USING WIRE-CUT AND SUGAR-SNAP FORMULA COOKIE TEST BAKING METHODS TO EVALUATE DISTINCTIVE SOFT WHEAT-FLOUR SETS - IMPLICATIONS FOR QUALITY TESTING

The geometry and instrumentally assessed hardness of cookies produced using the two AACC standard cookie formulations, wire-cut formula (WCF ) and sugar-snap formula (SSF), were evaluated using flours produced f rom distinctive sets of soft wheats. The sets exhibited wide ranges in kernel texture, protein content milling stream selection, and cultiva rs. Across cultivars, higher flour protein content and harder wheat ke rnels produced harder WCF cookies. Later milling reduction streams als o produced harder WCF cookies. Cultivar differences produced different levels of WCF cookie probe resistance, which were influenced by prote in content. Across cultivars, the hardness of SSF cookies was not corr elated with flour protein content. Flours that produced larger SSF coo kie spread tended to produce softer WCF cookies. That suggests that th e historical use of the SSF cookie spread test to select cultivars tha t produced larger cookies has generally been selecting for wheats that produce softer, more tender commercially based WCF cookies. It is imp ortant for commercial baking applications that the moisture content of WCF cookies was better correlated (than that of SSF cookies) with coo kie diameter, thickness, and hardness. The WCF method was concluded to be superior to the SSF method for use in studying the effects of flou r qualities on cookie geometry, moisture content, and hardness.