Milk powder gives a softer, more even crumb. I would estimate the vast majority of bread machine users prefer softer crumb so the bread machine makers put it in their recipes to help ensure their customers get the results they want.

You can just leave it out. If you want a softer crumb and the recipe doesn't already call for oil you can add 1-2 tbs of vegetable oil (canola for flavorless; olive oil if you like the resulting flavor).

I would suggest just trying the recipe with no milk powder and seeing what happens. In my experience with 2 tsp of yeast a bread machine will produce an edible result out of anything up to concrete mix ;-)

sPh

Marc, I don't know if I'm typical or not, but I'll offer this anyway. I have problems with lactose in the form of milk and ice cream, but when I cook with milk I have no reaction. Since I can't drink milk, I don't keep it in the fridge because I can't cook with it fast enough to use it up. Instead, I keep dry milk in the pantry and use it in recipes that call for milk. I'm no scientist so I can't tell you what's going on, but cooking with milk seems to destroy whatever it is that reacts badly in my system.

Having said that, I have friends who can't take milk in any form.

I understand that some people outgrow the intolerance, especially if they have the intolerance when young. I became lactose intolerant when I was pregnant with my daughter. Twenty-six years later, I'm slowly becoming less intolerant.

Good luck to you and your son!

I would suggest using potato water for the liquid.  This will help with the texture that the milk is used for.  

Hey Marc, just saw a YouTube video on making naan, and the recipe called for yogurt. You might want to try that, too. The bacteria in it can help with digestion. I've never had trouble keeping yogurt down, even during my most lactose-intolerant years. And I remember that we gave it to the girl-child when she was a baby with colic and it stopped the colic.

Another thing that helps is chocolate. It contains something (lactase? I think that's it) that helps with the digestion of lactose.

And while the milk police might hunt me down for saying this, milk that went straight from the cow to the fridge then to the table (I spent some time on a dairy farm) never came back up on me like homogenized milk always did, leading me to believe that homogenization is the main culprit in lactose intolerance.