My daughter breaks out in hives if she has eggs. Actually, I don’t think she does if it is in a baked product (which she did eat one time by accident), but the allergist said that her best chance of outgrowing her egg allergy (fingers and toes crossed!) is to never eat eggs in any form. So, in addition to baking without gluten, dairy and soy, I can’t use eggs. Honestly, the other things wouldn’t be so hard, but not being able to use eggs in baking makes it extra-super-duper… uh… fun? (Trying to stay positive here.)
Luckily for me and anyone else who cannot tolerate eggs, there is Ener-G Egg Replacer! This is going to sound like an ad for this product, but I assure you I get no kick-backs (I wish). I write this post purely out of gratitude and amazement that this actually works. I don’t know how it works, but it does, even with my gluten-free, dairy-free and soy-free stuff, including cookies, cakes, muffins, bread, pancakes and waffles.
Now there are a lot of egg replacer recipes out there, but I don’t really want to add mashed bananas to everything I make and I don’t have time to grind flaxseeds to a fine meal and then simmer them in water.
So, here’s what I do with the powdered Egg Replacer:
- I use more egg replacer than called for by putting in heaping teaspoons rather than leveled off teaspoons.
- I add warm water and use a whisk as I add the water – there are absolutely no lumps.
- I whisk the egg replacer and the water until it is frothy.
- I always use it right away – I don’t let it sit and if I do, I re-whisk it first.
I don’t know if this way of using it makes it better, but this is how I do it and it ALWAYS works in my baked goods. There are other brands of powdered egg replacer: Organ No Egg Natural Egg Replacer (gluten-free) and Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer (contains soy and gluten), but I haven’t tried them. If anyone has had success with these as well, please comment and let us know.
Related reading: Egg-Free Guide
Becky says
Thank you so much for the tip. My son is also allergic to dairy, soy, gluten, and possibly egg whites. (He can eat egg yolks). Anwway, I bought the Egg Replacer you mentioned above, but I didn’t know how to use it. Thanks for your tips and suggestions.
Sharon in S.R. says
Our daughter’s egg allergy is the same. We used to bake with eggs without any outward signs of reaction. Now, pursuant to our allergist, we don’t. I’ve been using the egg replacer now for about a year. I started out with warm water too. Then I compared with cold water and have consistently found no difference.
This morning, in my pre-coffee fuzziness, I prepared Gwen’s pancakes (Bobs GF Pancake mix almond milk) and forgot to add the egg replacer. Although they were a little flat, my daughter said they tasted the same! I thought I’d pass that along to Sure Foods Living readers.
Kathryn Gallant says
Unfortunately, I have not had the same luck with Ener-G that you have. When my son was first diagnosed with his egg allergy at the age of 1 (he is now almost 7) I read about it and ran right to the Health Food Store and bought 2 boxes. After numerous failures, I switched gears the Bob’s Red Mill Milled Flax Seed. The greatest thing about this product is that all I have to do is add water to it and it thickens right up to a beaten egg consistency. While it doesn’t help your baked goods rise, an extra teaspoon of baking powder or baking soda (whatever your recipe calls for) will help.
alison says
Kathryn,
I haven’t used flax much as an egg replacer because I have had success with Ener-G… but maybe it would be even better with the flax. I wonder if it affects the taste a lot?