Aquaflaxa: The Best Vegan Egg Replacement out There

Flaxseed gel, also known as Aquaflaxa is the vegan egg replacer of the future! It is the best vegan egg replacement you can use to make incredible vegan baked goods like cakes and cookies.

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I have been exploring flax seed gel properties for year nows. It is my go-to when making a variety of baked goods, including wedding cakes, and have brought my cookies to a whole new level of greatness. 

History of Flax Gel

I first discovered flaxseed gel when I received the mission to make an egg-free hollandaise sauce in my food chemistry class, while I was still a baby cook in culinary school. I then put that aside in my brain and promptly forgot about it until I became vegan years after.

But flaxseed gel is nothing really new. Also knows as mucilage,  it has been used for centuries as adhesive, medicine, and in hair care. Nowadays you can find it under flaxseed gel, or its trendier name, Aqua-Flaxa, due to its similarity with aquafaba.

I rediscovered this incredible vegan egg replacer when I ran out of egg replacement powder one day when making cookies. I remembered that viscous gel and thought, why not? And I couldn’t have been happier. I ended up with the most incredible chocolate chip cookies,  better than the ones I made in my pre-vegan days.

RELATED : Meringue 101 and Troubleshooting

Reasons why Aquaflaxa is so great!

Here are all the reasons I love aquaflaxa 10 times more than any other vegan egg replacements that are out there. 

(Sorry aquafaba)

• This vegan egg replacer gives great structure and humidity to baked goods. No more crumbly and dry vegan pastries!
• It’s hella cheap!  A big bag of flax seeds is about 3$ where I live and I still haven’t reached the bottom of the bag I bought 3 years ago. You can also reuse the flax seeds more than once, or reuse them in other preparations like crackers or while making bread.
• You can whip it up like meringue.
• The biggest point for me is that it doesn’t leave behind tiny flax seed flecks since the flax seeds are strained out. No grinders needed and  omnies have no clue the delicious baked good they just ate is 100% cruelty-free

Aquaflaxa Meringue

When I make Aqua-Flaxa, I usually stop right after it boils, because I have a tendency to let it boil over, which is a mess to clean (you are officially warned). The mixture should be slimy, gloopy, and it will thicken more as it cools. The cutesy name I gave Aquaflaxa in the privacy of professional kitchens is “troll snot” for a reason. The texture is so weird!

When using it as a whole egg replacer, I follow a ratio of 1:10 of flaxseed to water (in grams), so it is easy to scale according to my recipes. However, you can also concentrate the flax gel and whip it up as a meringue. In her book, Miyoko Schinner recommends reducing the preparation for 15 to 20 minutes, but I’m not the most patient person. 

So I will often reduce the amount of water by half or double the amount of flaxseed and let it boil for 10 to 15 minutes. It gives me a gel that is strong enough for whipping up into a meringue. 

Note from Raspbelyse: I do not recommend making meringue with aquaflaxa. While it worked before, it was too hit and miss for me to truly recommend it to you, my readers. I now like to use Versawhip 600K to make my aquafaba-free vegan meringue.

However, I do have to say that I prefer the mouthfeel of Aquafaba meringue since I find that flax gel meringue can be a bit gel-y or slimy. But that is me. It is still a great alternative for people who don’t mix well with legumes like chickpeas.

And while I have used this meringue as a topping, I have never tried to bake it or cook it. So if you do try it out, let me know how it went and I’ll add your experience here!

Also, food for thought, I assume you could also replace the water in this recipe with aquafaba to make baked goods that require a lot of structure.

Aqua-Flaxa: Tips and Tricks

• 50g or 3 Tbsp of Aqua-Flaxa is equal to 1 whole egg.
• Freeze pre-portioned into an ice-cube tray for 6 months, or keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks.
• Strain the preparation while still hot. It’s way easier to squeeze out the gel from the seeds like that.
• Let the gel cool before using it. If not you risk melting your precious vegan butter.

• While pouring the cold gel, try to cut it with your fingers by squeezing your index against your thumb instead of trying to pour it out. If not you will end up with the whole container of goop in your preparation since that stuff is slippery and thick.
• If your gel is too thick, you can reheat it up with a bit of water to loosen it up.
• You can use any type of flax seeds. Brown or gold, it’s all good!
• You can use this in any recipe that uses regular flax eggs.

Recipe

Did you try Aqua-Flaxa in your baked goods?

Don’t be shy and let me know how your experience with this vegan egg replacer went! Leave me a comment below and share a picture on Instagram !