Fruit paste-based food product incorporating high protein particulates

A method for preparing food products comprising the steps of:

• providing a fruit-paste matrix having a water activity in the range of 0.55-0.70;
• coating protein bits, constituting a non-dairy and non-soy protein source, with a syrup selected from the group consisting of honey, maple, tapioca, agave, brown rice, date and sorghum syrups, applied directly on and hardened around the protein bits to establish protein particulates having a crunchy texture attribute;
• intermixing the protein particulates into the fruit-paste matrix to form a composite food product in which the protein particulates remain crunchy over an extended period of time versus protein particulates which do not include a corresponding syrup coating;
• and
• forming individual food products from the composite food product.

A method for preparing food products comprising the steps of:

• providing a fruit-paste matrix having a water activity in the range of 0.55-0.70;
• coating protein bits, constituting a non-dairy and non-soy protein source, with a syrup selected from the group consisting of honey, maple, tapioca, agave, brown rice, date and sorghum syrups to establish protein particulates having a crunchy texture attribute, wherein the coating of the protein bits includes heating extruded protein bits to 170° F-255° F. (77° C.-124° C.), separately heating the syrup to about 255° F. (124° C.), and combining the heated extruded protein bits and the heated syrup;
• intermixing the protein particulates into the fruit-paste matrix to form a composite food product in which the protein particulates are included in an amount of 20-35% of the composite food product and remain crunchy over an extended period of time versus protein particulates which do not include a corresponding syrup coating;
• and
• forming individual food products from the composite food product.