Baking Without Eggs: A Quick Vegan Guide

Avoiding eggs is easy once you know how to replace them! And the most important thing to know when baking without eggs is that the egg replacer you choose should be determined by the level of binding or moisture that you need in a recipe. Here are some great egg alternatives for baking and the best ways to use each:

Commercial Egg Replacer

Commercial egg replacers come in powdered or liquid form and typically contain tapioca or wheat as the primary binding agent. Use this stuff when you need super heavy-duty binding. Popular brands include Ener-G, Bob’s Red Mill, JUST, and Follow Your Heart. For amount needed, see directions on package.

Applesauce

Super accessible, unsweetened applesauce works as a decent egg replacer in sweet breads and cakes. It doesn’t have a ton of binding power, but applesauce is great when you’re in a pinch and need to use what you have on hand. One tablespoon to ¼ cup of  applesauce replaces each egg in a recipe.

Flax Meal

A little ground flax meal with water can create a powerful, nutritious binder for cookies, cakes, and more. The same is true of almond meal! A quick Google search can give you exact ratios, but a good rule of thumb is to combine one tablespoon of meal with two to three tablespoons of water.

Aquafaba

I know it sounds odd, but that liquid that’s left over in a can of chickpeas can be an amazing egg replacer. It acts in many ways like egg white, making it especially great if you want to make vegan mayo or meringues! Learn how here.

Bananas

Yep, ripe bananas can be a great binder in sweet treats like cakes, brownies, banana bread (of course!), waffles, and pancakes! About one tablespoon of banana replaces one egg in most recipes.

Chia Seeds

This works much like ground flax or almond meal but doesn’t need to be ground! And since chia seeds are great for so many other things (like making vegan jams and puddings), you may already have them in your pantry. Remember that the dark seeds might be visible when your dish has finished baking.

—

The egg industry doesn’t want you to know that it is responsible for suffocating or grinding up thousands of fully conscious male chicks every day simply because they’re not profitable. Sign our pledge to ditch eggs now! You’ll get our free How to Eat Veg Guide, full of tasty egg-free recipes, useful tips, and more.