Replacing Eggs: Flax Gel and Flaxmeal

I use various egg-replacers, depending on what I'm making. I like the applesauce/coconut oil combination very much, for muffins and pancakes. This gives a lovely moisture and softness.

Soft is not what you want for waffles, so I chose to use flax egg-replacers.

Flax Gel
Add flax seeds to water, bring to a boil, lower heat and continue boiling for 2 minutes. Strain out seeds. Store gel in the refrigerator.

Making the gel:
Use a ratio of 1 cup of water: 1 Tablespoon of flax seed
    Either brown or golden flax seed; both work well. The golden seems to have a more mild flavor.

Eggs are usually about 1/4 cup each, so it would make sense to use 1/4 cup of flax gel per egg in a recipe. When I made waffles using flax gel, I only used 1 Tablespoon per egg, and it worked well. I'm not sure why that is, but that is what worked.

For each egg:
If you try this for other recipes, start with 1 Tablespoon of gel per egg replaced, and add more if needed.


When freshly made, the gel is easy to measure. Once refrigerated, it gets interesting. It develops a texture more like egg white. When I tried pouring cold flax gel into a tablespoon, all of the gel *blooped* out! I think that whisking it up with a fork would probably help. Thankfully, I was able to rescue the gel and still use it, so it was more funny than frustrating. :)

I usually add some melted coconut oil with any egg replacer (the yolks have saturated fat, which can be important for texture), but the waffles seemed fine without it. Another time, I'll try adding it and see if it makes a difference.

Flax meal
Flax meal can work well as an egg replacer, if it fits the character of your project. If I am making a light vanilla cupcake, I do not use flax meal. It is like adding wheat germ or bran to the mix. It alters the texture, and you definitely see the flecks of meal in the final product. It has worked well for me in chocolate cake and cupcakes, and more hearty pancakes or muffins.

When I used flaxmeal in the waffle batter, I didn't like it as well. Curiously, they baked less evenly. They didn't crisp up as well, and softened more quickly.

For each egg, use:
1 Tablespoon flax meal and 2-3 Tablespoons of water.

Sometimes, I mix the flax meal and water together, and let it sit before adding with the dry ingredients. Sometimes, I add the meal with the dry ingredients, and the water with the other liquids. I have not seen a dramatic difference in results. Either way seems to work just fine. If I add them separately, I do let the batter sit for a few minutes, so the flax meal can become hydrated.