I’m so so so excited to try this with you guys. I’ve seen so many people talk about the Crackd egg replacer since it launched a few months ago and everything everyone has made looks incredible. But I live in a small town and my closest M&S doesn’t sell it, I didn’t want to order online for just one item. And travelling for an egg replacer during a pandemic seemed ridiculous. But I was finally in a slightly larger M&S over the Christmas break (for a food shop, not specifically looking for this) and got my hands on some. So, is Crackd the best vegan egg replacer?
Disclaimer: eggs are not essential in the majority of recipes that traditionally use eggs. I’ve already done a post about how to replace an egg and what works best in certain things, but my desire to try this egg replacer is stemmed from my gluten intolerance. Replacing an egg in a vegan recipe isn’t something that’s usually that challenging. But a lot of gluten free recipes require eggs where the traditional gluten recipe wouldn’t – like bread. And I find making things vegan and gluten free a lot harder than I ever did making something like a vegan cake. So, I was very excited to try this.
Choosing the best vegan egg replacer
What makes Crackd different?
It’s a liquid egg replacer with ingredients like pea protein in it, so its composition is a lot more similar to an actual egg than say an apple cider vinegar and bicarbonate of soda alternative.
Some recipes don’t need that. A lot of baked goods can be made easily and cheaper with one of the traditional alternatives. I wouldn’t waste this on a burger, or an egg wash in a pastry recipe, for example.
But then again, sometimes you make something like a meringue and an option like this becomes a lot more desirable.
Crackd Information
So, I mentioned other alternatives being cheaper. This stuff is quite expensive. One bottle is the equivalent of 8 eggs, and costs £4. It isn’t cheap compared to a simple flax egg. So, is it worth it?
Making things with Crackd
I wanted to play around with a few different recipes to see if it was an improvement. So, I made a gluten free bread recipe, some cupcakes and cookies.
Gluten free bread is something I’ve had major difficulties with, so I was very intrigued to see if this would make a difference. And I’ve made gluten free and vegan cupcakes before, but I’ve always been worried about whether the texture would be what I was looking for. So, it had potential to make my life a lot easier when recipes make me want to pull my hair out.
Cookies
I started with the easiest option and made some peanut butter cookies. I say this is the easiest option because cookies are very easy to make gluten free and vegan without the expensive egg replacer. But because I already know how to make these turn out well, I thought this would be a good way to see if Crackd made them any better.
This is how they turned out.
If I do say so myself, they look amazing. In terms of taste and texture, I don’t think they’re any better than my existing peanut butter cookies recipe, which is cheaper to make. But, they look a lot better. The egg replacer makes them a lot more golden than my existing recipe and they look more like a classic cookie you see in Starbucks.
If you’re making cookies for yourself/ your kids at home, you don’t need this. Making them for someone else who can be sceptical about vegan/ gluten free food? Use Crackd. People eat with their eyes.
Bread
If you’ve been following my GF journey, you’ll know I have an onggoing battle with bread. A lot of gluten free bread recipes call for eggs, and none of the previous alternatives I’ve tried have made an amazing loaf. I don’t know whether that’s down to the egg replacers or the difficulty making good GF bread in general.
So, I tried a bread recipe that called for eggs. AND IT WAS GOOD. Not just edible, but actually good. It wasn’t gluten freshly baked bakery bread good, but it was far better than any gluten free bread I’ve ever made at home.
I only used half of the recipe for this one, because I wasn’t confident, which is why the loaf is squat. But I was really impressed and will definitely be trying this again.
Honestly, the fact that it’s made bread work has convinced me that Crackd is 100% worth it already, regardless of how anything else turns out.
Cupcakes
Now, this is where it went downhill, but I’m not going to completely blame the egg replacer for that. The bottle comes with a suggestion of how to edit cooking times when using it, reduce by 10c and cook for an extra 15 minutes to be specific. But then it says something along the lines of every recipe and oven is different, you’ll figure it out.
Usually, I’d bake cupcakes at about 175/180c for 20-25 minutes. So, I thought I’d try 170c for 25-30 minutes and see how I got on from there. 37 minutes later and the tops were getting a little too tan for my liking and they still weren’t 100% done. They were at an edible but could be better stage, not totally raw. But when I tried a little bit of the edge of the poor cupcake I’d been prodding and stabbing every few minutes for the last 15, it was really good. Soft enough, fluffy. It would have been perfect had that been the texture all the way through.
But this was a first attempt, and although far from my proudest kitchen mom, I do think this could have worked out if I’d maybe done 165c for 40ish minutes instead. Ironically, the exact instruction on the bottle.
