How to make a flax egg as a chicken egg substitute

A quick and easy way to create an alternative for baking if you are out of eggs, are vegan, or can’t have eggs for dietary reasons.

One of the things I have read about and been told is that during the depression and during other times of struggle, certain foods and ingredients became hard to come by. Supply chain issues were common and many supplies went towards war efforts.

If you didn’t have your own garden or chickens, or know someone who did, it could be more of a struggle to keep food on the table. In fact, there were efforts as early as the 1900’1920’s that focused on getting more people to raise their own small backyard flocks and Victory Gardens to help be more independent and help them feed their own families.

It was considered your patriotic duty to keep a Victory Garden and a few backyard hens to help keep your family and maybe even your neighbors in eggs and produce. Now it seems many people have to fight against an HOA, town ordinance, or even local laws, just to have a few backyard hens and grow plants besides a standard shrub. My how times have changed.

What if you didn’t have access to chickens?

People are incredibly resourceful. As a an old Marine Corps adage goes, they “adapt, improvise and overcome”. Many people rise to overcome challenges when times get tough. There are probably hundreds of egg-free recipes and desserts that were created during these times of hardship. Recipes including “Depression cakes” (also known as “Wacky Cakes”” as well as other things like Hard Candy/Penny Candy and nut brittles also became very popular to make and even to give as gifts.

Recipes like Wacky Cakes were made with baking soda and vinegar as leavening agents for those without access to eggs. Now we have discovered that grains like Chia and Flax can also make a wonderful egg substitute for many baked dishes. Aquafaba (chickpea water), that can also be used like egg whites.

What can you use flax eggs in?

Flax eggs provide similar binding properties as chicken eggs. They work especially well in recipes that only call for 1-2 eggs like

• Baked recipes that call for a single egg, such as cakes, pancakes, muffins, biscuits, cookies, etc.
• Recipes that use an egg wash or coating to get other ingredients to stick (eg. breading for things like fried chicken or fish)
• Recipes that need to hold a shape, such as salmon patties and meatloaf.

A flax egg works well in recipes that call for one or two eggs. It might not work well for egg-heavy recipes (3+ eggs).

How to make your flax egg

First, measure out a tablespoon of flax meal. Flax can be ground just like wheat berries. Flax is a grain that can go rancid more quickly after being ground up into a flax meal. You can use a coffee grinder or grain mill to grind flax seeds.

Pour the ground flax seeds into a bowl and add 2 1/2 tablespoons of warm water. Mix together and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Your finished flax egg will have a thick, gel-like consistency. Use it in place of an egg in your favorite recipe.

I’ve found that the best ratio for a flax egg is 1 tablespoon of ground flax seeds to 2.5 tablespoons of water. That will produce a single flax egg equal to one small to medium sized chicken egg.

Most recipes I’ve seen recommend 1 tablespoon of flaxseed meal to 3 tablespoons of water. Your preference may vary. Try both yourself starting with less water and see what works best for you. I use 2.5 tablespoons of water because it achieves the consistency I like in a reasonable amount of time.

Tips

• Using warm to hot water will result in a thicker consistency. Cold water you will have a harder time getting it to thicken up.
• It’s best to buy whole flax seeds and grind them yourself using a coffee grinder or food processor or mill. Pre-ground flax meal tend to go rancid faster. To slow this down, I keep mine in the fridge or freezer.
• If you do buy pre-ground flax seeds, fine ground is best. Medium ground will work as well if that’s what’s available. I have even found ground flax at stores like Aldi. Just check dates and keep them cool.
• You can use golden flax seeds or brown. This is also a preference but you may not want as much of the darker color flax in some recipes.
• If your mixture starts to dry out from sitting too long, you can add a little more warm water and stir to get the consistency back to where you want it.