What if you don’t have an egg? Or you want to make something for a vegan friend?
Here’s a super quick and easy egg substitute for use in baking cookies, muffins or quick breads. I use it in my pumpkin pudding (or a pumpkin pie filling). I rarely have eggs around and don’t want to go and buy a dozen if I only need one here or there.
I suggest you buy the seeds whole and grind them as you need them - they will last longer. As soon as you grind seeds, you expose the natural oils to the air and they will oxidize and become rancid faster. Keep the seeds in the fridge or freezer.
I prefer the more neutral flavor of the chia seeds in baking - the omega 3’s in the flax seeds are beneficial certainly, but tend to come across to me as a bit “fishy”, but that may just be me.
ingredients:
1 T chia or flax seeds, I grind them up a bit with a mortar and pestle, or a clean electric coffee grinder.
2.5 T water
Mix the two together in a small bowl and wait 5 minutes. It will become thick and gel-like. Use as you would an egg for most baking projects.
Caution: Best not to substitute too many eggs (1-2 max) because they won’t give the same stiffness or structure eggs would. Gluten provides structure to baked goods, so chia or flax eggs might be a double whammy in compromising form in gluten-free cooking.
Here is a site that has some decadent recipes that use chia or flax eggs, and here is the link to my pumpkin pudding recipe.
