Baking bread is a fun and tasty pastime for millions of people, and there’s little wonder why. Homemade bread is fairly easy to make and comes in so many flavors that it truly offers something for everyone. While eggs are an important ingredient in numerous types of bread, many other breads require no eggs at all.
Simply put, it all depends on the type of bread you’re making. The answer to the question, does baking bread require eggs, is “it depends.”
Eggs Versus No Eggs
Some breads require eggs and others do not. Bread is essentially a combination of flour, salt, sugar, water, and yeast. After you mix these basic ingredients, you may or may not have to add eggs. It all depends on the type of bread and the intended texture.
In fact, most breads do not require the addition of eggs, whose main purpose is to make sure that the yeast doubles. Therefore, if the bread you’re making doesn’t require yeast, it likely won’t require eggs either.
Some of the many breads that need no eggs include:
- Italian bread
- Sourdough bread
- Whole wheat bread
- White bread
- Pita bread
Among the types of bread that do contain eggs are the following:
- Monkey bread
- Banana bread
- Biscuits
- Cornbread
- Brioche bread
As you can see, some recipes simply require eggs in order to produce the texture and taste that you’re used to, while others can produce the same taste and texture without a single egg added to the recipe.
What Happens If You Don’t Put Eggs in Bread?
Whether a bread recipe calls for eggs or not, it’s best not to stray from the recipe but to follow it exactly. If you’re allergic to eggs or you’re simply trying to cut back on your consumption of this food, you can always use an egg substitute instead. Most bread recipes will have instructions for both eggs and egg substitutes, which makes it easy to know what to do.
The thing is that if your recipe requires adding an egg or two, never eliminate the ingredient entirely. Otherwise, your bread can come out terribly dry, way too crumbly, or flat and oddly textured because it simply won’t rise the way that it’s supposed to.
What Does an Egg Do in Bread?
Eggs do a lot of things when put in bread, including giving the bread a much richer flavor, binding the ingredients together much easier, and enhancing the overall volume of the bread. Part of the reason why this happens is because of the fat content in eggs. Occasionally, recipes will add eggs simply because they want to give the bread a yellow tint.
But again, it’s best not to stray from the instructions when making homemade bread. Every single ingredient, including the eggs, has a purpose, and they all work together to give the bread the yummy taste and texture you expect it to have.
What Can I Use Instead of Eggs?
If you absolutely do not want to use eggs in your bread recipe, you have numerous alternatives. Instead of eggs, you can use bananas, applesauce, vegetable oil, and even water. One of the most common substitutions for eggs is buttermilk. For every egg you’re replacing, use half a cup of buttermilk instead.
If you’re trying to avoid all dairy products, water or vegetable oil might be your best bet. Some people even use flaxseed instead of eggs, so you certainly have a lot of choices when you decide that you don’t want eggs in your bread recipe.
Some common substitutions for one egg include half a banana mashed up, a quarter-cup of vegetable oil, three tablespoons of peanut butter, or one tablespoon of flaxseeds added to three tablespoons of water and then mixed together until it has a creamy consistency. If you do your due diligence, you can easily find other replacements that will suit your fancy.
Conclusion
While most breads do not require eggs in order to turn out right, some have to have this ingredient in order to have the right taste and texture. Whether the recipe calls for eggs or not, it’s best to adhere to the instructions to the letter. All bread recipes will require one or more eggs, no eggs at all, or allowable substitutions for eggs so that it tastes just right when you’re done baking.
