Tag Archives: egg free

The Skinny on Fat: Substituting for Oils and Butter

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I was twelve years old and as round as a basketball. 

Then, to my surprise, adolescence kicked in, lengthening my body’s height, which thinned my waistline.  Suddenly boys thought I was interesting, and I began to think they weren’t so bad, either.

So, when Keith asked me if he could walk me home from school, I said, “Yes.”  I don’t recall what we talked about, if we talked at all.  I do, however, clearly remember that pivotal moment when we stopped at the center of the bridge to watch the trucks rumble past underneath.

We had been standing side by side, when he suddenly stepped in front of my view, facing me.  Since I only came to his chest, I had to look up to see his face.  He smiled down at me and slowly lowered his head.  I was about to receive my first kiss, and the only thing I could think was “But I have gum in my mouth!  You can’t kiss someone with gum in your mouth!”

I learned, though, that yes, you can actually be kissed while you have gum in your mouth!  But more than that, my first kiss subtly reinforced to me the notion that no fat was good.

The reality, though, is that not all fat is bad.  My husband just told me about a recent study that was published which actually revealed that people with a little bit of fat on their bodies live longer and healthier than skinny folks.  Go figure!

The purpose of fat in baking

And when it comes to baking and cooking, fat plays a pivotal role.  In cooking, fats such as butter, oil, and shortening add flavor, help transfer heat, are needed to deliver certain vitamins into our bodies, and bind foods which normally would not mix well.  In baked goods, fat makes the difference between a crispy or chewy cookie, between a light or dense cake, and between a hard or flaky scone.

What’s important to remember is that you don’t need to use as much fat as any recipe calls for, nor do you have to use the fats which aren’t as good for you or which you’re allergic to and can’t eat

You can cut down the fat

I’ve learned that most recipes call for twice as much fat as you really need, so if you simply want to cut down on the fat, just reduce the amount in any recipe by ¼ to ½ and check if you can taste or see the difference.

You can substitute “good” fat

If you’re trying to decrease your use of the “bad” fats such as butter, feel free to substitute a “good” fat.  The “good” fats such as olive oil or avocado oil or safflower oil, essentially plant based fats, are easily substitutable in recipes.  As well, if you have a dairy allergy, the vegan “butters” work very well in traditional recipes.  What you need to remember, though, is that liquid fat should be replaced by another liquid and a solid fat by another solid.  If your recipe calls for you to cream butter and you try to replace it with canola oil, you should expect to have some problems with the substitution.

You can eliminate the fat

For anyone who does need to avoid fat altogether, though, you, too, can still bake those goodies you long to eat.  Fruit and cooked vegetable purees work wonders in many recipes, as does yogurt or buttermilk, presuming you have no dairy allergy.  The tip to keep in mind when using such substitutions is to use ½ as much of these products for the amount of fat called for in a recipe.

Paula’s Low Fat Date Bread Recipe

Ingredients:

1 cup finely chopped dates

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup Agave or honey

1/4 cup egg whites or 1 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tbsp water 

2 tbsp plant based oil

2 1/2 cups 100% whole wheat flour or 2 cups whole grain gluten free flour blend

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp gluten free baking powder

1 cup your choice of finely chopped nuts, mini chocolate chips, or dried fruit*

Baking Instructions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a 9 x 5 loaf pan to your liking. (I would use “If You Care” parchment paper, but you can spray it with Pam spray or coat it with butter or oil.)

2.  Cover the chopped dates with the boiling water and let sit for at least five minutes.

3. Mix the flour with the baking soda, salt, and baking powder.  Stir in the nuts, chips, or fruit.  Set aside.

4.  Add the Agave, egg whites, and oil to the date-water mixture.

5. Quickly mix the dry ingredients into the wet and pour into prepared loaf pan.

6.  Bake for 40-45 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.  Bread will be golden brown.

* Since I have a nut allergy, I like to use the Enjoy Life allergen free mini chocolate chips, but I have occasionally added other chopped dried fruit like apricots and dried plums.

“Eggs”cellent News: Substituting for Eggs

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Eggs.

How in the world could my nine month old son be allergic to eggs, when he’d never eaten one before?  I would never receive an answer to that question, but I would learn how devastating it can be to watch your child stop breathing.

My son developed eczema as a baby, and given our family history of food allergies and intolerances, our pediatrician suggested I have him tested for food allergies.  She said many babies with eczema are allergic to milk, and I’d be better off knowing if he was sooner as opposed to later.

So, we had a blood test done, and the good news was that he was NOT allergic to milk.  The bad news was that he was somehow allergic to eggs and peanuts.  The pediatrician wanted me to bring him into the office so she could test exactly how allergic he was to eggs and peanuts.

