Egg-free

Egg-free baking leaves out eggs entirely. North Carolina State Extension explains that eggs usually act as a binder to hold the recipe together, a source of moisture, and a leavening agent, and the role eggs play determines which substitute works.

For binding and moisture in cakes, muffins and brownies, options include mashed ripe banana, unsweetened applesauce, nut butter, yogurt or mashed avocado. For leavening, a tablespoon of ground flax or chia mixed with water, carbonated water, or oil with water and baking powder are used, though these tend to give denser results. Aquafaba, the liquid from cooked or canned chickpeas, can be whipped into a foam.

Substitutes generally fail when a recipe calls for more than three eggs, so pound cakes, sponge cakes and angel food cakes are poor candidates. In the extension test kitchen, eggless chocolate chip cookies made with flax or applesauce performed best.