Egg Substitutes

Story:

My sister and her friends were out together having a blast and they decided to make cupcakes. Fun! Cupcakes are kind of a thing these days, they're fun to decorate, and easy enough to make. They start making those cupcakes, then to their horror, (jaws theme music here), They have NO EGGS! What could be done to save this cupcake batter? What could be done to salvage the goodness? Luckily we have the handy dandy internet to help out in situations like these. They quickly Googled egg substitutes and found That yogurt can do it! Woah! Maybe some of you knew that but I sure didn't. The end result? My sister said that the cupcakes were actually really good!

So I decided to look into a few substitutes myself to see what was out there.

A word to the wise: Experiment with these in your different recipes. Many times, eggs are a leavening agent so it may not just be a random ingredient you're trying to substitute. You could experiment by adding a different leavening agent, like baking soda, if you do use a substitute. You will probably want to do some research on how to substitute each one as well (e.g. tofu should be processed in a blender first, etc)

Ingredients would replace 1 egg

Some are ideal for brownies, some are for cakes or breads, some are for coatings, make sure you check to make sure what works in your recipe first!

Silken tofu/tofu (1/4 cup)

Applesauce (1/3 cup or ¼ cup + tsp baking powder)

Soy yogurt/ yogurt (1/4 cup)

Yogurt: you would probably want to use plain most of the time, but a flavored one would be yummy in things like cupcakes! You may have to cut out some sweetener if you use a sweetened yogurt, but I'm not totally sure.

Flax seeds (1 tbsp +3 tbsp water)

Bananas (1/2 pureed banana, about ¼ cup)

Commercial egg substitute

Water (1/4 cup)

Vegetable oil (1/4 cup)

Buttermilk

Pureed fruits (3 tbps pureed fruit)

Gelatin (non vegetarian) (1 tbsp gelatin + 3 tbps lukewarm water)

Vinegar and baking powder

Potato starch (2 heaping tbsp potato starch)

Soy flour (1 heaping tablespoon + 2 tbsp water)

Soda pop

Cornstarch (1 tbsp +2 tbsp water)

Pumpkin (1/3 cooked pumpkin)

Ener-g egg replacer

Binders

Mashed potatoes

Bread crumbs

Cooked oatmeal

Cooked rice

Tomato paste

1 whole egg= 2 egg whites if you are just trying to cut back the cholesterol

Remember, taste is not usually what is being substituted. Eggs serve different purposes. They can:

Act as a binder

Act as a leavening agent

Bring moisture

Effect texture

Provide color

Bring extra volume or lightness

Make sure you're using the substitute ingredient that would effect the product the same way!