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• 2 tablespoons mashed avocado

Flaxseed Egg Substitute

Flaxseed can be a good egg replacer, as mentioned earlier. But it also serves double-duty as a fiber booster.

Similar to bran, flaxseed is a good source of fiber. We all need fiber to move things through the pipes; however, most people don’t get enough through their daily diet. It’s recommended you get between 25 and 30 grams fiber per day. You can easily add fiber to your diet by replacing eggs with this flaxseed mixture.

You can find whole brown or golden flaxseeds in a health food store or large supermarket and grind them as needed. Store flaxseeds in the refrigerator, or freeze for longer storage, to prevent them from going rancid too quickly. You can use them raw or toasted for a nutty flavor. Toast whole flaxseeds before grinding them.

Flaxseed Egg Substitute

This makes a great egg substitute for many baked goods. It’s especially good as a binder in muffins, breads, pies, and dark-colored cookies where the color and “nutty” texture flaxseeds bring won’t be as noticeable.

Yield:

1 cup

Prep time:

5 minutes

Serving size:

¼ cup = 1 large egg

¼ cup flaxseeds

¾ cup water

1. In a small grinder, grind flaxseeds until mixture resembles a fine powder.

2. In a blender, combine ground flaxseeds and water, and blend on high speed for 1 or 2 minutes or until thick.

3. Chill for at least 1 hour to set up. It can be used now, but it’ll have a more egg-like consistency if allowed to chill. Keep refrigerated for up to 3 days.

BAKERʹS BONUS

A small electric coffee grinder comes in handy for grinding flaxseeds to a powder. Large department stores or online sources such as Amazon.com carry Braun, Krups, Hamilton Beach, and other brands of grinders that are perfect for grinding flaxseeds.

Bye-Bye, Butter

Butter is a solid fat used in many traditional nonvegan baked goods. Although it adds flavor, it is an animal product most often made with cow’s milk. Butter is used for flavor in sweet dough such as cookies, cake batters, brownies, and other tasty baked goods. It’s also used as a tenderizer, to aid browning, and add moisture and texture. In some cases, butter is used as a leavener, too. Cakes and cupcakes, quick breads, and buckles depend on creaming and beating air into the butter and sugar mixture to rise during the baking process.

So what do you use in place of butter? Thankfully, many commercial products are available to take the place of butter.

Some vegetable-based margarines, although not always a healthy choice, can be used with good success. Be sure to read the list of ingredients because some contain whey, or milk products.

Most piecrust recipes rely on solid shortening for flaky dough. For generations, bakers used butter, lard, Crisco shortening, or margarine to make piecrust. For obvious reasons, animal products such as butter and lard are not suitable for vegan diets. Likewise, if you’re concerned with unhealthy trans fat, check the label. A good way to tell if the product has trans fat is if it says “partially hydrogenated.” However, soy-based nonhydrogenated margarine yields good results in these recipes. And in most cases, you can substitute one part margarine for one part butter.

As a vegan baker, you’ll find that soy margarine is a good choice for pie-making. Because it tends to be salted, unlike unsalted butter, it reduces the amount of salt in the recipe by half.

DOUGH-NOT

Thanks to butter’s high saturated fat content and its significant amount of cholesterol, it’s been suggested to be a major contributor to heart disease and a variety of other ailments.

Earth Balance brand’s Vegan Buttery Sticks are made from a nonhydrogenated expeller-pressed natural oil blend (soybean, palm fruit, canola, and olive oils), with soy protein, soy lecithin, and lactic acid derived from sugar beets. It’s 100 percent vegan, has no trans fat or dietary cholesterol, is gluten free, and is certified kosher. It comes in handy ½ cup sticks, makes