[?] Subscribe To This Site

Egg Substitutes

If you have an egg allergy, your days of eating omelets for breakfast, egg salad sandwiches for lunch and fritatta for dinner are probably over. Your days of eating cookies, cakes and pies, however, don't have to be. It's true eggs are very important parts of many prepared dishes. They provide air and leavening in cakes, supply liquid in cookie doughs and cake or muffin batters and add structure to breads and cakes. With all of the responsibility of the egg, you'd think they can't possibly be replaced. Wrong! Read on to find out ways to eat without eggs.

To replace 1 egg in baking:

Ener-G Foods Egg Replacer
The instructions on the box are to mix 1-1/2 teaspoons with 2 T of warm water. I just round up and use 2 teaspoons with 2 T. of warm water. Whisk it together until it is fluffy, then add it to your mixture. This is a great all-purpose egg replacer.

Flax Seed Meal
Mix 1 T. flax seed meal + 3 T. warm water, let sit for 10 minutes. Several brands are available but I use Bob's Red Mill because it is readily available at my regular grocery store (no extra trip to the specialty foods store). I haven't found this to be an all-purpose egg replacement because it does have a strong flavor. I use it in pumpkin bars, oatmeal applesauce cookies and muffins.

Baking Powder, Water and Oil
Mix 1-1/2 T. oil + 1-1/2 T. warm water + 1 teas. baking powder, whisk until foamy (it won't foam as much as Ener-G's egg replacer). If you can't get to the specialty food store for egg replacer, this is a great option. After all, most people have baking powder, oil and water on hand.

Unflavored Gelatin
Mix 1 teas. unflavored gelatin + 1 T. warm water. You'll find the unflavored gelatin, such as Knox, right next to the other flavored gelatins, like Jello.

Substitutes for foods containing eggs:

Mayonnaise
You can find egg free alternatives to mayonnaise at your local specialty food store. Spectrum is one of the brands that I have tried and it is made of canola oil. In my opinion, it doesn't taste much like mayonnaise and the texture leaves much to be desired BUT if you are making a recipe calling for some mayonnaise, it does work. This Crunchy Apple Coleslaw recipe is an example of where I use it along with soy yogurt to make a creamy salad dressing.

Marshmallow Cream
You may not use marshmallow cream on a regular basis but, once in a while, a recipe might call for it. Since marshmallows generally do not contain egg you might assume that marshmallow cream is also "safe". This is not true! Marshmallow cream is actually marshmallows whipped together with egg whites and some other ingredients. To substitute, I have used marshmallows. In this Dairy Free Fudge recipe, I substituted 1-3/4 cups mini marshmallows for a 7 oz jar of marshmallow cream which works beautifully. This may not be a fix for all recipes calling for marshmallow cream but, for some, it will work!

Holidays
OK, just one holiday...Easter! If you celebrate Easter, eggs are probably a big part of the tradition. When I was a kid the Easter season didn't go by without decorating Easter eggs. When my son was old enough to get into that sort of thing, I wished he could take part in the tradition but there was no way I would be letting him even touch an egg! So, we started our own tradition - decorating plastic eggs!

I found a kit at our local craft store that had plastic eggs and those sticky foamy things along with some little jewels and glitter to glue on. When they were all decorated, we filled them with his favorite "safe" treats. We had fun decorating them and it is something that I will probably do every year with the kids just to keep the tradition I grew up with alive (sort of!)

Another idea would be decorating cut out cookies. My son and I always have a good time making cookies. I put the frosting on and he takes care of the sprinkles! Check out this sugar cookie recipe that works great for cut-outs.

Return from Egg Substitutes toMain Substitutes Page

Return from Egg Substitutes to Home Page