Eggs are a common ingredient in breakfast dishes.
But if we are all being honest, one thing that gets tiring about breakfast meals is that eggy taste which always seems to show up every breakfast. B
ut that’s where pancakes come in.
While they do contain eggs, properly made pancakes are fluffy and filling without being eggy.
Eggs are a common ingredient in pancakes that help to bind the ingredients together and add richness and flavor.
However, it is possible to make pancakes without eggs.
There are a few different ways to do this, but one of the most popular is to substitute a ripe banana for the eggs.
This will add sweetness and moisture to the pancakes, and the bananas can also help to bind the ingredients together.
Another option is to use a combination of milk and flour.
This will create a slightly thinner batter, but making fluffy pancakes will still be possible.
And, of course, there are also many recipes for vegan pancakes that do not use any eggs or dairy products.
Pancakes are very versatile.
You can make them with virtually any fruit that you like.
Even chocolate-lovers can go to town on a lovely stack of chocolate chip pancakes with chocolate syrup.
Or if you prefer, you can have your pancakes plain – with or without syrup or butter.
This versatility makes pancakes so lovable and is one thing that most egg-containing breakfast dishes don’t have.
Another reason you may wonder whether pancakes have eggs is that they usually don’t taste eggy, unlike many other breakfast dishes.
Pancakes don’t taste eggy because the proportion of eggs to the other ingredients isn’t so high that it’s overpowering.
But there’s an exception to this – not all pancakes contain eggs.
If you don’t want eggs in your pancakes for whatever reason, then there are pancake recipes to suit your taste too.
One major catch is that these pancakes may not be as fluffy as egg-containing pancakes.
Does Pancake Mix Have Eggs?
Store-bought pancake mix often contains eggs in some form, but it depends on the individual brand.
Read the labels carefully if you are trying to avoid eggs or have an allergy.
If you look at the ingredients list on the box of your pancake mix, most of the ingredients are dehydrated.
The dehydrated ingredients often include eggs.
The yolk, to be more specific.
On the other hand, some pancake mixes don’t contain any eggs at all.
An example is the famous Pearl Milling Company Original Pancake Waffle Mix, formerly Aunt Jemima.
Despite the name change, the recipe has remained the same and doesn’t contain any eggs or dairy products.
As such, it is an excellent choice for making vegan pancakes.
You can add an egg or two when making pancakes with pancake mix.
This will give your pancake a richer flavor and texture than if you just add water.
This hack works whether the pancake mix you want to use already contains eggs or not.
The pancake mix box may say “just add water”; however, water doesn’t do much to improve to flavor or texture of the pancakes.
Instead of just water, you can add milk to make the pancakes richer and give it more flavor.
You could also use sparkling or soda water instead of plain water.
It makes the pancakes lighter and fluffier, adding more flavor to the mix.
Are Eggs Important In Pancakes?
All the ingredients in pancakes have their unique roles to play.
But some ingredients have a more crucial place than others.
Sugar, for instance, can easily be eliminated to get sugar-free pancakes.
On the other hand, used to bind all the ingredients together, eggs are one of the most important ingredients in pancakes.
Eggs add structure to your pancakes
For your pancakes to come out with a good structure, eggs and flour are often the most important ingredients.
Eggs act as a binder, helping to hold all the other ingredients together.
Without them, your pancakes are much more likely to fall apart before even hitting your plate.
Eggs make your pancakes tender.
Whether your pancakes are chewy or not has a lot to do with a protein called gluten which is often found in baking flour.
The longer the strands of gluten, the chewier your pancakes will be.
The fat in egg yolks shortens the strands of gluten and makes more tender pancakes with a nicer texture.
Eggs add moisture to pancakes.
Without sufficient moisture, your pancakes will be dry, and the texture will be below average.
Moisture also helps improves the flavor of pancakes.
Eggs contain fats and proteins which hold moisture in the pancakes.
Apart from trapping moisture from the water you add, eggs also bring their water into the mix because they have high water content.
Eggs hold water in just the right amount.
They moisten your pancakes, giving them a better flavor and texture.
And they do so without turning your meal into a soggy mess.
Eggs make pancakes fluffy.
When eggs are beaten for a dish like pancakes, the whites and yolks cause the batter to rise as it is cooked.
This effect is known as leavening and is credited chiefly to the egg whites.
As the egg is beaten, it traps air which remains throughout the baking process.
The air lightens the texture of your pancakes and makes them fluffier.
Can You Skip Eggs In Pancakes?
If you do want to skip eggs in your pancakes for whatever reason, you can.
To do this successfully, you have to replace the eggs with a suitable substitute like mashed bananas, applesauce, or cooking oil.
Your egg substitute should combine all the other ingredients to give your pancakes a stable structure.
It should do this without making the pancakes chewy.
Your egg substitute also has to make the pancakes fluffy and moist while not making them soggy.
Finding one ingredient that checks all these boxes is a near-impossible task.
But you can combine two or three of these egg substitutes for their unique benefits.
- Mashed bananas
Mashed bananas are a good alternative to eggs.
When making mashed banana pancakes, add a little less flour and a little baking soda to help the pancakes rise.
Bananas add moisture to the mix and are also good at holding the other ingredients together.
Mashed banana pancakes are still more brittle than egg pancakes but will adequately bind the ingredients.
Ingredients
- 1 very ripe banana
- ¾ cup unsweetened plant-based milk
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon canola oil
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
Instructions:
- Mash banana in a bowl.
- Add plant-based milk, maple syrup, and canola oil.
- Whisk in flour and baking powder until incorporated.
- Spray a pan or griddle with oil, put on medium heat, and ladle on some pancake batter.
- Cook for 2-3 minutes on both sides.
- Applesauce
Like mashed bananas, applesauce adds moisture to pancakes.
It also binds the other ingredients together and provides a pleasant flavor to the dish.
You’ll want to add a bit of baking soda as well as some oil.
The downside is that applesauce pancakes are also brittle.
2. Cooking oil
Almost any cooking oil can substitute for eggs in pancakes to add moisture, richness, and flavor.
It will also help bind the ingredients together.
However, cooking oil is likely to make pancakes more dense than usual.
To balance this out, add a bit more baking soda.
I’m Chris Watson & the Founder of EatForLonger.com. I’m a food and wellbeing enthusiast researching and sharing foodstuffs and simple food-based concepts, such as fasting and clean eating.
I hope it inspires you to make tiny changes to what you eat and when you eat while optimizing your healthspan and all-around well-being.
Read more About Me here.