Egg Replacer Powder (Compare to Ener-G®)
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If you’ve got an allergy to eggs, baking can be tough. Thankfully, there are options out there to make your egg-free baking life simpler, like this egg replacer powder. It’s a homemade version of one of the best egg replacers that I have ever used.
I love making homemade versions of pricey store-bought items, like homemade coconut butter, homemade coconut milk, or homemade almond butter.
Well, imagine my glee when I figured out how to replace the expensive powdered egg substitute that we’d been buying for years.
This egg replacer recipe is for everyone – whether you, or someone you know, has a food allergy, or if you have ever run out of eggs while in the middle of a recipe.
Of courses, if you run out of eggs in the middle of a recipe you can run to the store, but having an egg substitute on hand is a much more frugal way to go.
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The Making of this Egg Substitute
Ever since my son was diagnosed with a life-threatening food allergy to egg whites (and other foods) at the age of 5 months, baking and cooking have become a bit of a challenge.
At first, it felt completely daunting to me.
How on earth was I supposed to bake without eggs?
Well, the truth is, his (and my) other later dietary changes have proven to be even more challenging (going gluten-free and even sugar-free) than the “egg issue”. And on top of that, his autism (Asperger’s Syndrome) diagnosis was an even harder issue to navigate than the food allergies ever were.
However, adopting an individual’s or family’s diet to meet special needs is still a very real challenge. So real that it causes a great deal of stress on whoever is responsible for taking care of the meals.
This is actually one of the main reasons that I started this blog –to make food preparation easier and more wholesome for those dealing with special dietary needs. Because I know how hard it is to deal with all of this and I need easy solutions wherever I can find them.
You too, huh? If I can get it done quicker, healthier, and cheaper, then I am all over it.
And I really enjoy helping others meet this challenge as well.
Finding a good substitute for eggs in baking and cooking can be a bit of a chore, but there are a number of options. One of my long-time favorites was Ener-G’s Egg Replacer.
It’s a powdered egg substitute that can be used in quite a few dishes that call for eggs, egg whites, or egg yolks.
I bought this product for years, but typical of my “Can I do this myself” mentality, one day I set out to see if I could make this powdered egg replacer myself. The main reason I wanted to do it was to save money, but the other is that there is one ingredient in their product that wasn’t entirely desirable so I wanted an alternative.
Well, it worked.
I found a recipe for powdered egg replacer on the internet, made some changes, and now I have a quick, easy, cheaper and additive-free way to replace eggs in loads of recipes.
The inspiration for this recipe was a blog called Celineyum. Unfortunately, the blog is now defunct.
Other Egg Substitutes
There are other egg substitutes that can work as well, but it all depends on what the eggs’ purpose is in the recipe.
This powdered egg replacer works as a binder and as a leavening agent so it works quite well in almost all baking recipes.
Other options are:
bananas
flax eggs
chia eggs
gelatin (please use grass-fed. This is a good brand, as is this one, and this one.)
yogurt
tofu
cornstarch (please use non GMO, organic like this brand)
pureed fruits
buttermilk
applesauce
vinegar and baking powder
pumpkin
and more!
Addressing Carbohydrate Concerns
The only issue with this powdered egg replacer is that it is high in carbs.
Typically, this kind of starch is considered to be pretty unhealthy, but there is some interesting information that has come out to possibly counter this thinking.
You can use all or mostly all arrowroot instead of the other starches, as it is thought to have helpful nutritional qualities, but there is more information coming out about other starches like tapioca and potato starch in the resistant starch realm.
From what I am reading, you should try to purchase raw starches if this is a consideration for you.
So as long as you aren’t on a low carb diet, though this seems at first glance that this is an egg replacer that is devoid of nutrition, that might not entirely be the case.
Starches vs Flours
It’s very important to get the correct ingredients for this recipe. Which leads to the questions, “Is tapioca starch the same as tapioca flour” and “Is potato starch the same as potato flour?”
