We’ve all been there – midway through baking you discover the egg carton has run dry. Or perhaps you’re baking for someone with an egg allergy.Â
Try these 10 clever egg substitutes if you’re making a recipe and get caught short.
Whatever you’re baking will taste just as good as the original – as long as the recipe only needs three eggs or less.
Egg Substitutes for Baking
1. Banana
Use 1/4 of a cup (about half a banana) of thoroughly mashed banana to replace one egg in muffin or cake batters. DO keep in mind there will be a small hint of banana taste if not overpowered by any other flavour. Awesome for pancakes, yum!
2. Aquafaba
For macarons, meringue, pavlova and cupcakes you can use aquafaba. Aquafaba is the liquid tinned white beans and chickpeas are stored in. Typically, it’s discarded down the drain when we drain the tin contents. You might be surprised to know that three tablespoons of aquafaba has all the binding properties of an egg!
3. Vegetable oil
If it’s just one egg you need to replace, a 1/4 cup of vegetable oil can come to the rescue in cake and muffin batters. However, this substitute isn’t recommended for replacing more than one egg, no one likes an oily cake.
4. Margarine or milk
If you need an egg to GLAZE a pastry crust, try melted margarine or milk to brush the pastry with instead. DO watch it though, they will brown and crisp up your pastry if left to cook too long.
5. Water, oil and baking powder
Truly relying on staple pantry items to get you out of (or into) a bind? Mix together two tablespoons of water, one teaspoon of vegetable oil and two teaspoons of baking powder to replace an egg in cake and biscuit batters.
6. Baking soda, water and vinegar
This no-egg hack is said to be awesome for recipes where fluffiness counts – think cakes, breads and pikelets. Mix together one teaspoon of baking soda, one tablespoon of white vinegar and one tablespoon of water to replace a single egg. This is also a great combo for multiple egg recipes!
7. Apple puree
You can use apple puree or apple sauce instead of eggs. Fantastic if you’ve just had a roast pork dinner and you have half a jar lying around the fridge. Just use 1/4 of a cup to substitute for one egg.
8. Condensed milk
If it’s a batch of biscuits you’re baking up, reach for the condensed milk to help you replace an egg. Just four tablespoons is all you need to help hold that biscuit batter together.
9. Silken tofu
This one’s awesome for dense brownies and mud cakes. If you have some handy, silken tofu can solve your egg problem. Just 1/4 of a cup of pureed silken tofu equates to one egg and is said to go undetected in baked goods!
10. Chia seeds
Finally, a use from that health kick I was on many moons ago! To replace one egg, mix one tablespoon of chia seeds with three tablespoons of water and let it sit for 10 to 15 minutes until it becomes a gel, gluggy consistency. Easy!
We hope one of the above suggestions helped you jump a ‘help, no eggs!’ hurdle with success. Why not give it a whirl with these mini banana cakes? Happy baking!
