<p>Low moisture baked goods (cookies, biscuits, etc.) are known for their high sugar content, low water content, and characteristic texture. The added sugar in baked goods has been a concern of health advocates due to the negative health implications of overconsumption of sugar. To minimize these health implications and support healthier food products, the replacement of sugar, sucrose, in low moisture baked goods with alternative sweeteners is of interest. The goal of this study was to improve understanding on how sweetener alternatives and dietary fiber interact with cookie ingredients and the subsequent cookie texture compared to sucrose containing cookies to aid in developing health-conscious low moisture baked goods.</p><p> The replacement of sucrose with sucrose replacers (SRs) encompassing a variety of structural and physicochemical properties (high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), amorphous sucrose, maltitol, allulose, isomalt, Benefiber, Miralax, fructooligosaccharides (FOS), and isomalto-oligosacchrides (IMO)) in wire-cut cookies was investigated in terms of starch thermal properties, model cookie formulations, and sensory descriptive analysis. Starch thermal properties were investigated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) while wire-cut cookie parameters were analyzed through a_w, color (<i>a, b, L</i>), moisture loss, cookie dimensions (height, width, length), and cookie hardness (N) assays. Sensory descriptive analysis was used to ascertain texture perception of wire-cut cookies through five attributes (hardness, fracturability, pastiness, cohesiveness, and crumbliness).</p> The onset gelatinization temperature (T_gel) was increased to a greater extent than sucrose by Miralax and FOS, and to the same extent by IMO, maltitol, and Benefiber at high concentrations (60%w/w). The SRs which performed similar to sucrose in wire-cut cookie baking (spread, moisture loss, hardness) and texture intensity ratings were amorphous sucrose, maltitol, and allulose. No significant differences in descriptive analysis intensity scores were found in crumbliness, cohesiveness, and pastiness between SRs and sucrose formulated wire-cut cookies. FOS, IMO, and Benefiber displayed significantly larger fracture intensity scores compared so sucrose and isomalt cookies were significantly less hard than sucrose cookies. Principal component analysis (PCA) related SRs effect on starch gelatinization, cookie baking properties, and descriptive analysis intensity scores, and indicated the mostly likely candidates for use in reduced sugar cookies are maltitol and allulose.

<p dir="ltr">Baked goods are one of the primary sources of added sugar in the American diet. Excessive consumption of added sugar can lead to diseases such as obesity, heart disease, and diabetes. As information pertaining to the link between health and diet becomes more available to consumers, the demand for products with lower calories, fat, and sugar continues to rise. The obstacle in formulating baked goods with alternative sweeteners is that these sweeteners have different effects on the physicochemical properties of the starch in the products than that of sucrose, leading to differences in texture, color (browning), texture, and flavor between the sucrose-containing products consumers are accustomed to and the new reduced sugar products. Previous studies done by the Mauer lab have found that interactions between the sweeteners that enter the amorphous region of the starch granule alter physicochemical properties of the starch, including the gelatinization temperature (T_gel) and pasting properties of the starch. The purpose of this project was to investigate how the presence of oligosaccharides (OS) used as sucrose replacers in starch-containing products alters the functionality of the starch through modification of its thermal and physicochemical properties. Different botanical sources of starch were preconditioned in solutions containing different concentrations of select OS, varying temperature during preconditioning. The preconditioned starches were then analyzed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), rapid visco analysis (RVA), and x-ray diffraction (XRD). Results demonstrated that several OS are less effective plasticizers of starch (all botanical sources) than sucrose, meaning T_gel is higher in the presence of these OS and less pasting occurs. This is advantageous for formulating low moisture baked goods that rely on inhibition of starch gelatinization for desirable product quality.</p>