Egg Replacer Taste Test

Now that we’ve successfully built up to baked milk, I have to give my kid a baked good containing dairy milk daily. And you know what she’s not having? Any more of those frozen plain muffins she was forced to eat for 3 months. I’ve branched out to banana muffins, blueberry muffins, and even a lot of chocolate cakes (which she still refuses to eat some nights!) I’ve tried my old vegan recipes (replacing the milk) a few times, but it feels a wrong to put real dairy in. Since I only have to replace one thing (egg) in normal recipes, I’ve been branching out into the land of store bought egg replacers.

First up, Simple Truth Organic Plant Based Egg Replacer. Which I bought because it was the only option at my normal grocery store and I needed it to make the those muffins last fall. There are only 2 ingredients in it- chia seeds and garbanzo beans. And you know what? I have both of those things at my house. And a blender. But that’s neither here nor there. 

The first time I used it, I followed the directions on the back- 1 tb of egg replacer mixed with 2 tb water for one egg. I let it sit for a minute (because that’s what you do for a flax egg) and that was a poor choice. When it was time to add it to the batter it had congealed and didn’t remotely mix into the muffin batter. The muffins were flecked with chia clumps that my kid expertly avoiding when picking at her muffin.

The second time I tried it, I listened to the baked milk muffin recipe that said to use “1.5 tsp egg replacer” and just added that to dry mixture. Well, that was an even worse choice. The result was the gummiest muffin I have ever tasted. The package says it’s equivalent to 34 eggs, but I think it should be thrown directly into the trash.

Next up, Follow Your Heart VeganEgg. This was a roller coaster. First of all, the packaging. What is with the pretend "egg carton"? Once you open up that part it’s just a bag. A bag of powder. There is absolutely no need for that extra packaging. Not only does it take up more space on the shelf and when shipping, but it also wastes cardboard! It does have a note that the outer packaging is make 100% from recycled materials. But you know what would not create any new waste? NOT HAVING IT.

Okay, after I finally got it opened, I tried to make sense of the directions. This egg replacer is primarily for cooking on the stove to simulate scrambled eggs. There’s one set of instructions for how much water to add for that purpose and then a completely separate set of instructions when used for baking. Once I figured out the correct amount of water to use, I opened the inner bag and was accosted by a sulfur smell. So much so that I was hesitant to add it to my cake mixture. I get wanting your fake egg product to smell like eggs, but maybe shying away from rotten would be a good idea. I forged ahead holding my nose, and added it to the muffin mix.

Guys. You’re never going to believe this. These muffins were AMAZING. Taste: no sulfur. Texture: great. Crumb structure: just like the real thing. I couldn’t believe it! I ended up making chocolate cake with it, too, and it was the best one I’ve made without eggs! Is it worth the smell? I think so! Will I try them scrambled up in a frying pan? Not in a million years. 

My last trial was Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer- which is the egg replacer I was most familiar with but every store I went to was sold out of (I didn’t realize the avian flu causing an egg shortage would effect our egg free family!). Packaging: great. Ingredients: no allergens, mostly potato starch. Instructions: super clear. I mixed it up with water and hoped for the best. The cake was good, fluffy, but a little less moist than the weird Follow Your Heart brand. I’ll definitely use the rest of the package, but the standard has been set and this is a definite runner up.