On our appointment day, she carefully injected my son with eggs first, and to my horror, my sweet baby boy’s face and throat began to swell as he started to gasp for air.  Being a good doctor, our pediatrician immediately administered an antidote, and both my son and I began to breathe again.  She turned to me and announced, “Anaphylaxis.  He’ll need an epi-pen.  Ready to try the peanuts?”

What I thought:  “Are you insane?”  What I replied:  “Well, since we already know he needs the epi-pen for the eggs, can’t I just work on the assumption that he does for the peanuts as well?”

To my relief, she agreed.

What do eggs do?

So, what are cakes like without eggs?  Dry, dense, and without structure!  Doesn’t sound very appetizing, does it?  Eggs act as both leaveners and emulsifiers, which essentially means they help our baked goods to be light and fluffy.  They increase the amount of air we can incorporate into our batters which increases the volume, tenderness and appearance of the final baked product.  Eggs are also, if you remember our “chemistry” of baking, part of the liquid equation in cakes, which means they keep our cakes moist.

As a general rule, eggs are considered a good food. They’re an excellent source of protein and contain a lot of nutrients the body needs.  Unfortunately, whole eggs also have fat and cholesterol in the yolks which many folks need to avoid for a variety of health reasons.  Other people like my son are allergic to and cannot eat the whites of the egg.

Given what eggs do for baking, many are hesitant to substitute other ingredients for them, but it is quite possible to bake without them and to also bake with just the whites of eggs.

How to substitute egg whites

If you simply want to eat healthier (i.e. without the yolks), the simplest approach is to use egg whites only.  One large whole egg is about ¼ cup of egg whites, so I usually use liquid egg whites and substitute accordingly for the whole eggs.  If you want to separate egg whites from the yolks, usually two egg whites is equivalent to one whole egg.

How to substitute for eggs altogether

If you need to avoid eggs altogether, I recommend four best approaches.  Substituting 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed mixed with 3 tablespoons of water for every egg in a recipe; adding 1 tsp of baking soda with 1 tablespoon of vinegar (or other acid like lemon juice) to the recipe after you’ve substituted 1/4 cup of pureed fruit or vegetable or yogurt or sour cream per egg as the binder; using 1/4 cup of aquafaba which is the liquid generated when cooking chickpeas; or making or buying an egg replacer.

If you utilize the flaxseed substitution, you should mix the flaxseed and water in a mixing bowl, and let it sit to thicken.  Once it thickens, it looks a bit like beaten eggs and acts like eggs in a baked good.

If you’re making cookies or brownies instead of a cake, where the eggs act mostly as a binder, simply substituting pureed fruit or cooked vegetables in place of the eggs works very well.  My favorites to use are applesauce, bananas, pumpkin, and squash.  About 1/4 cup of pureed fruit or cooked vegetable equals one whole egg. As well, if you don’t have any dairy allergies, yogurt works nicely, especially if it’s a thick yogurt like Greek yogurt.

If, however, you need the baked good to rise, then after substituting a binder for the egg, you need to use the baking soda plus vinegar option to leaven the baked good. If you try the baking soda and vinegar approach, you mix the baking soda with the dry ingredients and add the vinegar (or other acid like lemon juice) at the very end, just as you’re mixing the dry ingredients with the moist.

A third option for replacing eggs is to use aquafaba. You can make your own by cooking dried chickpeas or you can purchase canned chickpeas and use the liquid. You’ll want no salt, no sugar added versions of store-bought chickpeas. 1/4 cup of the liquid equals to one egg. Simply whisk the liquid with a fork until frothy. You can also whip aquafaba like regular eggs into a meringue by adding cream of tartar and whisking in a mixer until white and fluffy.

A fourth way to substitute for eggs is to use the egg replacers you can purchase at the store or to make your own. Egg replacers are simply a version of the baking soda plus vinegar trick. It basically just adds a starch and a gum to a powder leavener and acid (i.e. baking powder, which is baking soda plus cream of tartar). To make your own, you can mix 1/2 tsp of baking powder (which already has the baking soda and acid mixed together in powder form) with 1 tsp of a starch like tapioca or arrowroot or cornstarch and 1/8 tsp of a gum like xanthan or guar. Add 2 tbsp of warm water and whisk. Let it sit and then rewhisk right before adding to your wet ingredients as an egg.  Simply multiply the amounts per number of eggs needed for the recipe.

