Creamer Isn't Dairy

• Coffee creamer usually is labeled "non-dairy," and that's truth in advertising. Creamer is definitely not a dairy product. It's made mostly of water and sugar in the form of dextrose from cornstarch or corn syrup. Added to this formula are fats, typically partially hydrogenated soybean or cottonseed oil. The word "hydrogenated" is a big clue, because that means the oil has been treated with hydrogen to make it last longer. Hydrogenation creates trans fats or trans fatty acids, the substances that raise your cholesterol levels. Coffee creamer also sometimes has a seaweed extract, carrageenan, which serves as an emulsifier to keep the water and fats mixed together. Creamer's closest dairy component is sodium caseinate, a milk protein from which lactose, or milk sugar, has been removed.

Milk Has Proteins, Fats, Lactose

• In contrast to coffee creamer, milk is a natural dairy product made up of proteins called caseins, along with fats and lactose, suspended in whey, a liquid similar to water. Milk is especially useful in baking because of its many functions in baking chemistry. It helps baked goods turn brown, softens bread crusts and keeps bread fresher for longer.

Milk Strengthens Baked Goods

• In baking, milk falls into the category of what's called a strengthener. When heated in the oven, milk's proteins coagulate, combining with the flour and eggs to create the structure of bread, cakes and other baked goods. Milk's liquid component, whey, dissolves salt and sugar in dough and batter, also helping to hydrate other ingredients. Whey also mixes with leaveners, such as baking powder and baking soda, to create carbon dioxide, the gas that makes baked goods rise. Whey turns to steam during baking, which aids the rising process even more.

Milk Is More Versatile

• Coffee creamer is a mixture of water, sugar and oils manufactured for a single purpose: as an additive to turn coffee a lighter color and carry flavorings. In contrast, milk has benefits of its own as a beverage or added to coffee, and it also can be made into other dairy products useful in food preparation. Milk is the basis for butter and buttermilk, sour cream and cheese of all kinds that add flavor, moisture and richness in ways that coffee creamer can't.