons or allergies, but eggs don’t last forever, so I do need to know what to do when I run out! A quick look online led me to a wonderful chart found here.
(Many thanks to the compiler of that website: it’s awesome!)
Taste Test Criteria
Using the chart as my guide, I chose a couple of egg subs to try based on these questions:
What will taste the best?
What’s the cheapest?
What’s the healthiest?
What am I most likely to have in my house?
I chose one common baked good for each category and made a chart with my top 3 choices for subs: applesauce, plain yogurt, and mashed bananas. These 3 seemed to be the most common among all the baked good categories.
When I cooked up a batch of the baked good, I divided the batter/dough into 4 and tested each part with 1 egg sub, leaving the last 1/4 with regular egg for comparison. In scientific terms, I had a control for my experiment. 🙂
Results
After baking, we tested each substitute and recorded our impressions of taste and texture. The results are in!
Key: F = flavor B = baking time T = texture
| Apple- sauce: 1/3 c. = 1 egg | Banana: ¼ c. = 1 egg | Plain yogurt: ¼ c. = 1 egg | Regular eggs | Favorite | |
| Brownies | F: strong B: longer T: good | F: strong B: longer T: good | F: mild B: longer T: good | F: none B: 45 min. T: good | apple- sauce or yogurt |
| Quick bread (banana) | F: none B: same T: slightly more dense | F: none B: longer T: too dense | F: none B: longer T: too dense | F: none B: 45 min. T: lightest | apple- sauce |
| Cake: choco- late pound | F: mild B: same T: slightly more dense | Did not test: assumed a strong flavor. | F: none B: same T: slightly more dense | F: none B: 1 hour T: a little fluffier/ cakey | apple- sauce or yogurt |
| Cookies: oatmeal chocolate chip | F: strong B: same T: horrible! too crispy, stuck to pan | F: strong B: same T: horrible! too crispy, stuck to pan | F: medium B: same T: didn’t stick, but not quite right | F: none B: 10 minutes T: perfectly chewy | none of these! See note below for what to use. |
| Muffins: corn- bread | F: none B: same T: slightly more dense | Did not test for fear of gross muffins. | F: mild B: same T: slightly more dense | F: none B: 20 min. T: fluffiest | apple- sauce or yogurt |
| Pancakes | F: none B: same T: thick: add more water | F: medium B: same T: good | F: none B: same T: good | F: none B: 5 min. T: good | any, unless you don’t like bananas |
Troubleshooting Cookies
As you can see, the cookies weren’t entirely successful, so I returned to the website to look again. I tested one more and had it work perfectly. To replace eggs in cookies, use 1 T. cornstarch + 2-3 T. water. Eyeball it. I needed the extra T. of water to get my cookie dough just right. I couldn’t tell the difference between the eggless and regular cookies except that the eggless cookies were slightly crunchier.
Now that you can replace eggs in baked goods like a pro, then guess what? You can eat those eggs in the fridge for breakfast and not have to worry about using them up too fast. I’ve eaten month-old eggs, but I don’t think I would eat 3-month-old eggs. So, in the first month, enjoy your quiche and omelets while the eggs last.
More Substitutions to Try
For the really adventurous out there: I’ve listed the other egg subs mentioned on the site along with why I didn’t try them. Feel free to try any of these, because I’d like to hear your results!
Possibly yucky: tofu, powdered egg substitute, pumpkin
Unhealthy: vegetable oil, can of soda, (powdered eggs)
Extra step needed/ more obscure ingredients: flax seeds, buttermilk, gelatin, potato starch, arrowroot powder, soy flour
Anything I didn’t mention how to do is on the website! Just follow the link.
What makes the powdered eggs unhealthy?
From what I've read, the process used to powder both eggs and milk creates what's called \”oxidized cholesterol\”, which is very bad for you. Since powdered milk is fat free, there is very little cholesterol to worry about. Still, it's not a health food, which is why I try to use as little as possible.