Eggless Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients:

3 pkgs Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, at room temperature (or real cream cheese, if you prefer)

1/2 cup unsweetened baking cocoa

6 oz Greek plain dairy free yogurt mixed with 1/2 cup Agave , at room temperature

1/2 cup Agave 

1/4 tsp baking soda

2 tsp gluten free baking powder

1/2 cup cornstarch

1 tbsp raspberry liquor*

2 tsp gluten free vanilla

12 oz Tofutti Better Than Sour Cream, at room temperature (or real sour cream, if you prefer)

Baking Instructions:

1.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees, and prepare a 9 to 10 inch springform pan by securely wrapping aluminum foil around the outside of the pan.  Grease the bottom of the pan, but do not grease the sides of the pan to ensure proper rising of the cheesecake.  (I would use “If You Care” parchment paper, but you can Pam spray the bottom or use butter or oil to grease it.)

2.  In a large mixer, beat cream cheese just until it’s smooth, using a rubber spatula to scrape the sides down when done.

3.  Mix in cocoa and yogurt mixed with Agave, just until it’s blended.

4.  On low speed, very slowly drizzle in Agave.  You want to take your time so the cream cheese mixture can slowly absorb the Agave and retain its creaminess.

5.  Mix the baking soda, baking powder, and cornstarch together and mix into the cream cheese with the raspberry liquor and vanilla just until they’re mixed in.

6.  Add the sour cream and mix just until it’s incorporated.

7.  Pour the cheesecake batter into the prepared pan and bake for 1 1/2 hours.  A knife inserted into the outer edge should come out clean.  The center will still be creamy.  Another test is:  If you gently shake the cheesecake, only the center should slightly jiggle.

8. Turn off the oven and open the door.  Leave the cake in the center of the oven for 2 hours so it can slowly begin to cool.

9.  Remove the cheesecake from the oven, and loosen and remove the sides of the pan.  Put the cheesecake into the refrigerator to cool completely, at least four hours, but overnight is best.

* The raspberry liquor can be left out entirely.  You can also substitute other flavored liquor or 1 tsp of another extract like mint.

Understanding Ingredients As a Whole: The Art of Chemistry

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My kitchen table was a mess.

As a treat, I made root beer floats for the children.  Unfortunately, I forgot my chemistry.  I put in the ice cream first, and then I added the soda.  If you know your chemistry, you’re already nodding your head, laughing at me, because you know why my table was a mess.

The cold temperature of the ice cream released the carbon dioxide – that wonderful gas which makes our sodas fizzy – from the root beer, and the gas bubbles reacted with the proteins in the ice cream, creating froth and foam – much too much froth and foam – which erupted like a volcano out of the glass and onto my table.

The children, especially my young son, were absolutely delighted by this impromptu science experiment, but it was a reminder to me that the art of cooking is always tempered by certain laws which we must keep in mind.

Recipes Have Ratios

For example, if we were to carefully analyze many different cake recipes right now, we would notice an average ratio to the ingredients in the recipes – something like this:

•2 cups flour ingredients

•2 cups liquid ingredients (which includes the eggs, where 2 whole large eggs equal to about ½ cup of liquid)

•1/2 cup fat ingredients (like butter or oil)

•1 cup dry sweetening ingredients (like sugar or brown sugar)

•2 tsp dry leavening ingredients (like baking powder or baking soda or a mix of the two)

•½ tsp to 1 tsp salt

•1 tsp to 2 tsp flavoring (like vanilla or cinnamon)

Recipes Have Patterns

We’d also discover a pattern to the ingredients where usually:  1. The weight of the liquid ingredients is the same as or more than the weight of the sugar.  (One cup of sugar is said to be about 7 ounces in weight.); 2. The sugar weight is equal to or more than the flour.  (One cup of white flour is said to weigh about 4 ½ ounces.); 3. The eggs weigh the same as or more than the fat.  (Two whole large eggs are said to weigh just under 4 ounces.); and 4. For every cup of flour, the recipe will call for 1 tsp of baking powder or ¼ tsp of baking soda.

Both the ratio and the patterns are important for us to know if we want to create foolproof cakes.  If, however, we know these basic conventions for cake baking, then we can artfully experiment within that framework to successfully create delicious cakes which are tailored to our dietary restrictions and needs – as well as other baked goods such as cookies and muffins which have their own ratios and ingredient patterns.

Paula’s Son’s Favorite Snack Muffin:  Peanut Butter Muffins

Ingredients:

2 tbsp favorite plant based oil (olive, safflower, avocado, etc….)

