ABSTRACT
Cookies and biscuits are products made from soft flours. Low content of protein (8 to 10% in the grain), low water absorption, and low resistance to deformation are the characteristics that describe the suitability of wheat for biscuit production (Pedersen et al., 2004). Cookies are characterized by a formula high in sugar and fat and low in water. Cookie dough is cohesive but to a large degree lacks the extensibility and elasticity characteristics of bread dough. Relatively high quantities of fat and sugar in dough provide dough plasticity and cohesiveness without the formation of the gluten network, and they produce less elastic dough (Faridi, 1990). A highly elastic dough is not desirable in biscuit making because it shrinks after lamination. In addition, and again depending on the formulation, cookie dough tends to spread (become larger and wider) as it bakes rather than to shrink as does cracker dough. Spread is an important quality parameter for cookies.
