Did you know that you can substitute soy flour in any baking recipe for eggs? I keep some soy flour that I buy in the bulk food store with my baking supplies at all times. The soy flour may not actually be cheaper than the eggs (I can buy a dozen eggs for $.88 at Aldi’s) but it is great for preventing that last minute run to the store (which ALWAYS results in buying more than I need) when you’ve run out of eggs. Another thing it prevents is the “oh, I can’t bake because I don’t have the ingredients so I’ll just pick something up at the store to bring over to (insert social occasion here) instead.”
You simply add one heaping tablespoon of soy flour to your dry ingredients and one tablespoon of water to your wet ingredients for each egg needed.
I cannot take credit for this idea-I read about it in “The Complete Tightwad Gazette”. Amy D says in there that she has even used it in place of the egg in meatloaf. I’ve never tried that so I can’t comment on it.
One TBS of Soy flour has 20 calories and a large egg has 73 calories so you are even saving a bit on caloric content while going from 5 grams of fat in the real egg to 0 grams of fat in the soy flour.
I use soy flour all the time! It does work well. It changes the taste of the raw batter (which is good, because I’m less tempted to eat the batter!), but not of the finished product. Best idea ever. I’m still trying to find bulk soy flour in Wichita! I got it for 90 cents a pound in Colorado, but here I can only find tiny one pound bags for 3.99! If anybody knows of a cheaper souce in Wichita, KS, please e-mail me at Frugal.Homemaker.Plus@gmail.com
One more sidenote- One pound for me at .90 cents lasted me way, way longer than a dozen eggs for .75 cents. It took me six months to get through a pound, and I bake a lot!
You can also use ground flax as an egg substitute. For some things like muffins you might prefer the taste. It’s also cheaper. You use it the same way that you use the soy flour.
FH-good luck finding the soy. I know it is obvious, but did you do a google search for “bulk food” and “health food stores” in your area?
Rose-thanks for the flax tip. I know that flax is supposed to be good for menopausal women, so maybe that is an added health benefit as well š Also-I tried to check out your website but can’t access it. Are you having technical difficultites today?
Yes, I learned that trick from “The Tightwad Gazette” as well. Very handy trick in an emergency. I did ask about this on a radio cooking show and they “pooh-poohed” it which is silly because I use about once a month.
For similar ideas, I also look at the “substitutions” page on older cookbooks. They often have tips on what you can use in a pinch.
One of my favorite “old time” kind of cookbooks (which really means actual cooking from scratch!) is “Mennonite Community Cookbook: Favorite Family Recipes” by Mary Emma Showalter. I got this as a wedding present and plan to give copies to my daughter’s friends when they get married as well.
this is also good if you have a best friend who is vegan and you want to bake for her, or something like that = )
you can use Nasturtiums too, but i have to find the book i read it in to remember how
ok, so i checked and I was WAY off! If you soak the petals of one CALENDULA flower in a cup of boiled water, add 1 T flaxseed and buzz it up then strain it.
that is what the book said. kinda silly. you’d be better off just using milled flaxseed or the soy flour
I think that flax loses some minerals or something once it is ground-I know folks who take it for menopause and they have to grind it fresh. . . so maybe that is why the complicated recipe š
but I agree, the soy is easier.