Healthy Baking: Organic Large Eggs

Ina Garten once said her baking got better when she began using larger eggs.

That was enough for us to try it. As baking addicts, we’re after success in the kitchen. We’re also after success in health. We’ve managed to make baking and health come together here and we’ve discovered eggs have an important role for both!

In the baking world, large eggs are amazing. Eggs add that delicious chewy bite, that golden glisten and that perfect height to our baked goods. Egg whites add lightness, yokes add chewiness and egg washes add color and flavor. Large eggs combined with the right ratio of dry ingredients gives us the desired height and texture to our cakes and breads. Large eggs contribute about 3 1/4-1/2 tablespoons of liquid to a recipe. The generous eggy liquid really creates the best final products to baked goods! Sugar-free baking particularly benefits from large eggs.  If a recipe does not specify the size of eggs to use, when in doubt, we use large. You will most likely see large eggs in all of our recipes.

In the health world, eggs are packed with protein and contain lot of great vitamins… but if we’re going to eat them, we want to make sure they are the best quality we can find. It begins with the chickens. Healthy chickens produce healthy eggs. Fresh, organic eggs from free-range chickens are what we are after. Commercial eggs contain some pretty scary stuff and the mass production of them sadly makes chicken’s health suffer. A key part of healthy eating is knowing where and how our food is raised, handled and produced. We believe choosing organic eggs benefits our health and benefits organic farmers. If you can source organic local eggs or have your own chickens, you’re golden. These kinds of eggs are by far the best way to ensure healthy, fresh eggs. We can guarantee organic eggs will contribute to greater health and create fresher, delicious treats, too!

When talking the size of eggs and where they come from, there’s a few things that affect baking. Local farm eggs sometimes run on the smaller side. If you crack open your egg and it yields a shy 2 or 3 tablespoons of liquid, that’s not enough to cover the large egg requirement. It’s best to use 2 eggs if needed or measure out the liquid. A big perk to getting local eggs is that you gain a longer shelf-life than the ones you get at the store. It’s a good idea to thoroughly wash your organic eggs before handling in the kitchen.

Incorporating large eggs, (or even extra-large eggs, as Ina often does) has been a fun experiment. We’ve concluded that Ina was on to something. Large eggs create delicious food. The more we’ve learned about egg production, the stronger we believe in using organic eggs. We haven’t regretted the extra cost or the extra effort to find them and we can guarantee it’s worth it. Let’s use the best eggs. We all deserve it!

Where do you stand on eggs?  Do you have any suggestions or tips on how to find the best?