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Factors in Hard Wheat Flour Responsible for Reduced Cookie Spread¹

¹Contribution No. 96-494-J, from the Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station. ²Research associate and professor, respectively, Department of Grain Science and Industry, Kansas State University, Manhattan, KS 66506. ³Present address: R&R Research Services, 8831 Quail Lane, Manhattan, KS 66502. Corresponding author. E-mail: r_and_r@kansas.net

Time-lapse photography showed that, during baking, the diameter of sugar-snap cookies increased linearly then suddenly became fixed. Therefore, cookie diameter was a function of spread rate and set time. Cookies made with soft wheat flour were significantly larger in diameter (184 mm) than those made with hard wheat flour (161 mm). Cookies made with soft wheat flour set later (5.8 min) during baking than those made with hard wheat flour (5.1 min). The differences in set time within cookies made with various hard wheat flours or within cookies made with various soft wheat flours appeared to be affected by flour protein content. However, other factors also affected the difference in set time between cookies made with hard wheat and soft wheat flours. Cookies made with soft wheat flour spread at a faster rate (7.8 mm/min) than those made with hard wheat flour (4.6 mm/min). The level of soluble starch in the flour appeared to cause the difference in spread rate between cookies made with hard wheat and soft wheat flour. The higher level of soluble starch in hard wheat flour (0.352 ± 0.008%) than in soft wheat flour (0.152 ± 0.030%) increased dough viscosity, thus the spread rate was slower. However, soluble starch content did not explain the differences in spread rate within cookies made with various hard wheat flours or within cookies made with various soft wheat flours.