The 15 Best Egg Substitutes for Baking

Here are the 15 Best Egg Substitutes for Baking & Cooking. Replace eggs in pancakes, cornbread, brownies, cake, cookies & more! Perfect vegan egg substitutes, plus recipe recommendations and tips!

One of the keys to saving money is to use the food you already have.

That’s why I shared these 15 ideas for vanilla extract substitute. It’s also why I shared these 14 easy baking hacks.

And it’s also why I’m sharing with you today the 15 Best Egg Substitutes for Baking.

Why do we need to bother with knowing how to replace eggs?

• Have you started a recipe that calls for THREE eggs and you only had two? I blame that bottomless pit of a teenager.
• Or maybe you want to lighten up a recipe and use something else instead of eggs…
• Maybe you’re on a special egg-free diet right now and you don’t want to miss out on all the goodness going on around you (also known as peanut butter chocolate chip muffins and one bowl Paleo brownies and banana bread muffins). I don’t blame you.
• Or maybe it’s the end of the month and you still have a few days left before the grocery budget resets and you’re trying to make it work with what you have.

In any of these cases – and so many more – it helps to know what you can use instead of egg whites & egg yolks, and in what type of recipes, so you can still put food on the table without going broke.

The 15 Best Egg Substitutes for Baking

Applesauce

Use ¼ cup unsweetened applesauce to replace one egg. Works best in cakes, muffins, and fruity desserts.

→ Follow this tutorial to make your own applesauce.

Apricot Puree

Use ¼ cup apricot puree to replace one egg. Works best in dense, fudgy chocolate desserts.

Arrowroot Powder

Use 2 tablespoons of arrowroot powder + 3 tablespoons of water to replace one egg. Works best in cookies, many types of quick bread, and richly flavored baked goods.

Aquafaba

The liquid from canned chickpeas is called aquafaba. Use 3 tablespoons of liquid, whisked until frosty, to replace one egg. Best for light, fluffy baked goods.

→ Use those chickpeas in 5-minute chocolate hummus, cookie dough hummus, or snickerdoodle hummus!

Banana

Use 1/4 cup mashed banana to replace one egg. Works best in cakes, muffins, and fruity desserts.

One 1/4 cup of banana is about half of a small banana. Use that extra half in a smoothie, on top of your favorite oatmeal, in a parfait, or freeze for later.

Buttermilk

Use 1/4 cup buttermilk to replace one egg. Works best in muffins, cakes, and cupcakes.

→ Here are 10 ways to make your own buttermilk.

Pumpkin

Use ¼ cup pumpkin puree to replace one egg. Works best in muffins, scones, and spiced bread.

→ Here’s how to make homemade pumpkin puree for all your pumpkin needs.

More pumpkin recipes for your extra puree:

Slow Cooker Pumpkin Chili // Homemade Pumpkin Spice Coffee Creamer // Pumpkin Swirl Black Bean Brownies

Prune Puree

Use ¼ cup prune puree to replace one egg. Works best for dense, fudgy chocolate desserts.

Tofu

Use ¼ cup silken tofu, whisked until smooth, to replace one egg. Works best in scrambles, custards, and light-colored cakes.

Vinegar + Baking Soda

Use 1 teaspoon baking soda + 1 tablespoon vinegar to replace one egg. Works best in cakes, cupcakes, and quick bread.

Winter Squash

Use ¼ cup butternut squash, acorn squash, or other winter squash to replace one egg. Works best in muffins, scones, and spiced bread.

Yogurt

Use 1/4 cup plain, unflavored yogurt to replace one egg. Works best in muffins, cakes, and cupcakes.

→ Make your own plain yogurt and Greek yogurt! Have extra yogurt? You can freeze it! Here’s the tutorial.

Which egg replacement will work best for my baking recipe?

Obviously, not every option will work for every baking scenario. Knowing what you are baking is vital to helping you select which egg substitute will work best for your situation.

Here are a few examples:

1 – You’re making my famous chocolate chip peanut butter muffins. Or my banana bread muffins.

I recommend flaxseed in both of these. The banana muffins already have bananas, and both recipes are on the dense side. Adding applesauce or squash will only make them denser.

2 – You’re making a chocolate leftover oatmeal cake.

Any of the neutral flavors egg substitutes will work… applesauce, banana, flaxseed, chia seed, or tofu.

3 – You’re making sheet pan pancakes (or the very best protein pancakes or strawberry pancakes or soaked whole grain pancakes).

Any of the neutral flavors egg substitutes will work… applesauce, banana, flaxseed, chia seed, or tofu.

4 – You’re making strawberry lemonade donuts, or easy pumpkin donuts.

I recommend flaxseed or aquafaba in both of these, since you want the donuts to be light and fluffy.

5 – You’re making vanishing oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, molasses breakfast cookies, or pumpkin cookies with homemade cream cheese frosting.

Any of the neutral flavors egg substitutes will work… applesauce, banana, flaxseed, chia seed, or tofu.

Guidelines for choosing egg replacements in recipes:

Let me leave you with a few general guidelines you should take into consideration before you start picking which egg substitute works best for what you’re making.

• Substituting for all the eggs in a recipe can lead to a very different result. Take for example chocolate cake. In this case, the egg acts as a binder AND as a lifting agent. If you swap both eggs for ½ cup of applesauce, your cake won’t rise.
• It’s best to mix/match your egg substitute if you need to substitute for more than one egg. In the same chocolate cake example, you could substitute one egg for ¼ cup applesauce and replace the second egg with 3 tablespoons aquafaba. The applesauce will help with the binding and moisture, while the aquafaba will help keep the texture light.
• It might be necessary to add a lifting agent, i.e. baking soda or baking powder. Generally speaking, you need ¼ teaspoon of baking soda for every 1 cup of acidic baking ingredient (honey, chocolate, buttermilk, yogurt, vinegar, etc.). You can also use baking powder if your recipe doesn’t contain enough acidic ingredients – add 1 teaspoon baking powder for every ¼ teaspoon baking soda.

Using Substitutions to Save Money

One of the key points I teach in Grocery Budget Bootcamp for saving money on groceries is to use the food you already have. Anytime you make your meal plan or pick out a new recipe, shop your pantry first to see what food you can use up. This includes any food substitutions! Then you don’t spend more money on food and use up food you already bought before it goes bad. Win-Win!

Do you have a lot of experience working with egg substitutes? Do you have any tips or tricks to share with the rest of us? Please leave your ideas in the comments section below!