The answers to these questions is confusing but here they are. Tapioca starch is the same as tapioca flour, however potato starch is not the same as potato flour. Hmmm….would have been nice to have some consistency here, but this is just the way that it goes.
Potato flour is the whole potato dried up and ground. Potato starch is just the starch portion.
Tapioca flour / starch is the ground up root of the tapioca plant. It’s the same thing that makes up tapioca pearls.
How to Use
To substitute for 1 egg, use one rounded 1/2 tablespoon egg replacer powder and 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) water (filtered water preferred).
If your recipe calls for egg whites beaten stiff, beat the egg replacer powder with water until somewhat stiff (this won’t work for heavily egg-white-based dishes like meringues, however. Believe me, I learned this the hard way when I tried making a meringue with this. Hint: It didn’t turn out at all like a meringue :-).)
For recipes calling for egg yolks, use 1 rounded 1/2 tablespoons egg replacer powder with 1 tablespoon water.
To substitute for 1 egg white, use 1/2 tablespoons egg replacer powder and 2 tablespoons water.
Recipe Notes and Substitutions
- Time Saving Tip: Rinsing the spoon off after using this replacer gets tedious really fast. I leave a ½ tablespoon spoon in my container at all times. See my post on Saving Time with Measuring Tools.
- Tip Card: I recommend putting a little card with the measuring instructions on the outside of your Powdered Egg Replacer container so that it will always be handy when you need it :-)!
- Act Fast: You should always get whatever you are making into the oven or onto the stove as soon as possible after mixing in the egg replacer. It tends to lose its effectiveness the longer you wait (due to the leavening agents in it).
- Tapioca Alternatives: You can substitute cornstarch or arrowroot for the tapioca starch with I think minimal difference. You could also sub out the potato starch, but it is a bit “heftier” than the other starches so I would use it if you can. You could also possibly use white flour for either, but then your egg replacer will not be gluten-free.
- Typically it’s recommended to blend the water and egg substitute powder together prior to adding to a recipe, but I have done it both ways and had it work out.
- For a homemade baking powder option, see Aluminum & Corn-Free Baking Powder.
Special Diet Notes
- whole30 – this recipe is whole30 compliant if you use my homemade baking powder
- paleo & AIP – Although some say that potatoes are paleo, you can use arrowroot or additional tapioca for the potato starch for AIP or paleo. Just note that the recipe might not work quite as well.
Egg Replacer Powder (Compare to Ener-G®)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups potato starch
- 1 1/2 cups tapioca starch (see other starch options above in Recipe Notes section)
- 2/3 cup baking powder (see Homemade Baking Powder)
- 1/3 cup baking soda
Instructions
- Place all ingredients in a bowl.
- Combine well.
- Store in an airtight container.
- For 1 egg, use one rounded 1/2 tablespoon egg replacer powder and 2 tablespoons water.For 1 egg yolk, use 1 rounded 1/2 tablespoon egg replacer powder with 1 tablespoon water.For 1 egg white, use 1/2 tablespoons egg replacer powder and 2 tablespoons water. See Recipe Notes for more usage information.
Notes
-
- To substitute for 1 egg, use one rounded 1/2 tablespoon egg replacer powder and 2 tablespoons (1/8 cup) water. If your recipe calls for egg whites beaten stiff, beat the egg replacer powder with water until somewhat stiff (this won’t work for heavily egg-white-based dishes like meringues, however. Believe me, I learned this the hard way when I tried making a meringue with this powder. Hint: It didn’t turn out at all like a meringue.
- To substitute for 1 egg yolk, use 1 rounded 1/2 tablespoon egg replacer powder with 1 tablespoon water.
- To substitute for 1 egg white, use 1/2 tablespoons egg replacer powder and 2 tablespoons water.
- Time Saving Tip: Rinsing the spoon off after using this replacer gets tedious really fast. I leave a ½ tablespoon spoon in my container at all times. See my post on Saving Time with Measuring Tools.