I’ll definitely be trying this again down the line with some tweaks.
So, the best vegan egg replacer ever?
I’m still going with yes because it’s literally the only thing I’ve ever tried that’s made good GF bread. The cookies and bread were both really good, and the cupcakes ended up in a state that gave me ideas to improve rather than something that totally failed – so I think this is a win.
Have any of you ever tried Crackd?
Until next time,
Sophie
I’ve tried using aquafaba instead of egg in some recipes and had mixed results, I’ve not tried any baking – this sounds like a fun ingredient to experiment with! Just a shame it’s so expensive.
That’s amazing you were able to make a good gluten free bread with the egg replacer! The loaf looks great & so do the cookies!
Hopefully next time the cupcakes will turn out better!
Well this looks fab! And also, your biscuits look delicious! Thanks for sharing
Katie | katieemmabeauty.com
I’ve been looking for a good egg replacement, and I’m so glad you’ve shared your thoughts! £4 is quite pricey but I’m far more inclined to try it after seeing the photos of your cookies
This was really interesting to read! I’ve always been intrigued about what I can use other than flax seeds when baking vegan recipes – fab review x
So delicious ❤
I never knew that you could buy a vegan egg replacer! This does definitely sound like a good productas it can be used in many ways x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
This is awesome. The peanut butter cookies look yumy. I will have to try these as well. Thank you for sharing!
For the first time I see something like that and is sounds very interesting. I like cookies, bread and muffins which you prepare. They look so delicious.
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I’m happy that you found an egg replacement product that works quite well for you! Thanks for sharing your experience with baking with it.
I love this post-Sophie and so pleased to hear how your bread turned out too especially now you can make your own gluten-free bread with it too!
I love that you’ve found something that will allow you to make great vegan gluten-free bread! I know you’ve been struggling with this for a while, so I celebrated for you when I was reading this. I think a lot of people overlook the struggles that can come from finding a good replacement to some of the more common and important ingredients in some recipes – especially when one option can work great in one recipe but completely tank in another (as you were saying talking about non-egg alternatives). I don’t know if we can get this in Canada or not but I’ll have to look into it for when I’m baking for my gluten-free friends!
Those cookies look divine and I feel you on people eating with their eyes!
I love, however, that Crackd, even if it did fail on the cupcakes, made a good loaf of bread! Sometimes we just need that one thing to make our loaves turn out well. 🙂
i was literally watching one of my favourite youtubers use this very product, or something just like it, in a video yesterday. i need to go back now and see if it’s crackd!! x
It’s a shame that the cupcakes didn’t work but it’s wonderful it really made a difference in the bread for you! 🙂 And know I have a better idea of why the store brand gluten free bread is different from the more expensive “branded” gluten free loafs – the store brand one is vegan so it would use an egg replacer instead of an egg! 🙂
Hope that you had a great weekend! Ours was a nice quiet one at home with the 3 day Brisbane lockdown due to there being a case of coronavirus outside hotel quarantine, but lockdown ends tonight as there have been no more cases 🙂
Ooh, congrats on finding a close enough replacer! Those cookies look good!
Wow, They turned out really well. Thanks for sharing.
Bernie,
The Style Fanatic
Those cookies look delicious! Definitely going to keep a look out in M&S for this next time I go there 🙂
Kate ♥ | https://asimplesliceofkate.com/
So interesting – I haven’t heard of this before! Loved this bit – ‘And travelling for an egg replacer during a pandemic seemed ridiculous. ‘ – Imagine getting stopped by the police and explaining this hahaha!
Happy New Year – I hope you are well!!
Hayley || hayleyxmartin
I’ve been looking for a good egg replacement for bread for ages! My sister is GF and vegan and when I tell you it’s been a struggle! So excited to give this a try!
Oh this is amazing! My sister is vegan so I’ll definitely have to give this a go in a bake – the cookies look so good!! Thanks for sharing, I hadn’t heard of this one xx
It really is nice that the Crackd egg replacer made the cookies look better. That really is a plus when sharing homemade baked goods with others!
This sounds amazing! The cookies look delish!
xoxo
Lovely
http://www.mynameislovely.com
This does indeed sound like a decent egg replacer. Too bad the cupcakes did not turn out as you would have liked but the cookies and bread look great. I am glad you found something that works. On a side note I LOVE the packaging!
Allie of
http://www.allienyc.com
I’ve never tried this egg replacer before, not actually heard of it before either! The bread and cookies do look pretty amazing though. I guess it is quite a pricier option to go for, but seeing your positive feedback on it does make it seem worth it. x