Many cooks know that feeling of frustration when they scan a recipe and come across an ingredient they know they don’t have in their kitchen. One in particular, dry milk, is not an ingredient that most people use every day, though it is called for in many baking recipes. If you’re a coffee drinker, you may not have to run out to the store. Instead, reach for powdered coffee creamer, a “secret” substitution known to many people who are fond of making bread, especially in bread machines.

Make an equal substitution of dry milk for powdered coffee creamer. If your recipe calls for one tablespoon of dry milk, replace it with one tablespoon of powdered coffee creamer.

Take the extra step of ensuring that the powdered coffee creamer dissolves – just as it’s meant to do in coffee – by first blending it thoroughly with another wet ingredient in your recipe, such as water, oil or an egg.

Evaluate whether you might need to make other minor tweaks to your recipe because of the powdered coffee creamer. For example, if a recipe that normally calls for dry milk suggests that you “may” wish to add a pinch of sugar or vanilla extract to sweeten the dry milk, you may not have to make such an addition if you’re using a sweetened powdered coffee creamer – especially one that is vanilla-flavored. If the coffee creamer you're using seems very sweet, feel free to reduce some of the sugar or other sweeteners used in the recipe. Adjust the recipe to taste.

Experiment with different flavors of powdered coffee creamer to enhance your recipes or to add a trace of flavor. For example, you can find powdered creamers in caramel and hazelnut, two flavors that could improve a cinnamon bread or muffin recipe that normally calls for dry milk.