Shaped baked goods

Abstract

Methods are disclosed for producing a shaped baked good with a rounded shape. In one embodiment, the methods can include providing a dough comprising a high melting point fat and a granular sugar at a weight ratio of about 1:1 to form a rounded cookie piece that minimizes flattening during baking. The dough may be formed by passing the dough between opposing rollers or press plates to form a web. The web may then be baked, rehydrated, separated, and deflashed to form individual rounded cookie pieces.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of making a shaped baked good, said method comprising:
 preparing a dough including a starch, a fat and a sugar, wherein said dough has a moisture content before baking of from about 8% to about 15% w/w by weight of the shaped baked good;   shaping said dough into a webbed sheet comprising shaped dough regions, the shaped dough regions consisting of dough; wherein said shaping comprises inducing or forcing the dough into opposing cavities so that the shaped dough regions have an upper region above the webbed sheet and a lower region below the webbed sheet and wherein the upper and lower regions are substantially symmetric about a plane of the webbed sheet.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said dough has a moisture content from about 9% to about 11% by weight. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein said dough is in granular form prior to shaping. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the opposing cavities are provided on a pair of rollers. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said dough has a moisture content from about 11% to about 14% by weight. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein said dough is sheeted prior to shaping. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the sheeted dough is cooled prior to shaping. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said sugar has a particle size range from about 400 microns to about 2000 microns. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein one or more of said rollers are cooled to a temperature of from about 0° C. to about −20° C. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each of said opposing cavities has a shape selected from the group consisting of a portion of an ellipsoid, a portion of an ovoid, a portion of a rounded shape, a portion of a lentil, or a portion of a sphere. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising baking the webbed sheet wherein the baking and shaping occur at the same time. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the rollers are heated to a temperature of at least 150° C. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising selecting opposing rollers having cavities of different heights so that the shaped dough regions are asymmetric about the webbed sheet. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein said webbed sheet is received on a conveyor belt, wherein said conveyer belt has depressions to generally conform to the shape of the shaped dough regions. 
     
     
         15 . A method of making a baked good, said method including:
 forming a dough including:
 a high melting point fat; and 
 a granular sugar, 
   wherein said high melting point fat and said granular sugar are present in a weight ratio of about 1:1;   forming said dough into a webbed sheet comprising shaped dough regions, the shaped dough regions consisting of dough, by inducing or forcing the dough into opposing cavities so that the shaped dough regions have an upper region above the webbed sheet and a lower region below the webbed sheet; and   baking said dough to form a baked good, wherein said baked good is substantially symmetric about the plane of the webbed sheet after said baking.   
     
     
         16 . A method of making a shaped baked good, said method comprising:
 preparing a dough including a starch, a fat and a sugar, wherein said dough has a moisture content before baking of from about 8% to about 15% w/w by weight of the shaped baked good;   shaping said dough into a plurality of shaped dough regions consisting of dough joined by a webbed sheet wherein said shaping comprises inducing or forcing the dough into opposing cavities so that the dough assumes the shape of the cavities and wherein the opposing cavities are not brought fully into contact during said forcing or inducing to form a webbed sheet of dough extending between the plurality of shaped dough regions formed by the upper and lower cavities.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein said dough is in granular form prior to shaping. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the opposing cavities are provided on a pair of rollers. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein one or more of said rollers are cooled to a temperature of from about 0° C. to about −20° C. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein each of said opposing cavities has a shape selected from the group consisting of a portion of an ellipsoid, a portion of an ovoid, a portion of a rounded shape, a portion of a lentil, or a portion of a sphere.