The Ultimate Egg Substitutions Guide

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
PancakesF: 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.

eggs

2 thoughts on “The Ultimate Egg Substitutions Guide”

  1. 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.

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