At Blended Bakery in Lehighton, quite a few eggs go into the cheesecakes, cookies and doughnuts that are made from scratch daily.

So many that owner Christi Yurasits can’t keep track.

“I just buy and buy. We buy so many. It just depends on what I am baking,” she said.

But as the cost of eggs reaches “eggs”traordinary highs, Yurasits is feeling the pinch.

“It’s very painful. Oh my gosh, it’s painful,” she said.

The average price of one dozen large eggs in the northeastern United States is $5.20 per dozen – up from $1.60 per dozen in January 2022, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The skyrocketing increase is blamed on a number of factors, including a deadly avian flu that surfaced in early 2022; soaring feed and energy costs for producers, and a high demand at the supermarket.

Up until a few months ago – and even as egg prices were rising – Yurasits said the bakery was getting a good price on eggs from a local farm.

“And now I am driving to Costco (in Trexlertown) and Sam’s wherever I can get them the cheapest because even the farmers are up to $4 and $4.50 a dozen,” she said.

On those frequent trips, she tries to score at least 30 dozen.

But at times, Yurasits said, it’s difficult to even find eggs. Some stores have a limit on the amount consumers can buy.

“It’s important to me that we have a good product. And eggs? We need eggs,” she said.

The bakery makes fresh doughnuts, cookies, whoopie pies, tandy cakes, danishes and scones.

To hold the line, Yurasits isn’t making as many cupcakes as she used to, and she’s cutting back on the amount of offerings in effort to reduce waste.

Another help, she said, are the parties, cake decorating classes, girls’ nights and other events that the bakery has added.

“I’m being very careful. I haven’t put my prices up at all since October. I’ve been biting down on things,” she said. “I’m just trying to be careful and very resourceful in other ways so we don’t have to put the prices up.”

Still, Yurasits worries - because prices on other bakery staples are rising, too.

“It’s crazy. I’m scared. This is insane. We thought that we went through the pandemic, and now with the price increases, I’m very nervous,” she said.

At More Pickles Please 1380, a family-owned and operated farm in Palmerton, Julia George Russell has watched how the price of chicken feed has risen.

The 88-acre farm offers its own produce, beef and poultry, along with items from 30 local vendors who participate in its on-site market.

But the farm’s eggs are one of the most popular items.

“I definitely cannot keep my eggs on the shelf. I have people calling, texting and stopping in daily for eggs and I’m always out,” Russell said.

The farm, which has been in the family’s hands for 50 years, raises about 300 chickens annually for eggs and meat.

“The price of feed and grain for these chickens has definitely impacted us,” she said.

From the day the market opened, Russell said, the farm always sold two dozen eggs for $5.

“And now they’re around $5 a dozen and that’s breaking even,” she said.

Students at the Carbon Career and Technical Institute in Jim Thorpe love when breakfast is offered for lunch, said Chef A.J. Burke, the school’s Culinary Arts instructor.

Even though it’s a favorite among the institute’s 300-plus students, it won’t be happening anytime in the near future.

“We are actually suspending that due to the price of eggs,” said Burke, whose culinary students prepare lunches daily.

With the costs on a continuous rise, Burke has also had to restructure some cooking and baking classes.

“Everything we do in the bake shop requires eggs, from cookies to cakes to meringues,” he said.

Students also use them for breading items and for making a variety of sauces.

“One of our sauces (hollandaise) is made with egg yolks, so we are not doing that right now,” Burke said. “We are kind of watching how we are using them so there is no waste.”

On social media outlets, some have shared information on egg substitutes. Among the recommendations are mashed bananas, cornstarch and tofu.

Burke is not sold.

“There is no substitute for eggs in my book,” he said.

The Times News asked its Facebook followers what adjustments – if any – they are making to cope with the high cost of eggs.

“It is what it is. If I want to buy them I’ll buy them. If I don’t, I don’t,” one man posted.

Others said they’re stocking up on eggs when they find them on sale, or visiting local farmers to secure them at lower prices.

A few readers said they raise their own chickens for eggs, while others said they’re considering chickens for their own back yards.

And some said they’d simply do without.