What Happens If You Add Too Many Eggs When Baking?

Eggs are certainly an important ingredient when it comes to baking, but that doesn't necessarily mean that adding more is a good thing. You may think of eggs primarily as a binding agent, but according to The Cake Blog, they do more than that. Eggs are responsible for giving baked goods structure, which means the amount you use directly affects the resulting texture. Using too few eggs will make your desserts dense, but using too many will make them rubbery.

The explanation for this lies in the fact that eggs are made up of protein. As Fine Cooking explains, when the protein in eggs combines with the protein in flour, they produce the overall structure of the baked good. Moisture is provided by two major components — fat and sugar. These components have to balance each other out to achieve the ideal crumb consistency for your cakes or brownies. Adding too many eggs, or too many of any ingredient for that matter, will disrupt that balance.

Lost count of how many eggs you've added or baking without a written recipe? Don't panic. The good news is, you won't have to wait until your baked goods come out of the oven before determining whether you've added one too many eggs. Delishably says you can tell just by looking at the batter. Instead of trying to scoop out any excess egg or starting over, continue to mix the batter thoroughly. It may feel wrong to keep going if you think you've messed up, but this will allow you to better evaluate the consistency.

If the batter is runny enough to drip from the bowl without a spatula, you'll know you've added too much. To fix this, Delishably instructs adding 1 tablespoon of flour at a time until it thickens up. The ideal consistency will depend on what you're baking. Cookie dough, for example, is a lot thicker than cake batter and may require you to add more flour. In doing so, you'll be able to get the balance structure and moisture back on track. Adding too many eggs to your dessert batter doesn't have to mess up your recipe. With a few quick steps, your batter will be on its way to achieving moist, flavorful goodness.