Method for making sweet cookie dough having an imprinted surface

#The current invention relates to methods useful for making sweet dough products having a patterned appearance. In particular, the invention relates to methods for making individual sweet cookie dough pieces having an imprint, such that the individual sweet cookie dough pieces simulate a homemade appearance.

#Consumers commonly enjoy the convenience of packaged food products such as dough products. In particular, raw dough products have gained commercial success as provided in frozen or refrigerated forms to facilitate consumers making home-baked dough products. Moreover, such raw dough products are typically packaged to facilitate consumer use, as desired. Potential consumers of such refrigerated or frozen dough products include individual in-home consumers, as well as in-store bakeries and restaurants that bake cookies on-site and sell the cookies to consumers at the bakery or restaurant.

#Many dough products suitable for packaging as frozen or refrigerated products have been developed. As an example, sweet dough products such as certain types of cookies are frequently packaged in frozen or refrigerated forms. More recently, these frozen or refrigerated cookie dough products designed for home consumers have been provided as a separable block, where the consumer must first separate the individual portions of the block prior to baking. Another format for home consumer frozen or refrigerated cookie dough products provides individual cookie pucks, or preformed cookies, that the consumer simply transfers from the packaging to a baking pan for baking at the appropriate temperature. According to this latter format, no manipulation of the dough product is required by the consumer.

#The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute part of the present application, illustrate several aspects of the invention and together with a description of the embodiments serve to explain the principles of the invention. A brief description of the drawings is as follows:

#FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of one embodiment of a method and apparatus in accordance with the present invention for providing controlled and aligned imprints to cookie dough pieces as part of an in-line manufacturing process;

#FIG. 2 is a schematic side view of a dough piece deposition process with subsequent imprinting of the dough pieces;

#The present invention provides methods for providing an ornamental imprint on at least one surface of an individual soft cookie dough piece (dough piece meaning prior to baking). In particular, the present invention has been developed for the ability to provide an ornamental imprint that is aligned, in a desired way, to each individual soft cookie dough piece that has been formed, and which aligned imprint is to be appreciable in a subsequently baked cookie. That is, by the present invention, an ornamental imprint can be formed that is aligned to each individual soft cookie dough piece after the individual soft cookie dough pieces have been formed and provided on a conveyor. The inventive methods thus produce a soft cookie dough product that comprises a soft cookie dough piece containing an imprint on a surface thereof.

#In accordance with the present invention, an ornamental imprint can be created by any suitable process that adds to, removes from, or otherwise modifies an individual soft cookie dough piece in some desired way such as in appearance. For example, an ornamental imprint can be formed on an individual soft cookie dough piece by applying a suitable pattern mechanism that contains the pattern to be imprinted, to a surface of the individual dough piece. Such a pattern can be controllably applied while the cookie is moving or stationary. Alternatively, an ornamental imprint can be formed on an individual soft cookie dough piece by directing high-pressure air to the dough piece, thereby controllably deforming a surface of the dough piece and defining a desired imprint In yet another embodiment, an ornamental imprint can be provided during the cookie dough piece forming stage, such as by utilizing a rotary molding apparatus baying patterned pistons for applying the imprint while driving the dough piece from a mold cavity.

#Preferably, the method provides individual soft cookie dough products with a reproducible ornamental imprint on a surface, wherein, upon baking, the ornamental imprint is maintained upon the surface of the dough product. As used herein, “ornamental” refers to a pattern or imprint formed on a surface of the soft cookie dough product that does not significantly affect the structural integrity of the soft cookie dough product. In other words, the ornamental imprint primarily provides an aesthetic feature to the soft cookie dough product that is appreciable after baking and that does not serve a significantly functional role in the size, overall shape or configuration of the soft cookie dough product.