-
- Card Tip: I recommend putting a little card with the measuring instructions on the outside of your Powdered Egg Replacer container so that it will always be handy when you need it.
-
- Act Fast: You should always get whatever you are making into the oven or onto the stove as soon as possible after mixing in the egg replacer. It tends to lose its effectiveness the longer you wait (due to the leavening agents in it).
-
- Tapioca Alternatives: You can substitute cornstarch or arrowroot for the tapioca starch with I think minimal difference. You could also sub out the potato starch, but it is a bit “heftier” than the other starches so I would use it if you can. You could also possibly use white flour for either, but then your egg replacer will not be gluten free.
-
- Typically it’s recommended to blend the water and egg substitute powder together prior to adding to a recipe, but I have done it both ways and it’s worked for me.
-
- whole30 – this recipe is whole30 compliant if you use my homemade baking powder.
-
- paleo & AIP – Although some say that potatoes are paleo, you can use arrowroot or additional tapioca for the potato starch for AIP or paleo. Just note that the recipe might not work quite as well.
Nutritional information is provided as a courtesy and is merely an approximation. Optional ingredients are not included and when there is an alternative, the primary ingredient is typically used. We cannot guarantee the accuracy of the nutritional information given for any recipe on this site. Erythritol carbs are not included in carb counts since they have been shown not to impact blood sugar. Net carbs are the total carbs minus fiber.
Looking for other handy dandy allergy-friendly kitchen subs? How about these:
Homemade Coconut Milk (smoother!)
Easiest Almond Milk Ever
Powdered Sugar Substitute
Homemade Rice Milk
Easy Chocolate / Carob Chips (dairy free with sugar-free option)
Homemade Vegetable Broth
I’d love to hear how this works for you!
thank you for sharing this. i think i will be checking your blogs a lot now. my dad has cancer and he cant have eggs but has been asking me he wants bread. this really helps!
Great! Hope you enjoy it! You can subscribe too and not miss a post. Interesting things coming up :).
Thank you so much for this recipe. I’ve been using Ener G for years to make cookies, cakes, pancakes, etc for my 17 year old son who is allergic to eggs (as well as peanuts, and tree nuts). I’ve been out of egg replacer for almost a month! There isn’t any around here and my husband keeps forgetting to stop at a health food store in the town he works in to check there (I don’t have a car to get there myself). So, for weeks son has had no baked treats. Now I have to see if husband can find potato starch and tapioca starch. LOL! So…it’s one rounded 1/2 TBL of the powder? Does that mean I would scoop with a 1/2 TBL and not level it off?? Also, do you have a brownie recipe that’s been successful with the egg replacer (every one I have tried has flopped for some reason…so son has never had a brownie)?
Soo glad to hear this! Yes, your interpretation of the usage is correct. As for the brownies, hmmm….I could try some w/ my family :). I’m sure they won’t mind. You could make just the cake part of my chocolate cupcakes w/ cheesecake filling. It’s a little dense so it sort of resembles a cupcake. What happens when you make them? I just found a thread that says brownies might not work w/ it but I don’t know why.
Thanks Adrienne. It’s been so long ago that I tried making brownies w/o eggs (I gave up). Seems like they turned out really flat. I just found this brownie recipe without eggs: https://www.4thsensecooking.com/2011/03/eggless-brownies.html
Looks promising.
I just made 2 batches of a vegan brownie that the author said used egg replacer. I do think I took it out of the oven too soon b/c the middle wasn’t done…but the outside was quite nice. We might just have to try another batch :-).
This recipe doesn’t work with brownies. I have yet to find an egg substitute that works with brownies. Right now I use a brownie recipe that calls for shredded zucchini instead of eggs, that recipe is good. But I miss being able to make regular brownies with an egg substitute. It just doesn’t seem to rise. If you ever get it figured out, I would love to know how to.
I think I just found one……tested it out tonight. Yummy. Just trying to see if they sank too bad in the middle We’ll see…..What’s happened to yours?
