Why the cookie crumbles: a cookie without inclusions is no cookie at all. Baked goods with nuts, candies, syrupy swirls and even dietary fiber are the norm. Formulation considerations that keep the matrix intact are key to keeping the cookie crunchy and the angel food cake airy

Prepared Foods, July, 2005 by Marcia A. Wade

After 60 days or so in frozen storage, a product that should match the way it tastes the day it was baked, if poorly formulated, will turn into an inferior product, says J. Hugh McEvoy, CRC, CEC (Chef J.), with the American Culinary Federation (St. Augustine, Fla.). For example, long ago, while working with a national cookie chain, he thought he had carefully formulated the leavening system for a new type of frozen bake-off dough with pecans and dried apricots.

"What I didn't understand at the time was that the dried apricot was treated with some type of unstable preservative, in addition to sulfite," he says. "Although it tasted fine right out of the oven, as the cookie sat in the freezer, the elements in the apricot leached out into the cookie dough and changed the pH of the dough matrix; over time, it destroyed the leavening system."

Inclusions like raisins, nuts, cinnamon, vegetables and dehydrated fruits can disrupt the original matrix of baked goods. Depending upon the inclusion, the leavening may need to be adjusted, and the moisture or pH of the inclusion might challenge the existing leavening system.

Some ingredients are enzymatically stable but others, like grape mash and yogurt, may contain active enzymes from active yeasts or bacteria. The pH, adhesion properties, density, viscosity, temperature and dextrose equivalent of different liquids and batters may not always function or mix well together, informs Chef J.

Enter the Matrix

The volume and grain of baked products depend upon the release of carbon dioxide. Sugar and fat, two ingredients on the health hit-list, are influential to the incorporation of carbon dioxide (C[O.sub.2]). "Manufacturers want their doughs to bake and run within similar manufacturing parameters," says Mike Connolly, an R&D director at Pepperidge Farm (Norwalk, Conn.). "In breads, special yeasts are sometimes necessary to achieve sufficient fermentation, but these are costlier."

There are some ingredient selections that will create a finer cell structure, but a drier product. The release of carbon dioxide (C[O.sub.2]) and expansion of dough must be timed so that the product sets up properly. "You don't want all of the C[O.sub.2] released while the dough is still fluid," instructs Barbara Heidolph, market development manager at a leavening supplier.

In order to maintain moisture, manufacturers will need to draft help from enzymes, emulsifiers and gum systems. There are leavening strategies to adjust pH and reduce chemical and enzymatic interactions. Enzymes prevent staling and help maintain product quality. Emulsifiers increase volume and maintain moisture over a long period of time. "Sometimes you need more leavening when you add fruits and fiber," says Heidolph. Nuts are high in fat but, in this case, the enzymatic activity is less of an issue.

With obesity on everyone's minds, fats and sugar are being removed from leavening systems. The fat and sugar act as tenderizers to produce moisture, volume, tenderness and bite. Dough conditioners will increase the tolerance of ingredient variations; improve grain, texture and volume; improve the ability to be processed; and shelflife. "Inclusions take up space but, if not Overdone, the dough matrix should be strong enough to hold them," states Connolly. Strengtheners, including oxidizing agents, gluten and ascorbic acid, can help maintain the matrix integrity.

Dough conditioners help yield a finer crumb structure, improved volume and symmetry. They reduce the amount of fats and oils required. Dough conditioners will allow dough (drier dough, in particular) a greater resistance to abuse. Calcium stearoyl, ethoxylated monoglycerides, polyoxyethylena sorbitan monostearate (PS 60), succinylated monoglycerides (SMG) and sodium stearoyl lactylate (SSL) are highly functional dough strengtheners. In yeast-raised products, emulsifiers act as dough conditioners.

Crumb softeners keep amylose from crystallizing by reducing the amount of free amylose in the baking process. Unsaturated mono- and di-glycerides can promote rapid hydration in dough, while lecithins delay staling and shortening reduction.

The inclusions mentioned earlier may challenge volume and grain by interfering with the gluten network and weakening the structure. Adding soy protein may have a similar effect. The use of these inclusions in breads may require added gluten to get more strength in the dough, says Madhu Kunam, an R&D scientist at an inclusion supply house. "In addition, the inclusion might pull water out of the baked good, or the opposite could happen, leaving a hard, dry inclusion," says Susan Deeming, R&D director at an inclusion ingredients supplier.

A lot of inclusions have to be treated, soaked, chilled, etc. For example, chilled nuts may incorporate better and cut more cleanly, while room temperature nuts tend to get smashed and lose their integrity. Fruit pieces can become very hard and dry and need to be oiled or glycerated to keep them soft and moist after baking. Lightly roasting nuts improves their shelflife in finished products. Similarly, syrups need various stabilizers, such as starches, pectin and gums to maintain viscosity and identity in the finished product.