Applesauce, mashed banana, chia seeds or ground flaxseeds, commercial egg replacer and baking soda and vinegar are some of the amazing substitutes for egg in your child’s diet.

Being filled with protein, eggs are versatile, delicious and highly nutritious. However, what If consuming eggs is not an option?

For some people, eggs seem to come off as a restriction because of allergies, limits or dietary preferences. Or maybe, you seem to have cracked off the egg as you tried to cook it. Even though eggs are priced at a cheap price, there can be a lot of risks being involved such as shortages of eggs due to outbreaks of bird flu or other such types of incident. There are few people who prefer not to eat eggs for religious and ethical reasons. But, in any case, you can always try out many egg alternatives as the staple food in your kitchen and offer your kids a healthy diet as well.

Read More: Health Benefits of Eggs for Kids

Reasons on why you might need to find substitutes for eggs

As a matter of fact, there are multiple reasons on why you should find substitutes for eggs in your child’s diet. For a majority of the people, dietary preferences and allergies can be the main issue.

Egg Allergy

It is a known fact where eggs seem to rank second as a common food allergy which is found in toddlers and young children.

There was a particular study where 50% of children tend to outgrow over the allergy at the age of three whereas 66% of the children outgrow by the age of five. There are other studies as well which proclaim that it may take up to the age of 16 to outgrow the allergy on eggs.

As there are a majority of the children who are allergic to eggs, there are few individuals who are still allergic to them during their entire lives.

Vegan Diet- a guide to a vegan egg substitute plan

There are few individuals who seem to follow a vegan diet and stay away from dairy, meat, eggs or any other animal related products.

Vegans have a barrier towards eating animal products due to a plethora of reasons such as ethical reasons which concern animal rights, health purposes, concerns for the environment and many more.

In summary: Few people need to lay off eggs due to allergies caused by eggs wherein other consumers may need to avoid them for environmental, ethical or health reasons.

Read More: Quail Eggs for Children: Benefits, Side Effects, Precaution and Recipes

Reasons why we use eggs as substitutes in baking?

Honestly, eggs offer many purposes in baking. They have amazing components which offer an amazing blend and contribute towards flavour, structure, consistency, colour and flavour of items which are baked in ways such as:

• Binding: Using eggs help in blending multiple ingredients and mix them together tightly. This enables the food to maintain its structure and averts it from being fallen apart.
• Leavening: Eggs have a peculiar feature where it traps holes of air in foods, which leads to them being expanded as it is being heated. This leads to foods being risen or puffed up which creates remarkable delights such as soufflés and to-die-for food cake and meringues their light texture and volume.
• Moisture: Moisture is being retained to the finished product due to the liquid from eggs which is being absorbed into the other remaining ingredients in a recipe.
• Appearance and flavour: Eggs are beneficial in carrying the flavours of other ingredients and help in turning brown as the item bakes or cooks in the heat. Also, they improve the baked good taste and even contribute to their appearance of being golden brown

In summary: Eggs offer multiple purposes in baking. Without eggs, baked goods may taste of dry, flavourless or flat. On the plus side, there are several egg alternatives out there to substitute eggs.

“So what can I substitute for eggs?” might be a question you might be pondering upon, therefore we present to you 13 substitutes which you can use instead of eggs:

Read More: 7 Healthy and Easy to Eat Baby Finger Foods All New Moms Should Know

15 Top Substitutes for Egg in your Child’s Diet

Applesauce

Applesauce is nothing but purée produced from cooked apples. Using other spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon together, it is flavoured or sweetened in order to make a tasty item. However, we recommend using unsweetened applesauce. If you aim to use a sweetened variety, then consider reducing the sugar or sweetener intake within the recipe.

Mashed Banana

Another popular replacement would be mashed bananas. The only drawback in using mashed bananas is that the final item can have a mild banana flavour when eaten. This alternative is suitable to be used in cakes, muffins, brownies and bread.

