How To use Chia Gel as an Egg ReplacerYou may know about chia seed gel as a substitute for butter or oil in baked recipes, but did you know, it can also be a great egg substitute too?

Chia seeds make a great egg substitute in SOME recipes. It is because of the seed’s amazing gelling property; that they can stand in for another, totally different ingredient. The soluble fiber on the outside of the seed shell, when exposed to filtered water, makes a thick, clear gel. This soft, thick, flavorless substance feels much like the white of an uncooked egg. However, instead of being made by an animal, it is made only by plant fiber.

Learn How To Substitute An Egg With Chia AND Get Great Cookies Too!With this slide show, you can make Cherry Chocolate Chip Cookies, without an egg. They’re light, fluffy, and egg-free—the perfect way to demonstrate egg substitution.

By the time this slide deck is done, you’ll know how to bake these cherry treats!

But Why Would You Want To Eliminate An Egg In a Recipe?Aren’t eggs passed their ‘bad reputation’ phase? Aren’t the fats in an egg now acknowledged as healthy? Sure, but, reasons still remain.

Vegetarian reasons: Don’t agree with how egg-laying chickens are treated? Substitute out their eggs wherever possible by using chia gel.

Cost reasons: Free range eggs too expensive? Problem of the week making the price of eggs go up? The chia egg replacer method saves money because every ONE tablespoon of dry chia seeds makes NINE tablespoons of chia gel, every time. No yolks to get in the way, and the price doesn’t go up and down with the general health of the egg market.

Nutrition reasons: Chia is loaded with nutrition. It has complete protein like that found in meat, healthy omega 3 oils, no cholesterol, more calcium by weight than milk, magnesium & boron to help you absorb that calcium, plus 2 kinds of fiber (soluble & insoluble) while regular eggs are fiber free.

Why is chia superior to a “flax egg”? You may have heard of a ‘flax egg’ too, where flax seeds are exposed to water, then added to the recipe. Flax seeds have a limited gelling capability. They have some soluble fiber on the outside of their shell. However, whole, intact flax seeds aren’t well digested by the human body. Their nutrition is inside, so if you can’t break them open, you don’t get many benefits. Flax is easy to grind (even a home coffee grinder will do it) but, if you grind it, you lose much of the gelling ability. You can’t have it both ways with the flax seed, but you can, with the chia seed.

How to Replace The Egg With Chia Gel

To make chia seed gel, just add 9 tablespoons of filtered water to 1 tablespoon of chia seeds, shake or stir in a re-seal-able container, and wait about 15 minutes. Chia gel will keep for about 1 week in a closed container. The ratio for making gel is always 9 parts water to 1 part seeds, so you can always make as much as you need. That means chia is a great value too! A little goes along way when you’re making gel.

How To Use Chia Seeds As An Egg Substitute: It’s so easy! The ratio is:

For Every 1 Egg Use 2 Tablespoons of Chia Gel

Let’s Bake The Cookies!Step 1: Prepare the cherries for bakingNow that you know how the egg substitution works, let’s make the cookies. You will need about 1/3 cup of cherry pieces. (It doesn’t have to be exact) First, cut cherries into quarters, and sprinkle them with 2 tablespoons of lemon juice. This helps the cherries keep their bright color through baking, and not turn brown.

Next, stir with a fork to coat all cherry pieces. Once coated, drain away any excess lemon juice. Then, sprinkle with the 1 tablespoon of flour, and set aside. This keeps the pieces from sinking in the dough.

This just shows the flour sprinkled, you’ll need the fork to coat the cherry pieces in all of the flour.

Combine Dry IngredientsSimply mix together the 1 and 1/4 cup flour and ½ teaspoon baking powder.

See? This is totally easy.

Add FluffinessUsing a stand mixer or a hand mixer, beat together the 4 tablespoons butter, ¾ cup sugar and 4 ounces cream cheese. The cream cheese makes the cookies light, soft and moist, while cutting down on the amount of butter you need to use. “1/3 less fat” or “reduced fat” cream cheese also works with this recipe.

Make sure the beaten mixture is smooth, white and fluffy, like this photo. The cookies will be very soft and appealing if you do.

Add the Rest of the Wet IngredientsNow it’s time to replace the egg! But first, add the 1 teaspoon vanilla. Vanilla, cherry and chocolate are a great flavor combination. If you use quality vanilla, the cookies produce a delightful scent throughout the house while baking.

Time For the MySeeds Chia Seed Gel. Scoop in two tablespoons to replace the egg, and you’re set.

