​​I made pancakes with 3 different egg substitutes, and the applesauce version stood out from the rest

While eggs have plenty of health benefits, there are numerous reasons why someone may want to cut them out of their diet. For example, if you are following a plant-based diet or have an allergy, you may want to find egg alternatives.

Knowing what role an egg plays in a recipe is a crucial part of selecting its replacement. Depending on the recipe, substitutions can include:

• Applesauce
• Avocados
• Bananas
• Commercial egg replacements
• Ground flax seeds
• Silken tofu

In the spirit of Veganuary, I wanted to see how three popular egg replacements would affect a breakfast staple: pancakes. You don't need eggs or any of its substitutes to make pancakes, but they can improve the overall texture and taste.

For my experiment, I made three pancakes, using a different egg substitute for each. I hoped to get the pancakes as fluffy as possible without compromising on the taste.

To make the pancake I used:

• 1 whole banana, in place of one whole egg
• 1/2 cup of pancake mix
• 1/4 cup of water

For each pancake trial, I used Market Pantry, Target's private-label pancake mix, which costs $1.79.

I used a spoon to mash the banana and tried to get most of the lumps out — I didn't want this to turn into banana pancakes, so I thought muddling out the lumps would help the banana serve more as a substitute than a staple.

In hindsight, the banana I used was pretty large, so I think using half would have been plenty, and adding a little more water could have helped, too.

From appearances alone, I could tell that this pancake was ... off. It was not as fluffy as I'd hoped.

Even though I spread butter and syrup on the pancake, it tasted like pure fried banana to me. I love bananas on their own, but I thought this combination left much to be desired.

However, if you like banana-flavored breakfast foods, then this version could be perfect for you.

Just Egg is a plant-based egg substitute, made with mung-bean protein isolate, turmeric, and canola oil. It cost $4.00 and can be prepared on its own or as part of a recipe.

To make the pancake, I used:

• 1/2 cup of pancake mix
• 1/4 cup of Just Egg
• I eyeballed the water because I didn't want to make it too runny.

The egg substitute was a bit more liquid than a regular egg, but I didn't think there was any real difference in the taste or smell.

I was excited to see if it lived up to my expectations.

I had my friend try a piece to get a second opinion and she thought I made it with an actual egg.

I'm not sure how Just Egg holds up on its own — say, if you're using it for scrambled eggs — but I found it's a perfect substitute for recipes such as pancakes.

I don't eat applesauce on a regular basis, but I have heard of people using it as an egg substitute when baking. Plus, it was easily available at my local store.

I chose cinnamon-flavored applesauce because I thought it would make the pancakes taste better. It was $2.00, which was great, but I noticed it contained 0 grams of protein. By comparison, Just Egg has 5 grams of protein per serving, while a normal egg provides around 6 grams.

For this version I used:

• 1/2 cup of pancake mix
• 1/4 cup of applesauce
• 1/4 cup of water

Once the consistency was to my liking, I poured it onto a lightly oiled preheated skillet. It smelled amazing and didn't look any different from a regular pancake.

This one genuinely shocked me. As I mentioned, I am not crazy about applesauce in general so I was a little bit apprehensive about how it might turn out.

I took my first bite and immediately went in for a second — it was delicious. The apple was not overpowering and the cinnamon was a great touch. It was the sweetest pancake, but it wasn't overbearing.

While the Just Egg pancake was a success too, the applesauce pancake changed the course of my night from an experiment to straight-up dinner time.

This is the substitute I'll reach for in the future.