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Use Natural Egg Substitutes to Avoid Egg Related IssuesWe wanted to use natural egg substitutes while Lisa was pregnant, and then for Amelia's first few years, because of potential allergy concerns. I'd been highly allergic to a number of foods while a child, so we wanted to play it safe with Amelia. We found that many recipes simply don't need the eggs. Experimenting is best to find which ones work and which don't. Try a recipe without eggs, and see what happens. If it turns out too crumbly, then it needed an egg to hold the other ingredients together, and you can use one of the following natural egg substitutes. Using Flax SeedA substitute that works well is to take 1 tablespoon of ground up flax seed, 1 tablespoon of water, mix them together and let them sit for a few minutes. Then use the mixture as you would a single large egg in a recipe. This not only helps to hold the other ingredients together, but the ground up flax seed has great health benefits too. Our muffin recipe is especially good using flax seed as a natural egg substitute. We've also found that while you can make traditional cake recipes using flax seed as a substitute for eggs, they turn out less light and fluffy and more crumbly, so great care is needed when handling and icing them. Using ApplesauceSome recipes use eggs mostly for moisture. In those recipes, applesauce can be used as a substitute for eggs. You want to be very careful to not get too much applesauce, though, as that changes the entire consistency of what you're baking. In general, applesauce works better with wheat flour, which requires more moisture, than with white flour. But then, you wouldn't be using white flour anyway, right? (See our flour substitutes page for more details.) A good conversion to try is 1/4 cup of applesauce to replace 1 large egg. You can use applesauce instead of flax seed in our muffin recipe, but we find that the flax seed gives the muffins a better texture and flavor. If you can't use the flax seed, though, try applesauce in them. And some recipes simply don't work well with applesauce, so be prepared to experiment a bit. In particular, anything that is intended to turn out crisp, like a cutout cookie, will not work well with applesauce (the cookies turn out very moist and cakey instead). Pancakes work okay with applesauce, but will be more crumbly than with eggs. Using TofuPuddings require eggs to make them thick. The substitutes we've talked about so far won't work for puddings. You can use tofu of an appropriate consistency to thicken pudding, but tofu does change the taste of the pudding. Try using 1/4 cup of extra soft tofu for 1 large egg. Recipes That Work Without EggsWe do have a number of recipes that work just fine without eggs on the site. Our meatloaf recipe uses chopped or ground veggies as a moistening agent rather than eggs.
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