JS: It feels dry on the front end, but it doesn’t bake up drying.

SU: Yes, it’s tenderizing. So if you’re listening, please don’t add more flour in case you don’t have milk powder. It’s not the same thing.

JS: There you go. Okay. And next on substitutions, Roberto writes, “Hey Shilpa, what if I don’t have vanilla pudding mix here in my country? How could I sub this?” Thanks.

SU: Okay, Roberto. I would actually not substitute with anything. There is no substitute. It is such a unique ingredient and it’s just not substitutable. And what I would recommend in this case is actually just skip that part of the recipe. Don’t use the pudding powder and don’t use the water that I call for in the filling, but do everything else, like melt the butter, add the brown sugar, the cinnamon, the salt, vanilla, what have you. But simply leave it out if you don’t have it.

JS: Easy enough. Okay. And then Christina C. has a question about sugar substitutes. She writes, “I’m going to shop for the cinnamon roll to make it next weekend and had a sugar question. I already have light brown sugar, but the recipe calls for dark. Should I, one, use light instead? Two, add molasses, which I already have to convert it to dark.” Okay. She’s smart. “Or three, buy dark brown sugar. I’ll do whichever you pick. If I should add molasses, is there an official BA approved conversion ratio? Thank you.” Okay, damn. Christina C. is a baker.

SU: I was like, “She is a member of the Bake Club.”

JS: Yeah. Come to the test kitchen, Christina.

SU: These are all fantastic questions.

JS: These are good question.

SU: Okay, let’s go through one at a time. So if you don’t have dark brown sugar, should you use light brown instead? Yes, absolutely. You can 100% use light brown sugar. You don’t have to run out just for the purpose of dark brown sugar. Should you add molasses to convert that light brown sugar into dark? In this case, I would not because the only real purpose, and the reason I call for dark brown sugar is it adds a little bit of depth to the filling in terms of color. And it sort of provides a deeper contrast. By substituting light brown, which when you make the substitution, you’re just doing the same amount by weight.