Properties of sugar-snap cookies as influenced by lauric-based shortenings

The objective of this work was to assess the effect of different lauric-based shortenings with varying solid fat content (SFC) on sugar-snap cookie dough properties and cookie quality. Shortenings were produced by blending high oleic sunflower oil, palm kernel oil and palm stearin in different ratios, obtaining shortenings with different SFCs. It was observed that the SFC of the shortening largely influences the rheological properties of the cookie dough. At small deformations, fat crystals add elasticity to the dough; while at large deformations, fat-structure is disrupted, and it does not contribute to dough hardness. Fats with intermediate SFCs decrease dough resistance due to an enhanced shortening ability. Nevertheless, this effect is only obtained when shortening is homogeneously distributed in the dough. The SFC of the shortening influences dough and cookie structure by preventing gluten polymerization which was observed by a decrease in cookie break strength. A prerequisite for this effect is that shortening is finely dispersed in the dough. Good quality cookies were obtained using lauric-based shortenings, and best results were obtained with SFC between 20 and 25%. Higher SFC (around 45-50%) led to the production of unacceptable sugar-snap cookies.