Mix Again Until SmoothUse the mixer to combine the vanilla and chia gel. When done, it will look like this photo. You can see the seeds as little dark dots in the batter. But, chia seeds have NO FLAVOR. You can’t taste them, even though you can see them. No one will know they’re there. The chia gel doesn’t taste like anything when you make it with filtered water.

The hydrated seeds are viscous, like the egg white, so they’ll do the job of being the “binder ingredient” that the egg was to be in this recipe.

Combine Wet & Dry IngredientsNow is the time to MINIMIZE stirring. Over-mixing leads to a tough cookie-which no one wants. Add the dry ingredients to the wet in two parts, to minimize the need to stir. Do not stir until fully combined. Leave the dough very floury, like this photo, because you still have the chips & cherries to mix in.

Add The ChipsCherry and chocolate is a great flavor combination! Why not enjoy both in the same cookie? It is important to stir the ½ cup chips in FIRST before the cherries, because stirring can crush the cherries & the juice will turn the batter pink.

Notice how more of the flour is now combined into the dough, from stirring in the chips. Not over mixing is paying off.

Carefully Add the CherriesFold in the cherry pieces carefully. If you stir or mix, you’ll crush them, resulting in muddy, pink batter and less fruity taste.

You can also use frozen cherries, if they’re out of season. Just be sure they don’t thaw too much before you try to mix them in. (Frozen fruit kind of ‘melts’ with water and juice as it thaws)

Scoop the CookiesUse a cookie scoop, and place the dough onto your sprayed cookie sheets. These cookies are about 2 heaping teaspoons in size. The dough is very soft and easy to scoop. The cookies tend to keep their shape (and not spread) as they bake. Once a sheet is prepared, put it in the freezer for 10 minutes, while you pre-heat the oven to 350.

Time To BakeBake at 350 for about 15 minutes, or until cookie bottoms are golden brown & the cookies are puffy. These maintain their round shape. Be sure to let these cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack.

Printable Recipe SlideGet the whole recipe printed on one page, by selecting just this slide to print out.

1 and ¼ cup all purpose flour½ tsp baking powder¾ cup sugar1/3 cup chopped cherry pieces½ cup chocolate chips1 tbsp flour for cherries

4 tbsp butter4 ounces cream cheese1 tsp vanilla2 tbsp chia gel2 tbsp lemon juice

So that the cherries don’t turn brown while baking, coat them in the lemon juice. First, mix together the flour and baking powder. Then, use a hand mixer to combine the sugar, butter and cream cheese. Beat until white, light and fluffy. Next, beat in the vanilla and chia gel. Add the dry ingredients slowly to the wet, and stir only until mostly combined. You don’t want to over-mix and end up with a tough cookie. Next, add the chocolate chips and stir until just mixed. Last, sprinkle the tablespoon of flour over the cherry pieces to coat them so they don’t sink in the batter. Stir or fold these in very lightly. If the pieces are crushed they will stain the batter.

Use a cookie scoop to drop by heaping 2 teaspoon-full onto sprayed cookies sheets. Now, it’s time to pre heat the oven to 350. While it is warming up, put the cookie sheet in the freezer for about 10 minutes to chill the dough. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until cookie bottoms are golden brown & the cookies are puffy. These maintain their round shape. Be sure to let these cool on the baking sheet for at least 5 minutes before removing them to a cooling rack.

What should you consider when using chia as an egg substitute? In many recipes, the egg is used as a ‘glue’, a viscous thicker-than-water substance that helps bind ingredients together. That’s what makes egg & chia gel work in a similar way. Look over the recipe first, and then decide if chia gel is an appropriate choice.

Obviously, chia can’t replace eggs in all situations and recipes.

• You’re never going to have scrambled chia, nor a chia omelet. • You also can’t use it where the item rises on whipped egg whites, or relies upon them for lightness of texture. • You can’t use chia to replace the butter AND the egg in a recipe. You have to choose one or the other. • You can’t separate the gel from the seed, so whatever you make will have little dots (the tiny chia seeds) as a part of its look. • Chia gel (and seeds) have no flavor, so it’s not going to interfere with the taste recipe • Chia seeds are quite small, they won’t change the texture of the food, it’s not like finding crunchy sunflower seeds in your cookie or cake

Will it work for your recipe?

Give the considerations above some thought, then give it a try! If you can’t replace the egg, maybe you can substitute out half of the butter or oil instead? Remember, doing so generally does not change the look, taste, texture or baking method of the food--it just lowers the fat!

All of these foods in the above picture use chia gel to replace part of their butter or oil. (Usually about half) You can make all these, and so much more when you’ve got MySeeds chia seeds in the house!

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