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So this post is a little bit overdue... but better late than never! 

Lately, I've done a lot of experimenting with and reading about vegan baking, and most vegan baking recipes call for a egg replacer, such as those made by Bob's Red Mill or Ener-G. Both of those products are made of natural ingredients, such as starches and gums. However, the Bob's Red Mill egg replacer has wheat gluten in it, so it's unsuitable for gluten-free diets, and Ener-G can be difficult to get in smaller towns (although it is available for purchase online). 

Soooo.... this all led to me using flaxseed in the vegan whoopie pie recipe I found online here: Vegan Whoopie Pies.  (The original recipe calls for Ener-G, and I did make some other changes, which I will post soon). 

You don't have to use the Vegan Whoopie Pie recipe; you can use any baking recipe that calls for eggs. As a word of caution... don't jump right into your favorite cake recipe, or something complex. Eggs are important for many reasons in baked goods, and without understanding how the eggs are functioning in the recipe you are using, it would be easy for the recipe to fail. (And obviously, you can't make a fried egg from flaxseed). Also, flaxseed adds an awesome, nutty flavor and a beautiful, brown speckled appearance to whatever you bake with it... so keep that in mind when choosing your recipes.

Here are some of the functions of eggs: 
* Providing structure (mainly due to the proteins in the egg whites)
* Emulsifying the ingredients (working like a glue to bind everything together)
* Aerating the batter/dough so the final product is lighter
* Flavor

Now... when you take away eggs, you take away these important jobs of eggs. 
Here's where flaxseed comes in. 

What you'll need:
  • Ground flaxseed, or flaxseed meal; any brand should be fine, just don't get whole flaxseeds 
  • Water
  • A small pot
  • A stove 

Method of Preparation: 
1. Measure one tablespoon of flaxseed meal and three tablespoons of water into a small pot. 
2. Simmer over low heat, stirring constantly, until the the water is absorbed and the flaxseed thickens. 

It should look like this: 

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Once you have reached this gooey, glue-like consistency, you can remove the pot from the heat and transfer the "egg" to a new container. This way, it will stop cooking (the pot is still pretty hot even when you remove it from the heat), and you can put the pot in the sink with water to aid in cleaning it later. Trust me, you want to do this part immediately...flaxseed literally dries like super glue onto whatever surface it touches... and it doesn't come off easily.. even in a hot dishwasher! 

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Congratulations! You've successfully made a vegan egg! You should end up with enough to replace one egg in a recipe. If you need more than one egg, simply increase the recipe, maintaining that 1:3 ratio. Remember that although flaxseed can mimic what an egg does, (and provide excellent nutritional benefits!) it has its own unique properties. The more eggs a recipe calls for, the less likely any egg substitute will be successful at replacing the eggs. 

Try recipes! Have fun experimenting! Go bake! :) 
(And tell me how it turns out!)

7/15/2014 06:06:04 pm

nice posts

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