Egg Substitutes for Baking

While it’s amazing how many people have taken up baking during this period of quarantine, it’s also lead to a shortage of eggs. Many of my friends have posted on social media about how it’s one of the main things they are struggling to get hold of (along with flour) even though the supermarket shelves are now fairly well stocked with everything else.

Eggs are a staple in many bakes – but what if you’re allergic, vegan or unable to get hold of them but still want to bake? In this post, I am going to look at some simple household products that can be work as egg substitutes in a multitude of recipes.

A recipe you may enjoy: Chocolate Espresso Banana Bread

In actual fact, one of my all-time favourite cake recipes doesn’t contain any eggs. This chocolate chip and banana slice recipe from Delia Smith is one of my go-to recipes for using up leftover bananas and it always comes out perfectly. You can simply leave off the cream cheese frosting if you don’t fancy it (personally I prefer it slathered in custard!)

Egg Substitutes for Baking

While all of the items listed in this post make great egg substitutes, it’s worth remembering that they will have an impact on the taste and texture of the final product. While that doesn’t mean your bake will be any less delicious, it may not be quite the same taste or texture that you’re used to.

Banana As An Egg Substitute

One of the easiest substitutes for eggs is to use bananas instead. Bananas are a food most of us usually have to hand and there hasn’t been a shortage of them during the pandemic, so they should be fair easy to get hold of if eggs are out of stock.  I would advise mashing up the bananas before using and when it comes to baking, the more ripe the bananas are the better.

Banna To Egg Substitute Ratio

For most recipes, replacing one egg with half a banana should do the job.

Apple Sauce Egg Replacement

Apple sauce can also be used to replace eggs in some recipes. It’s something most of us have a jar of in the cupboard and even if we don’t, it’s pretty simple to make. Recipe here. 

Apple Sauce To Egg Substitute Ratio

For each egg that needs replacing, use 32 grams of apple sauce. As apple sauce is quite sweet, you want to reduce the sugar in your bake slightly to counter this. Alternatively you could make an unsweetened apple sauce specifically to replace the eggs in your bake.

Egg White Substitute

Aquafaba is the best egg white substitute. If you’ve not heard of it, Aquafaba is the water in which chickpeas or other legumes have been cooked. If you have chickpeas in your storecupboard then making your own Aquafaba is fairly simple (See this recipe)

Aquafaba can be used to substitute egg whites in lots of recipes including meringues and marshmallows.

Egg Wash Alternative

If you’re looking for an egg wash substitute for something pastry based such as a pie, a little milk will do the job just fine. Simply pop a little milk into a dish and brush over with a pastry brush as you normally would. Milk type doesn’t matter for –  it can be whole milk, semi-skimmed, or even skimmed.

Vegan Egg Wash Substitute

If you’re looking for a vegan egg wash substitute, plant-based milk, such as almond milk or coconut milk will work just as well. You could also skip the egg wash all together if it’s a product that will brown naturally and an oil-based glaze after cooking to give it that golden sheen.

Peanut Butter Egg Substitute

Peanut butter is another store cupboard ingredient that can be used as an egg substitute – simply use three TBSP per egg that you wish to replace.