Egg Substitutes

Egg Substitute Powders

When I first found out that my son was allergic to eggs, I immediately went out and purchased the "ENER-G" brand egg replacer to use in baked products.  It works ok, but the ingredients include cellulose gum and carbohydrate gum.  I am actually trying to avoid using any of the "gums", xanthan gum included, due to the findings that it may cause problems in the digestive track over a long period of consumption.  From my understanding some people never experience adverse reactions to it, and some do.  At this point I figured it is safer for my son not to have to deal with another possible health issue.  I do use an all-purpose baking mix such as "Pamela's Baking & Pancake Mix" (can be purchased on Amazon.com if you can't find it in a local store) very ocassionally and it does contain the xanthan gum.  So I am not saying that I am boycotting the stuff, just being careful of the amount that we consume.

Ground Flax Seed
The best one I have found so far is ground flax seed.  Mixing one tablespoon of the ground flax seed with three tablespoons of warm water and letting it sit for a few minutes will result in a very eggy textured mixture.  This amount is equivalent to one large egg in the use of baking.  You can also use the ground flax seed to replace xanthan gum that is in recipes if you choose to.  Usually if a recipe calls for one teaspoon of xanthan gum, one tablespoon of the dry ground flax seed will work.  If you are working with a recipe that has eggs and xanthan gum in it, simply omit the xanthan gum and just make the substitution for the eggs...  it should work beautifully!  And what's more is it is an extremely healthy addition to the recipe, where as the powdered egg substitute is mostly starches and gums...  very little nutritional benefit.  With this flax mixture you can mix a bigger batch of it (1 cup ground flax seed and 3 cups warm water, it's always a 1:3 ratio), let it sit until it looks gooey like an egg consistency and keep it in an airtight container in your refrigerator.  It will be ready to use when you need it for up to a month.  Simply use 1/4 c. of this mixture for every egg that you are substituting.  In most recipes where I have used this substitute the end product comes out very close to a product that has eggs in it.  I have also experienced that you will have a better result from this substitute if it is from the big batch method and has been in your refrigerator for at least a day or longer.

Fruit Purees
Sometimes, in addition to the flax seed substitute I will use one to two tablespoons of applesauce or prune puree to add moisture to a recipe.  I do not use them for the complete substitution, because they do not have the binding qualities that eggs and flax have, but they work amazingly well for adding moisture.  You may have used the purees before for substituting fats or a portion of the fat in a recipe in baked items, I still occasionally do this from time to time as well, depending on the recipe. 

Chia Seeds
I have not actually tried the chia seeds yet, but have heard greatness of them!  From my understanding they work the best if they are ground into a fine powder and then used in the same ratio as the ground flax seeds:  one tablespoon seed powder to three tablespoons warm water, let sit for a few minutes until the mixture is thick and gooey, equals one egg.  When I finally get around to trying these I will let you all know what I think, but would love to hear comments from anyone who has tried them.  The people who I have heard of trying them all love them!  And yes, these are the same seeds used in the famous chia pets...  who knew...?

These are all substitutes for baking, you cannot make scrambled eggs out of any of these... LOL... that is what my son asked when he first saw the box that said "egg substitute", and he was so disappointed! :o)  There may be more substitutes than these that I am not aware of yet.  If you have tried anything other than these, it would be fun to hear about it!  Please comment!