Oh that would be great if you found one. I hope you’ll share it soon if it worked. 🙂
For ours it has no density. The whole thing bubbles like it’s almost all liquid, and never rises. Then once it sits, it flattens and is hard. Not edible at all.
But this has happened with every egg substitute we’ve tried, not just this one. We like this one for our cookies. 🙂
I’m sure my kids won’t mind my trying :).
Well, if they tried ours, they might just break a tooth, it gets that hard once it sits. 🙂
Oh no…these are quite soft. One pan gone – the other partially. I will try them again. Might be hard to get a nice photo, but hey :).
Oh, they sound yummy. Please share the recipe when you can. And I can understand not being able to get a photo. Sometimes food just doesn’t last. 🙂
…I meant they aren’t pretty. I like pretty photos. I’ll have to think of something. :).
Hi! I am trying to make a cauliflower pizza crust that calls for 1-2 eggs. What should I use to replace the eggs? Chia eggs, yogurt, agar whip? Any suggestions? I am assuming the purpose of the egg is as a binder, not leavening. Is this correct?
Thanks!
I’ve seen cauliflower pizza crusts both with and without eggs. I have never used agar whip. Personally, I think it depends what kind of crust you want. If you want leavening, use my replacer. Otherwise it doesn’t matter. I haven’t used yogurt for an egg replacer before either. 🙂 Sorry I couldn’t be of more help.
Do you have a specific brand of the starches that you use? My boys are allergic to eggs and nuts and finding bulk that is reasonably priced but not processed/ manufactured in a plant that also…. is my challenge. Any suggestions? I enjoy your site and am learning a lot. I’m trying to find ways to make my own and save $. Thanks
Hmm.. I buy from Country Life Natural Foods. You can call and see about their sourcing. Maybe that will help? My son is allergic to those things but a professional has given told us not to worry so much about “manufactured in” labeling. My son’s allergies are life threatening. Of course, you need to follow your physician’s advice.
The wheat belly cook book says not to use alot of the startchs as they arn’t the best for your body. But most of the gluten free recipes call for it. So what to do
I have the same quandary. I avoid them almost all the time. WAPF says arrowroot is healthy. So it’s a puzzle. My most recent recipe I used 2/3 the egg replacer powdered and 1/3 chia ground w/ water and it worked out well. I am going to continue to work on it.
I am not certain that the potato starch is GAPS diet legal. If you know of this diet, is this something that can be used as potatoes are not on the list for a time when we are first starting out? and I looking for ways to make our eggs stretch since we will be consuming so many. Thank you.
I would think that this isn’t GAPS legal due to the starch issue. Flax or chia would be OK subs I would think. Sorry.
okay I am making a Banana Bread Blend ,Gluten free now the recipe calls for 1/3 cup of liquid whole egg . now I have never use this recipe ,, so help !!! I want to use a whole eggs not the liquid whole egg ,, this recipe also is using the a gluten flour too..So this where I need your help … Doreen
Would this link help with your egg needs? Let me know :-)!
Thank you so much for this… Ener-G is not sold local here so last year I bought (in bulk) a few boxes ….. If I would have known that 1 box = a billion eggs (exageration) I would not have bought so many. I still have LOTS left but when I run out I know how to make my own. But 1 question… where do you find the starches… I haven’t seen them at major grocery store (well I haven’t really searched for them either though) and the only stores that I would think that would cary them is maybe Harris Teeter (about 30 min car drive away and I have no car), Trader Joe’s (no clue where one is around here) and maybe whole foods (1 just opened but still about a 30 minute drive away)?
I use this in all of my baking (not because of allergies, but with my business I ship items out and with egg replacer my cakes, breads, and other baked goods last longer).
Thank you
You’re welcome! Where do you live? I get mine from a Midwest co op. Amazon has them too. Click on this link to see the Tapioca :).
Hi, when making an “egg” with this powder do the water have to be hot\warm\cold?
Thank you.
