Simple Baking Swap: How to Use the Applesauce Egg Substitute

If you’re one of the many people looking to cut down or eliminate eggs from your diet, then you might find yourself needing a suitable egg replacement from time to time. Fortunately, there are plenty of ingredients that you can use in place of eggs, including an applesauce egg substitute.

Whether you’re vegan, allergic, or just don’t have any eggs in your fridge, swapping eggs for applesauce is pretty straightforward. In this post, we’ll give you some quick tips on how to use applesauce as an egg substitute in your baked goods.

What makes applesauce a good egg substitute?

On paper, applesauce might seem like the most obvious replacement for eggs. So what makes it work? In baking, eggs are typically used for their liquid content, which helps bind dry ingredients together. When you think about it like that, it makes sense that you could use applesauce, which is also full of moisture, instead of eggs.

Benefits of applesauce egg substitute

If you’re vegan or don’t eat eggs in your diet, finding an egg alternative can get tricky. While applesauce won’t replace the protein and nutrients found in eggs, it can help you get some of your daily fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants.

When exchanging applesauce for eggs in baked goods, opt for the unsweetened version. Otherwise, your cookies or cake might turn out a bit too sweet — especially if sugar is already one of your ingredients.

However, it’s worth mentioning that you might notice a slight taste of apple in your baked goods (whether you choose sweetened or unsweetened). Before subbing applesauce for eggs, just make sure that you’re fine with the taste.

How do you swap applesauce for eggs?

Luckily, it’s very easy to swap the two ingredients in baked goods like cakes, cookies, and muffins. To do it, simply replace each egg in the recipe with ¼ cup of applesauce. Here’s a quick conversion chart:

1 egg = ¼ cup applesauce
2 eggs = ½ cup applesauce
4 eggs = 1 cup applesauce

As we mentioned earlier, applesauce contains a lot of moisture. When you’re using it as a replacement for eggs, you might want to reduce the other liquid in your recipe, so your treats don’t turn out too mushy.

What else can you use as an egg replacement?

Besides applesauce, there are a number of other foods that you can use to replace eggs in your baked goods. For example, chia seeds, flax seeds, and psyllium husk can all be used to replace eggs in your brownies, cake, or another dessert. However, these ingredients need to be mixed with water in different ratios in order to imitate eggs in these types of recipes.

With this simple baking hack, you can cut eggs out of your baked goods and hardly notice the difference. Just make sure that you don’t mind a slight hint of apple, especially in lighter goods like vanilla cookies and muffins. If you don’t, then using applesauce instead of eggs is a great way to squeeze more fruit into your diet.

For more recipe swaps and tips, check out the Tastessence blog.