Vegan product selection ebbs and flows as much as it grows. Seemingly stable companies have ceased production, and once reliable products have been discontinued.

Like Ener-G and Trader Joe’s Vegan Heavy Whipping Cream, I started to fear my winning products would disappear. Some of my recipes would consequently be obsolete! Yet if I could make things like Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer, they could be future-proof…

The Process

Math is interesting to me, but maybe not to you! Please enjoy a snapshot of my brain on reverse engineering:

A serving of Bob’s Red Mill Egg Replacer is 10 g.
Each serving contains 8 g Total Carbohydrate. Therefore, this product is 80-84% starches.
The first two ingredients are potato starch, then tapioca flour. These could be in equal amounts, but the order and potassium content suggest there’s slightly more potato starch.
Baking soda is all sodium, with 160 mg per 1/8 tsp (0.63 mL/g). BRM Egg Replacer contains 320 mg Sodium per serving, so each serving contains 1/4 tsp (1.25 mL/g) baking soda.
Psyllium husk is 100% fiber, but BRM Egg Replacer contains 0 g fiber per serving. Thus, in 100 g of product, there is no more than 4 g of psyllium husk.

I’ll spare you more. Besides, the most critical question is: Does it work?

I put my homemade egg replacer through the same tests as the commercial egg replacers in my product review. Indeed, it bakes just as well!

front of a single cookie held above a plate of more

perfectly baked cookie with homemade egg replacer

split cookie made with homemade egg replacer showing evenly baked crumb

What’s in a name?

Some ingredients play hard-to-get. I’ve listed all four from least to most elusive.

Baking Soda

Baking soda is baking soda.

Tapioca Flour

Tapioca flour and tapioca starch are the same thing.

Potato Starch

However, potato starch and potato flour are different products. Source potato starch!

Psyllium Husk Powder

Psyllium husk powder is both easier and tricker than you might think.

Easier

Psyllium husk powder is a niche ingredient in the world of gluten-free baking. It often appears in place of xanthan and guar gums: fractured super-fine powders with exceptional binding and gelling capabilities – in recipes, and unfortunately, bodies. Psyllium husk is a similarly powerful whole-food alternative known to solve digestive issues rather than cause them.

In fact, psyllium husk is so good at relieving backup that you’ve probably heard of, seen, or even used it. This protective layer of the plantago ovata seed is the main ingredient in fiber supplements such as Metamucil and Colon Cleanse.

Look for psyllium husk powder in the baking aisle first, but failing that, try the pharmacy section.

Trickier

Yet psyllium husk comes in powder or flake form – and a package might not tell you which one it contains. You could see “psyllium husk powder” or “psyllium husk flakes”, but you could simply see “psyllium husk” – with no indication of powder or flakes – on an opaque package.

You might also encounter:

“psyllium fiber”
“psyllium husk fiber”

“Psyllium fiber” is likely powder from only part(s) of the husk. And the longer “psyllium husk fiber” is probably just psyllium fiber – but both of them could mean whole psyllium husk powder or flakes!

You need 100% whole psyllium husk powder for this recipe. You can buy flakes and grind them, but you can’t buy fiber and expect success. Read and study labels carefully!