Cooking and baking without eggs: Help!

[mathnerd]

My eldest offspring just got diagnosed as being allergic to eggs. He never ate them anyway, because he hates them and they made him sick, but he did eat baked goods that had eggs in them. Now we're supposed to eliminate eggs from his diet as much as possible (the test came back literally at the threshold for a positive diagnosis, and he's never had an anaphylaxis response, so the doctor is advising me that I don't have to get as uptight as I am about tomatoes, but I do need to be careful.)

I'm a pretty darned good baker, and I know I'm perfectly capable of experimenting with recipes to find what works without eggs and what doesn't, but I'm also broke and kind of lazy, so I was hoping people here might have some tried and true recipes that are egg-free for things like pancakes, chocolate chip cookies, cheesecake, brownies, etc.

Any ideas would be appreciated!

[Kittish]

I find this which has some suggestions, based on the egg's role in a recipe:

If eggs are binders in a recipe, it can be replaced with Arrowroot, Soy Lecithin, Flax-seed Mix, Pureed Fruits or Vegetables, Silken Tofu, Unflavored Vegetarian Gelatin Powder (agar agar). The ratio is, for every egg replaced, 1/4 cup of the substitute is used.

If eggs are leavening agents, Buttermilk, Yogurt, Baking Soda, Commercial Egg Replacement Powder such as Ener-G can be used.

If eggs are added for moisture, Fruit Juice, Milk, Water or Pureed Fruit can be used.

This is from http://www.egglesscooking.com/egg-substitutes/

http://www.organicauthority.com/heal...an-baking.html has some other suggestions for replacing eggs as well.

Disclaimer: I haven't tried any of the substitutes, so don't know how well they actually work.

[Yfandes]

I read in a frugal publication ages ago that a good egg substitute for things like muffins etc is:
1 heaping tbsp. of soy flour and 1 tbsp. of water mixed together for each egg
Apparently nobody could tell the difference in tests that she did

[dawnfire]

here's a recipe for an egg free chocolate cake . It's sometimes called crazy cake or depression cake. the best thing about it is is that it's has minimal cleanup. it's mixed in the baking pan. I used to make this as a kid, it wasn't too bad as I recall.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/crazy-cake/

[Seshat]

The ANZAC biscuit (the second set of recipes, NOT the 'Anzac tile/wafer' recipe) is a popular and well-known Australian and NZ recipe developed in wartime.
Reminder: 'biscuit' in Aussie means 'cookie' in 'murican.

The tile/wafer is also eggless, but it's a form of hardtack - not likely to be popular, but at least it'll last a long time!

I couldn't find any wartime recipe sites that I would personally recommend - simply because I haven't tested any of the recipes! - but depression-era and wartime-era recipes are both likely to be excellent sources of eggless but tasty food.

[firecat88]

http://www.3fatchicks.com/how-to-sub...ado-in-baking/ Avocado is the one I've heard about. Not recommended, though, for people with latex allergies because it is considered a cross reactive food.

[NecessaryCatharsis]

I can't remember the substitute my grandma taught me for no eggs in baking, but when I find it I'll post. It was a teaspoon each of vinegar and baking soda, and 1/3 cup applesauce or something like that. Sounds weird, works amazing.

For breaded things, like pan fried chicken, dip in balsamic vinegar before dredging in seasoned flour.

For dressings, like making ceaser, add flavours to greek yogurt instead of making dressing base with eggs with oil and lemon juice.

If your desperate for a particular dish try looking up vegan recipe for something. Vegan is way more popular than egg free, and you can always add cream or live protein to a vegan recipe to make it a flavour or texture you like.

[Seanette]

Vegan is way more popular than egg free, and you can always add cream or live protein to a vegan recipe to make it a flavour or texture you like.

"live protein"? Are you using a Klingon cookbook?

[NecessaryCatharsis]

Like shrimp or steak or something, as opposed to pinenuts or whatever vegans eat. It's the end of a long week, what can I say.

[Seanette]

Just had to give you a bad time.

[WishfulSpirit]

Check out The Post Punk Kitchen website (theppk.com). They have a baking section that lists a lot of egg substitutes.

[justhere]

I'm at the opposite end of this from you - my eldest offspring is at the point of officially being no longer allergic to eggs (we still have one more food challenge to go). For baking I highly recommend an item called Ener-G Egg Replacer. It can replace up to 3 eggs in a recipe (in fact any egg replacer you use is only good up to 3 eggs). Just don't whip it with a fork like the box says to do, but use a mini-food processor to whip them up.

My favorite cookbook for baking is "The Joy of Vegan Baking". The chocolate chip cookies in there are amazing and seriously, people don't believe they are egg-free (and since they are egg-free you can absolutely eat the raw cookie dough). I also like "Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World" (there is a cookie one that is also probably very good but the cookies weren't ones we'd like so I never really used it).

If you need any advice, let me know.

[MoonCat]

Are Eggbeaters available? I think you can use those in baking.

[mathnerd]

I looked at Eggbeaters today and the carton says they do contain real eggs. Grump.

To everybody else: Thanks. I haven't been responding, but I have been looking at the links and ideas that have been suggested. I'm working on a grocery list for a couple different treats. The child in question has a birthday in a week, so I went to have a nice cake for him. We shall see.

[munchkinmama]

The crazy cake recipe is good. We used it where I used to work as our only chocolate cake recipe. It can also be made vanilla by omitting the cocoa and adding more flour. Also I have used applesauce in place of eggs before and can't tell much difference.