How to Make a Flax Egg

Maybe you’re not vegan. You can be a real egg lover. But I love dabbling in vegan baking and last year we discovered our son Oliver was allergic to eggs which has definitely changed the way we approach breakfast at home – my husband and I are big egg eaters!

The number one trick to replacing eggs in a baking recipe—but retaining many of the important properties that eggs contribute—is to use a flax egg.

What is a flax egg?

Flaxseed eggs are a mixture of flaxseed meal (ground flaxseed) and water. The flaxseed meal absorbs the water and becomes gelatinous, similar to an egg white. These are a great vegan substitute if you don’t want to use a chicken egg in a recipe.

How do I use flaxseed eggs in recipes?

To substitute a large chicken egg in your recipe, do a One-to-one swap with a Flax Egg. Simply!

The following recipe is for a single Flax Egg and you can scale up the formula to make as many Flax Eggs as you need for your recipe.

How do I make a flax egg?

To make a flaxseed egg, you first need ground flaxseed meal – the gum in the seed coat thickens the “egg” and it works best when the seeds are ground.

You can buy ground flaxseed flour, but you can also buy whole flaxseeds and grind them into flour yourself. Once ground, flaxseed meal can go rancid fairly quickly, so I recommend buying whole flaxseeds, storing them in the fridge, and grinding them as needed for your recipe. (If you buy ground flaxseed meal, store it in the freezer for maximum shelf life.)

Many bakers like to buy golden flaxseed, which is lighter in color and less noticeable in the finished baked product. Dark-colored flaxseeds also work well, but add a slightly mottled appearance to light-colored muffins and quick breads.

I think the easiest way to grind your own flaxseeds is to use a small coffee grinder or spice grinder – just make sure it’s wiped clean so you don’t add any unwanted coffee bean or other spice flavors to your flaxseed.

Just put the flaxseeds in the grinder and start grinding. Depending on the strength of your grinder, it should take around 30 seconds to prepare the fine meal you want. It should have the consistency of a coarse powder.

A good rule of thumb is that 1 tablespoon of whole flaxseeds yields about 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed meal.

How the heck do flax eggs work?

As with many things in the kitchen, there is a fair bit of science involved here.

Regular chicken eggs do a number of helpful things in a recipe: they act as an emulsifier, leavening agent, and binding agent. And, of course, they add moisture to baked goods.

The gelatinous nature of flax eggs helps mimic the binding action of eggs. They also provide moisture and ensure that your baked goods remain tender and do not become too crumbly.

How exactly do flax eggs work this magic?! The outer husk of a flaxseed contains a gum that gets really thick—almost gelatinous—once it’s ground up and mixed with water. This new, thicker substance has been found to be an excellent emulsifier and binder, and helps structure baked goods.

When can I use flax eggs in recipes?

I’ve used flax eggs in simple baking applications like cookies, muffins, loaf cakes, and pancakes and they’ve all turned out great. I’ve also tried them in meatballs with great success.

This leads me to the conclusion that flax eggs will work for many recipes where eggs are the supporting characters as opposed to the main characters – flax eggs would not work for egg-focused recipes like quiche, crepes, or omelettes.

I would also hesitate to use flaxseed eggs with very delicate cakes, and a flaxseed egg can’t mimic the role of regular eggs in something like meringue, so sweets like macarons or lemon meringue cake would be out.

But be sure to head downtown with your favorite easy baked goods like cookies, bars, muffins and quick breads!

Any tips before I dive in?

Yes! There are a few helpful tips to know before you start using flax eggs:

First, while eggs help leaven baked goods (which means they help them rise), flax eggs really don’t do much in that regard.

I know a few vegan bakers who swear by adding a pinch of baking soda to their flax egg once it’s thickened to give them a sourdough boost. I haven’t tried this since most recipes I’ve made with flax eggs already include baking powder, but it’s a good tip to keep in your back pocket for future baking experiments.

Second, it’s best to use room temperature water and let your flax egg set at room temperature rather than refrigerating. I find this helps the flax egg to set up, but also many recipes call for room temperature eggs and I like to be consistent with my ingredient swaps.

Third, because the flax egg takes about 10 minutes to thicken, mix it up before doing anything else. Mix them up before you even open your cookbook or think about preheating the oven. I hate having to sit and twiddle my thumbs while waiting for the flax egg to finish. If you get distracted or interrupted after making the egg, remember, the longer it sits, the more it will gel. That being said I skipped up to an hour and it was fine.

Recipes Using Flax Eggs

• Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Muffins
• Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Donuts
• Nut-free “peanut butter” chocolate chip cookies
• Gluten Free Fudge Chocolate Brownies
• Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Skillet Cookies