Egg substitutions for cooking, baking

First went the toilet paper, and then the flour and the yeast. Next up, eggs? The coronavirus outbreak has laid bare many grocery store shelves, leaving some shoppers frustrated and thinking about replacements.

Cooking without eggs is old hat for people accustomed to a vegan diet. One of those experts, cookbook author Isa Chandra Moskowitz, says that if you want to adapt a recipe that calls for eggs to use an alternative, the first step is “accepting that it’s not going to be an exact replica.” If, though, a recipe calls for more than 1 or 2 eggs, Moskowitz says, it might just be time to find a different option.

If your recipe is a go, start thinking about what purpose the egg is serving. Is it providing moisture and fat? Is it lending stability? Is it binding or setting the other ingredients?

Let’s look at some possible situations.

Baking

Leaving out an egg entirely and not changing anything else is typically not a good idea, Moskowitz says. Her general rule is to figure on adding back 1/4 cup liquid per egg. Here are a few of her standbys:

Milk: If you’re making something fairly dense, such as a chocolate cake, use 1/4 cup milk of your choice instead of the egg. Moskowitz suggests making eggfree French toast with soy milk doctored with turmeric for color and Indian black salt (kala namak) for that characteristic sulfurous aroma and taste.

Flax: Whether you’re using whole flaxseeds or ground meal, Moskowitz recommends blending 1/4 cup liquid of your choice with 1 tablespoon flax per egg in a food processor (especially a mini), blender or personal blender such as a Magic Bullet. She likes this especially for cookies and muffins. If you’re worried about too much flax flavor coming through when you want a more neutral flavor, you can back off the amount a bit. For cookies, if you want a crisper result, consider adding 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch per egg, too (or more for something extra crunchy such as biscotti). And to

account for the loss of the yolk, you can increase the fat in the recipe by about 1 1/2 teaspoons per egg. Similarly, cookbook author and Serious Eats contributor Stella Parks found an oat slurry made with two parts water and one part oats swapped in one-for-one by weight for the eggs to be particularly effective in her vegan chocolate chip cookies.

Applesauce and milk: Applesauce has long been a favored swap-in for eggs and fat, and Moskowitz favors using it in conjunction with milk - 1/4 cup of each per egg. The applesauce adds moisture, making this an ideal adjustment in quick breads, muffins and chocolate cakes. You may get the flavor of the applesauce, or at least its sweetness, coming through, but in many scenarios, that might not be a bad thing.

Silken tofu and milk: “It’s such an old-school one but still one of my favorites,” Moskowitz says. If the recipe calls for two eggs, use 1/2 cup silken tofu (alas, even tofu has been a bit hard to find these days) blended with the milk or other liquid in the recipe. If there isn’t enough liquid to do that, use 1/4 cup tofu and 1/4 cup milk in lieu of 2 eggs. Try it in cookies, where the tofu will help the cookies set and you’ll get a brown and chewy result.

Aquafaba: It’s the seemingly miracle liquid from a can of beans (often chickpeas) that has been catching on as an egg replacement, particularly in instances when you’d whip egg whites, as with meringue. According to The Washington Post Food editor Joe Yonan, 2 tablespoons of aquafaba can stand in for 1 egg white and 3 tablespoons for 1 whole egg.

Yogurt: Moskowitz uses plantbased, but pick your favorite. Use 1/4 cup per egg, and expect it to shine in situations where moisture is good, such as cakes, muffins and quick breads.

Mayo: This one comes from David Joachim, author of “The Food Substitutions Bible.” After all, mayo includes eggs, and the spread can serve the same emulsifying purpose as what it’s replacing. Joachim says the swap is one to consider for cakes in particular, with 2 to 3 tablespoons per egg. Expect a very moist crumb. Take a look at Duke’s Chocolate Cake, which calls for zero eggs and 1 1/2 cups of mayo instead (it’s a very big cake!).

Other uses

Breading. Many foods destined for frying require a layer of egg before breading. The typical three-step process is flour, eggs and then bread crumbs. Instead of the egg, Moskowitz recommends a mix of cornstarch and water, which, when stirred together, forms a slurry. It, too, is an effective glue, and you may even notice more crispness to, say, your chicken Parm.

Binding. Even some veggie burger recipes call for egg as a binder, as well as such dishes as meatballs and meatloaf. Moskowitz says that with bread crumbs in the mix, you may not need a binder at all. Tofu is a possibility here, as well as mayo and oil.

Glazing. Egg washes are a standard final flourish on a variety of baked goods. If you have it in the pantry, a glaze of melted apricot jam is nice, Moskowitz says. For something less sweet, go with a mix of maple syrup and milk (she uses soy) or a blend of soy milk and flax.

AJC FILE Flax seeds and ground flax can be mixed with a liquid to make an egg substitute for baking cookies and muffins.

ADOBESTOCK You can use 1/4 cup yogurt in place of an egg in cakes, muffins and quick breads.

COM ISTOCKPHOTO. Milk can be used as an egg substitute when baking something dense.