What’s the best vegan egg substitute?

Earlier this year, The Kitchn, one of the most beloved and well-respected food blogs on the internets, published this: We Tested 8 Egg Substitutes for Baking and the Winner is a Revelation.

This was earlier in the year when eggs spiked in price in the US (here in Canada, the price of eggs was steady). But of course I’m always interested in egg substitutes, as I wrote an entire book about one in particular: Aquafaba.

First of all, I just have to say one thing. How did the flax egg become the defacto vegan substitute for eggs in baking? Is there some kind of lobby organization for flax? Because for me, flax eggs are, hands down, the WORST possible egg substitute. I hate them and every time somebody uses one in a recipe, a kitten dies.

Okay, okay, not really, I’m being dramatic, but I’ll justify my hatred in a just. a moment, and I’ll also run down what I think are the best vegan egg substitutes (I did experiments!!!) as well.

What role to eggs play in baking?

Eggs are two things: liquid and protein. So they add moisture to the mix, and the protein structures help to bind, as well as give the baking that all-important rise or lift. Especially the egg whites. You whip up some egg whites and carefully fold that into your batter, and you’re going to have a light and fluffy finished result (think waffles, angel food cake). They also bind together the dry ingredients, helping your finished product to be cohesive, moist, and have a pleasant texture or crumb.

Basically, what I’m trying to say is, eggs are kind of a big deal, especially in baking, and the effects of the egg can be hard to reproduce. But that doesn’t mean you can’t replace them; for people with allergies or for vegans, this becomes really, really important.

The reason I hate a flax egg (which is 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tablespoons of water, and then allowed to sit for a while) is because it inevitably changes the texture of the final product. When the flax and water sit together for a while, they form a kind of goo that works really well for binding. Flax, chia and basil seeds are mucilaginous, meaning that when they get soaked in water, they produce this kind of gel on the outside. Great for binding, but not great if you are making a delicate cake batter. Who wants little bits of flax in your soft cake? Not I.

So while using chia, flax or even psyllium (my personal fave) in a muffin batter (I also use this to bind savoury things, like patties or sausages using TVP) might work, you don’t want it in your birthday cupcakes.

Science to the rescue!! Remember in Grade 3 when you made the paper mache volcano, and then you filled it with a little water and baking soda? You add a bit of vinegar to it, and boom! Eruption!

The same with baking. In your batter or dough, be sure to have one element that’s acidic, like a tablespoon of vinegar (you won’t taste it) and then to your dry ingredients, make sure you include a base, like baking soda or baking powder. The magic happens in the oven.

Vegan Egg Substitutes that aren’t flax eggs:

Applesauce: this is one of my faves. It adds both moisture and binding, though it won’t do a whole lot for lift. However, applesauce is pretty acidic, so when combined with your baking powder or baking soda, can create a nice reaction resulting in a rise. I buy the individual portion ones, because otherwise I don’t really eat applesauce and it inevitably goes bad in my fridge. Each individual portion is 1/2 cup, which is usually about the right amount to substitute for eggs in many recipes.

Aquafaba: look, we can’t have this conversation without it. I quite literally wrote the book here, and aquafaba is great for both binding and for lift. It whips up exactly like egg whites. Aquafaba doesn’t have as much protein as eggs, though, so it’s not as strong and struggles when it comes to things that rely on the protein in the egg whites for support, like macarons, for example.

Sparkling water: I know, it doesn’t really make sense. There’s zero protein in sparkling water, yet it works really well. I use it in my pie doughs, and it worked really well in my experimental muffins.

Water, Oil, & Baking Powder: while The Kitchn loved this one, I did not like it as much. I found that the oil did not mix into the water/baking powder mix and it separated in the muffins, too.

The experiment:

 To determine what is the best vegan egg substitute, I made a batch of Morning Glory Muffins (from this recipe). The only animal-based product in this recipe is eggs, making it perfect for a vegan experiment. After I made the entire recipe (sans eggs), I divided it into 3 and then used three different egg subs in each part.

In the first, I used applesauce, in the second I used the water/oil/baking powder combo (which seemed dumb to me, because the batter already had both oil and baking powder in it), and for the third, I used sparkling water.

Here were the results:

Applesauce or aquafaba are my usual go-tos, but I will say one downside of applesauce is that it can make your batter really heavy and wet, so it might require more baking time, or just in general, you get a heavier muffin.

My fave of the three was the sparkling water, which–I mean WHAT? It’s just water, bro. But to me, it created the most pleasing texture of the three. I did not like the oil/water/baking soda option at all, I won’t be using that method again.

So there you have it. If you’re looking for the best vegan egg substitute, or even a flax egg replacer (because gross), try subbing in 1/4 cup of sparkling water for your eggs!