Ready to bake dough with shaped, coextruded filling and method of making same

Abstract

The invention relates to a ready to bake dough product with a shaped filling. The filling is sized and configured so as to minimize or avoid exposure or spilling during processing, handling, or baking. The shape of the filling is configured such that it has a shorter distance vertically than horizontally. The shape of the filling may be substantially in the form of a rectangle, triangle, pentagon, hexagon, half circle, diamond, trapezoid, oval, or similar shapes.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . A ready-for-use dough product comprising a filling and dough surrounding the filling, a top portion, a bottom portion, and side portions, with the filling being sized and configured to have a shape that is shorter in distance vertically from the bottom portion to the top portion than horizontally between the side portions, when viewed in cross-section.  
     
     
         2 . The dough product of  claim 1 , wherein the dough to filling has a weight ratio of about 50/50 to 95/5.  
     
     
         3 . The dough product of  claim 1 , wherein the shape of the filling is at least substantially in the form of a rectangle, triangle, pentagon, hexagon, half circle, diamond, trapezoid, or oval.  
     
     
         4 . The dough product of  claim 1 , wherein the vertical distance is about 5% to 90% of the horizontal distance.  
     
     
         5 . The dough product of  claim 1 , in sheet or block form having a generally uniform thickness wherein the top portion has a surface that includes an imprint of grooves, score lines, or combinations thereof, that defines pieces of the dough to be broken off and baked, with the imprint extending into the thickness of the dough but not entirely therethrough and each dough piece containing a filling which is surrounded above, below, and on two sides by dough.  
     
     
         6 . The dough product of  claim 5 , in the form of a parallelepipedal or prismatic block having a thickness of about 0.5 to 5 cm, wherein a plurality of fillings are provided, with each filling having the recited shape and being spaced from adjacent fillings.  
     
     
         7 . The dough product of  claim 6 , in the form of a flat sheet having a thickness of about 1 cm to 3 cm and the fillings are provided as a plurality of spaced stripes in the dough.  
     
     
         8 . The dough product of  claim 1 , wherein the dough comprises sweet dough.  
     
     
         9 . The dough product of  claim 8 , wherein the dough comprises flour, a leavening agent in an amount of up to about 3% by weight, sugar, and a fat.  
     
     
         10 . The dough product of  claim 9 , further comprising pieces of chocolate, nuts, fruit, or candy inclusions in an amount of about 5% to 50% by weight of the dough, wherein the pieces are about 1 mm to 10 mm in size.  
     
     
         11 . The dough product of  claim 9 , wherein the flour is present in an amount of about 10% to 60% by weight, the sugar is present in an amount of about 10% to 50% by weight, the leavening agent is present in an amount of about 0.1% to 3% by weight, the fat is present in an amount of about 5% to 33% by weight, and a texturing agent is present in an amount of up to 10% by weight and a flavoring agent is present in an amount of up to about 8% by weight.  
     
     
         12 . The dough product of  claim 11 , wherein the texturing agent comprises egg or egg white present in an amount of about 0.1% to 10% by weight, the flavoring agent is present in an amount of about 0.1% to 7% by weight, the fat is a solid, semi-solid, or liquid at room temperature and of animal or plant origin, and the dough has a moisture content of about 2% to about 25%.  
     
     
         13 . The dough product of  claim 8 , in the form of a block having at least one of: at least two different dough layers, at least two different dough strips, at least some of the pieces have different colors, at least some of the pieces have surface decorations, or at least two different doughs swirled together.  
     
     
         14 . The dough product of  claim 1 , wherein the product is refrigerated or frozen prior to use.  
     
     
         15 . A method for providing a filled dough product which comprises: providing a filling within a dough having a top portion, a bottom portion, and side portions with the filling being sized and configured to have a shape that is shorter in distance vertically from the base to the top than horizontally between the sides when viewed in cross-section to provide the filled dough product.  
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the filled dough product is prepared by coextruding the dough and the filling such that the dough surrounds the filling.  
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , further coextruding the dough in the form of a parallelepipedal or prismatic block having a thickness of about 0.5 to 5 cm and providing a plurality of fillings therein, with each filling having a first desired shape and being spaced from adjacent fillings.  
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the dough block is coextruded as a pair of flat sheets having a thickness of about 1 to 3 cm and the fillings are provided as a plurality of spaced stripes which are extruded between the dough sheets.  
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , wherein the dough is formulated to flow upon baking and the sheet is cut into pieces that are baked on a sheet or pan that allows the pieces to flow to form individually baked products having a second desired shape.  
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the dough is coextruded in the form of a block having at least two different dough layers, at least two different dough strips, at least some of the pieces have different colors, at least some of the pieces have surface decorations, or at least two different doughs are swirled together.  
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the filling is provided in discrete pulses, such that when the dough is cut into pieces, the fillings are contained within each piece and do not cross into adjacent pieces.