2 tsp honey

3 tbsp Agave

1/2 cup rolled whole grain regular or gluten free oats

3 cups 100% whole wheat flour or 2 1/4 cups favorite GF whole grain flour blend 

2 cups rolled whole grain regular or gluten free oats, pulsed in a food processor until to make a crumbly oat flour

4 tsp gluten free baking powder

2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt* 

1/2 cup Agave 

2 mashed or pureed ripe bananas

1 cup applesauce

2/3 cup peanut butter** (you can substitute another “butter” if you are allergic)

1/2 cup egg whites or 2 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 6 tbsp of water 

1 1/2 cup soy milk (you may use another type of milk, if necessary)

1 tsp gluten free vanilla extract

Baking Instructions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Prepare muffin tins for 18-24 muffins, depending on the size muffins you want. (I would use “If You Care” muffin cups, but you can use Pam spray or grease them with butter or oil.)

2. Stir the canola oil, honey, and Agave together.  Mix in the rolled oats until they are completely coated.  Set aside.

3. Whisk together the flour, processed oats, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.  Set aside.

4. Mix together the Agave, mashed bananas, applesauce, peanut butter, and egg whites or flaxseed mixture.  Add the milk and vanilla.

5.  Quickly combine the dry ingredients into the wet, stirring just until the dry ingredients are moist.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups.

6. Carefully sprinkle oat topping onto each muffin. (Will be sticky work!)

7. Bake for 15-20 minutes until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

8. Cool for at least five minutes in the muffin tins before removing.

* You can omit the salt, if you want.

** I use Teddy’s no salt, no sugar added peanut butter.

Introduction: Have Your Cake and Eat It, Too!

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Our cake was masquerading as a brick.

One day, my friend, Holly, and I decided to bake a cake; something we’ve successfully done many times before.  On that particular afternoon, however, we were distracted by a hopeful conversation about Scott and C.J., two boys we liked.  As such, we neglected to notice that we had forgotten to include a couple of key ingredients.

Hence, the brick.

Holly and I learned two significant life lessons that day.  One, if you’re not careful, boys can be disastrously distracting; and two, certain ingredients are absolutely essential for good baking.

Changes in Ingredients:

In the years since that fateful cake, I’ve discovered, though, that which ingredients are the important ones is highly debatable.  Butter, milk, eggs, flour, sugar, salt, baking soda.  A couple of centuries of experience have proven these to be faithful and true.  In the last few decades, however, these traditional baking friends have come under attack.

Butter contributes to heart disease.  A new generation of children is growing up lactose intolerant.  Diabetes is on the rise.  Hypertension and high blood pressure plague many an adult.  More and more people are being diagnosed with gluten allergies.  Every other week the verdict changes about whether eggs are good or bad.

Our choices

For some, the delight and comfort of a well-timed dessert is now a distant memory in light of new health trends.  Others simply ignore the risks and continue with their indulgent whims, believing a short-live life with dessert is preferable to a long life without chocolate cake.

If you’ve come to this site, though, then you may be like me – unwilling to be cowed into such either-or thinking.  If so, then I invite you to read more and learn how you can have your cake and eat it, too!

Paula’s Favorite Cake:  Ginger Bundt Cake Recipe

Ingredients:

2 ½ cups 100% whole wheat flour or sorghum flour or your favorite GF whole grain flour blend

1 tsp gluten free baking powder (increase to 2 tsp if using the gluten free sorghum flour)

½ tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt

2/3 cup safflower oil (you use canola oil or another type, if you want)

2/3 cup Agave 

½ cup Truvia

½ cup Toffuti vegan sour cream (you can also use regular sour cream)

Egg whites equivalent to 3 eggs or 3 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 9 tablespoons of water 

3 tbsp grated ginger

2/3 cup room temperature ginger ale

Baking Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare a bundt pan for use.  (I usually use a napkin to coat the pan with a little bit of oil and then I add a tbsp of flour and carefully tilt the pan around over my trash can until the pan is completely covered.) 

2.  Mix the whole wheat flour or gluten free flour with baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

3.  Mix oil, Agave, Truvia, sour cream, egg whites or flaxseed mixture, and ginger.

4.  Mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients with the ginger ale, beginning and ending with the flour mixture.*  Mix just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

5.  Evenly spread batter into bundt pan and bake for 35-40 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

6.  Cool on wire rack for at least 15 minutes before removing from the pan and cooling completely.**

* At this step you can also choose to add 1 cup of mini chocolate chips or finely diced fruit like apples or finely diced dried fruit like dates to the batter just before you mix in the ginger ale.

** The cake can be eaten plain, with vanilla ice cream or with sautéed fruit like apples or pears, which you can slice, sprinkle with cinnamon or nutmeg or ginger, and cook until soft.