Upcycling of Non-Standard Cakes by Manufacturing Ring-Shaped Cookies

Abstract

A creative approach to reducing food waste by reusing industrial cake waste can result in the development of a worldwide favorite snack. This study aimed to evaluate the potential of industrial cake wastes—basic mini cake (BMC), filled mini cake (FMC), and traditional mini cake (TMC)—as sustainable alternatives to wheat flour in producing ring-shaped cookies. After initial screening, FMC was upcycled at 10%, 15%, 20%, 30%, and 50% of wheat flour replacement for ring-shaped cookie processing. Only the formulations containing 10, 15, and 20% FMC waste showed good moldability and similar rheological parameters between each other (p < 0.05). After baking, the cookies made with FMC waste showed greater volume expansion (p < 0.05) compared to the standard formulation. All cookies had water activity below 0.6 and remained stable during the 150 days of storage. Furthermore, after 150 days of storage, the hardness of the standard (T1) formulation was 40.02 N, while formulations with FMC waste (10%—T2, 15%—T3, and 20%—T4) resulted in softer cookies, with hardness values of 26.9 N, 27.9 N, and 27.61 N, respectively. The ring-shaped cookies containing 15% FMC waste showed the best technological performance, considering manufacture, physicochemical, and hardness traits, with no nutritional differences compared to the control.