Banana Muffins and Experimenting with Chia Eggs

We don't always have extra bananas in our house (Jasen has a serious addiction), but if there are a few leftover at the end of the week that are on their way to being compost, I always make sure to turn them into banana bread. My favorite recipe comes from 100 Days of Real Food because it's whole wheat and doesn't include tons of sugar. Instead, it has just a 1/4 cup of honey. This week, for a little twist, I made banana bread muffins instead of a loaf. Who can resist food that is cute and individually wrapped? Not me! When it was muffin making time, I realized that we were all out of eggs. This minor catastrophe soon became an opportunity to try out something that's been on my list for a couple years now: chia seed eggs. chiaeggs

Chia eggs are a vegan egg substitute for baking. Now I'm not vegan, but when a lady is in a pinch, this is a great solution. I've read it can also be done with flax seeds, but I haven't tried that version.

It all starts by grinding up chia seeds in a coffee or spice grinder until you are left with a fine powder.

groundchia

Next, you mix 1 tablesppon of ground chia with 3 tablesppons of water for each egg. I doubled it for the 2 eggs needed for the banana bread. Mix these together and let it sit in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

chiaegg

When you take the mixture out it will be thick and sticky. Now you simply add it in as you would the eggs in your recipe. Don't forget it in the fridge, like I did, and realize it after half of your muffin tins are filled. Then you would have to dump the batter back into the bowl and remix to add the chia. Oops.

And here is the finished muffin! It doesn't brown as nicely without the egg, but they still taste good. I'll still stick with eggs when I have them on hand, but this is definitely a viable option if you're interested in vegan baking or just run out of eggs.

chiabananamuffin

Would you ever bake with a chia or flax egg? Let me know in the comments below!