Eggs: How to live without them (unless you’re a chicken of course!)

Do chickens mourn the loss of their eggs?

Even under the best of circumstances a mother hen still suffers.

Read the story of the lavender chicken here

It is easy for humans to live without eggs, but not so for a mommy chicken.  Here are some great replacer ideas for you to try!

Alternatives to eggs:

Baking:

Chia Seeds:

Chia seeds are highly gelatinous when mixed with water, and some say they produce higher-rising baked goods than flaxseeds. Chia seeds are my personal favorite egg replacer for baking. To replace a large egg, soak 1 Tbs. chia seeds in 3 Tbs. water for 5 minutes until the mixture has the texture of a raw egg. Your baked good will look like it contains poppy seeds.  The chia seeds are flavorless and will not affect the flavor, only the appearance and they do have a slight texture but I like it.

Puréed Fruit or Vegetables:

Applesauce, mashed banana, even puréed acorn squash can replace eggs in baked goods: To replace one egg, use 3 Tbs. or ¼ cup fruit or vegetable purée and add roughly ½ tsp. more baking powder to compensate for the egg’s leavening effect. You may also need to reduce the sweetener used in the recipe, depending on the sweetness of the purée. I tried done this many times.  The baked goods will be more dense than you are used to since things will not rise as much and the final product ends up more crumbly and will stick to your pan or cupcake foil.

Lemon Juice and Baking Soda:

I have not tried this yet but heard it works really well because it causes baked goods to rise well.  Combining an acidic substance, such a lemon juice (or vinegar), with baking soda, which is alkaline, produces leavening action in baked goods. For a cake or sweet bread, try 2 Tbs. lemon juice mixed in the liquid cake ingredients, and 1 tsp. baking soda mixed with the dry ingredients. When you whisk the liquid and dry ingredients together, mix quickly, and pop into the oven to get a baked good that rises without the eggs.

Commercial Egg Replacer:

I have tried this and it never worked for me.  The most common brand is Energ-G Egg Replacer.  It is made from potato and tapioca starch with leavening agents, it mimics what eggs do when mixed with water, helping make baked goods light and fluffy.

Ground Flaxseed Mixed in Water:

I have not tried this yet.  To replace one large egg, mix 1 Tbs. ground flaxseeds and 3 Tbs. hot water and let stand 5 minutes, until an egg- like consistency is reached. Or, blend whole flaxseeds in a blender to a fine meal, add warm water, and blend again.

Scrambled Eggs

Buy a brick of firm tofu – NOT extra firm.  Drain off water.  Cut into cubes smaller than dice.  Fry in a pan with a little oil and turmeric (for color – as yellow as you want them) until most of the water is cooked off until as brown (or not brown at all) as you desire.  The end result will look like scrambled eggs.  I don’t even notice that they are not scrambled eggs anymore.

I serve mine with hash browns, caramelized peppers and onions and a sprinkle of sea salt.  It is absolutely delicious!