I’ve typically used it straight from my filter :).
One other interesting ingredient you may wish to explore is Chia seed. These are unusual in that, if you mix them with a bit of water, and wait a bit, the result is a rather thoroughly gelled mass, almost like jello, yet it’s not gelatine. I’ve found Chia seeds to be quite useful in recipes where some sort of binder to hold things together is needed, and in many places where eggs are used, this binding effect, plus perhaps moisturizing, is the needed function. Chia helps here. You might try adding some to your egg replacer. Haven’t tried grinding them up, but that likely would be useful too. An added benefit, Chia is a nutritional powerhouse, and a very good source of plant based Omega 3’s.
Awesome recipe! Love the idea of making my own egg replacer.
I get that it won’t work for dishes that are mostly egg white based, like a meringue, but I’m wondering if it will work for recipes that have egg whites folded in? I have an awesome waffle recipe that I want to adapt and you fold in beaten egg whites. Have you tried anything like that with this?
I would just try it. Basically the more eggs in the recipe, I find it doesn’t work as well. It most likely won’t be as fluffy. Perhaps try using twice the amount and whip it before adding and see :-).
Thank you so much for the response. I just wanted to make sure there wasn’t any alteration due to combined ingredients. Have a GREAT ‘baking’ holiday season!
This is great stuff I am 30 minutes from a little store and 45 from any sizeable store and just now I went to make brownies and didnt have eggs. I am making your replacer so it wont happen again! One thing and forgive me if you already answered this question. I looked through many of the posts and couldnt find how long the egg mix will last in an air tight metal container in a cool, dry location.
Thanks so much.
Pamela
I don’t think there is any difference in the shelf life beyond the baking powder’s shelf life that is in it :-).
Is tapioca flour the same as tapioca starch? I know with potato flour and starch there is a difference.
It’s the same, from my understanding – good question!
Using pure raw coconut oil in your recipe will make everything moist and stay moist.
coconut oil will solve your crumbly problems!
I used coconut oil in GF cornbread the other day and it was super crumbly. :(. Yummy but crumbly.
can this egg replacer be used for making delicious american style chocolate chip cookies that you get in the stores in usa? I have stopped eating eggs now and I am in India and i really miss those chocolate chip cookies american style (regular and not oat meal).
If this works, then my tons of thanks to you!!
Your blog is out of the world… hearty congratulations!!
Yes!!! I so hope you like it. We have used this for cookies for years now. Blessings and thanks for your kind comment. One of my best friends from my working out of the home days was from India :-).
Hi Adrienne ,
I used the starches. Normally with the energ E
Egg replacer the starches foam when you whisk with water
so I thought I did something wrong. I helps to know
That it just gets thicker .
Do I store my egg replacer in the refrigerator ?
Hmmm…well, the ingredients compared to Energ are almost identical so I am wondering if it is the one other ingredient that is doing the foaming? I’m thinking it’s the methyl celluloses. You don’t need to keep it in the fridge since it’s made w/ refined flours.
So when I beat my flours with the required water for my egg substitution.it did not turn
Foamy.please advice
Did you use white flour / the starches or whole grain? Also it doesn’t really foam up….just gets a little thicker. It won’t replicate egg whites in heavy egg white recipes but it works in some that aren’t totally dependent on the whites. Hope that helps.
Hi Adrienne,
I’m sorry to hear about all the difficulties your son and family have had to endure, and I hope things are getting easier for you. Thank you for posting this recipie. I have not tried it yet, but I will.
Thanks again,
I’m not always pleased when I use flax or chia eggs in baked goods either and am happy to find your recipe! I’m allergic to nightshades and can’t have potato starch. You don’t recommend subbing for another starch but say that flour may work. Since I’m also GF, do you think rice flour or sweet rice flour would be a better substitute for the potato starch than cornstarch or arrowroot?
I would think so since they are a little heavier….perhaps. Maybe I would go with the sweet rice since it has some stickiness. 🙂