Influence of Buckwheat Flour and Carboxymethyl Cellulose on Rheological Behaviour and Baking Performance of Gluten-Free Cookie Dough

In the present study, the influence of buckwheat flour and carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) on the production of sheetable gluten-free cookie dough of acceptable rheological properties and subsequently their effect on the quality of gluten-free cookies was studied. The buckwheat flour was used to replace 10, 20 and 30 % of rice flour in gluten-free formulations. Cookie doughs of 100 % rice flour and 100 % wheat flour served as control samples. The impact of CMC addition was examined on formulation containing 20 % of buckwheat flour. Oscillatory and creep measurements were applied to test the effect of buckwheat flour and CMC on the viscoelasticity of gluten-free cookie dough. Frequency sweep results showed that all samples had solid elastic-like characteristics. An increase in the buckwheat flour addition led to a decrease in storage modulus and zero shear viscosity and an increase in tan delta and maximum creep compliance, while the addition of CMC led to an increase in dough tenacity and resistance to deformation. Cookie dough containing 30 % of buckwheat flour expressed the highest viscous properties, as revealed by relative viscous compliance value. The gluten-free dough containing CMC and buckwheat flour between 20 and 30 % replacement level showed similar strength and extensibility as wheat cookie dough. The results of the physical and sensory evaluation of gluten-free cookies showed that buckwheat addition led to a decrease in cookie hardness and fracturability and an increase in eccentricity (deformation from regular shape) as well as the overall acceptability, as evaluated by untrained panellists.