Chia Seeds or Ground Flaxseeds

Both of these tiny seeds are highly nutritious. Moreover, they contain high elements of fibre, omega-3 fatty acids, and other plans components which are unique. Using these seeds can enable baked foods to become dense and heavy. Furthermore, it also may result in a nuttier flavour hence works amazingly with cookies, loaves of bread, waffles, pancakes and muffins.

Commercial Egg Replacer

Over many supermarkets and stores, there is an immense variety of commercial egg replacers available. In fact, these are usually produced from tapioca starch, potato starch and leavening agents.

Egg replacers can be used in all baked items and do not change the finished product flavours.

Silken Tofu

This is none other than compressed soy milk that goes through being processed and pressed into firm blocks. Tofu texture depends on its water content. Having less water content will lead to tofu being sturdy. Since Silken tofu contains high water content, it is, therefore, smoother and soft in consistency terms. Silken tofu does not have any flavour but it makes baked foods heavy and dense therefore it can be used in quick bread, brownies, cakes and cookies.

Baking Soda and vinegar

White distilled vinegar or apple cider vinegar is the most demanding choices. As they are mixed together, baking soda vinegar pulls of a chemical reaction which later produces water and carbon dioxide which makes the baked goods airy and light. This egg substitution works perfectly for quick bread, cakes and cupcakes.

Buttermilk or Yoghurt

Buttermilk and yoghurt are brilliant substitutes for eggs as well. We feel that it is best to use plain yoghurt since sweetened or flavoured varieties can change the recipe’s flavour in general. This egg substitution works well with cupcakes, muffins and cakes.

Arrowroot Powder

Arrowroot is known to be a South American tuber plant. Being found in the roots of the plant, the starch is extracted and sold as in flour, starch or powder form. This powder is similar to cornstarch and used in baking, cooking and other household and personal products.

Aquafaba

Aquafaba is a product which is obtained as a leftover from cooking legumes or cooking beans. You can find the exact liquid found from beans or chickpeas. This makes an excellent substitution due to the same levels of consistency compared to the raw egg whites. Having a consistency similar to raw egg whites; Aquafaba works well in recipes such as nougat, marshmallows, meringues, and macaroons.

Nut Butter

Nut butter such as almond, cashew or peanut butter can be used to substitute eggs in many recipes. However, using nut butter can lead to affecting the flavour of the baked food and best to be used in pancakes, cookies and egg substitutes in. Make sure to use creamy nut butter instead of chunky types so that every ingredient is mixed well.

In summary: Use about 3 tablespoons (60 grams) of almond, cashew or peanut butter for each egg being substituted but this results in a nuttier flavour.

Carbonated Water

Using carbonated water can increase the moisture levels but also is a fantastic leavening agent. The carbonation holds in air bubbles, which makes the item fluffy and light. This is a great egg substitution for quick bread, cakes and cupcakes.

In summary: Carbonated water enhances moisture and makes products to be fluffy and light.

Gelatin or Agar-Agar

Gelatin: A fantastic gelling agent which makes a remarkable egg substitute ingredient. But, surprisingly, it is an animal protein which is derived from the pigs and cows’ collagen. If you are not supportive of animal products, then Agar Agar is an alternative produced from algae or seaweed.

Neither of these egg substitutes damages the flavour of the final product however they do create a different texture.

Soy Lecithin

Soy lecithin is a corollary of soybean oil which has to blend properties which are similar to eggs. This byproduct is included in commercially prepared foods due to its capability to combine and contain ingredients together.

What to do if a recipe requires egg yolks or whites?

The ingredients mentioned above are amazing substitutes but there are few recipes which require egg yolks or whites. We recommend the following substitutes::

• Egg yolks: Soy lecithin is ideal as an egg substitute.
• Egg whites: Aquafaba is the best option for replacing egg whites.

The final line

It is true that eggs provide to the overall flavour, structure, colour of baked goods.

However, there are people who don’t consume eggs due to the reasons mentioned. But, there are foods which do not need to use eggs are egg substitutes in baking, though not all of the mentioned alternatives act the same way.

Few egg substitutes are amazing for fluffy and light baked goods while others are brilliant for dense and heavy products. Overall, carrying out experiments with egg substitutes can attain flavour and texture in your final products.