Development and evaluation of soft cookies enriched with walnuts and raisins: physicochemical properties, sensory acceptance, and antioxidant activity

Skipping breakfast is a common issue among university students, often due to time constraints and irregular sleep patterns. This behaviour is linked to unhealthy eating patterns, which reduce academic performance and lead to negative health outcomes. Functional ingredients are increasingly used in baked goods, however, the potential of walnuts and raisins to boost antioxidant activity in soft cookies formulations remains relatively unexplored. This study aimed to develop and evaluate walnut soft cookies as ready-to-eat food with enhanced antioxidant activity, which suitable for consumption by the general population, particularly students. Four cookie formulations were prepared with the addition of raisins and varying levels of walnut (sample S0:0%, S1:10%, S2:20%, and S3:30%) to partially replace wheat flour. The products were analysed for the physicochemical content such as moisture, ash, carbohydrate, crude protein, crude fat, and fiber. The sensory evaluation was conducted by 35 semi-trained panelists using 7-point hedonic scale to evaluate on appearance, aroma, texture, taste and overall acceptance. The antioxidant activity was determined by using the DPPH radical scavenging assay. The nutritional content of sample S0 is 10.38%, 1.53%, 68.60%, 1.93%, 15.47% and 2.09% respectively, followed by sample S1’s nutritional content with 10.46%, 1.53%, 66.61%, 2.10%, 17.10% and 2.21% consecutively. The nutritional content of sample S2 is 10.47%, 1.66%, 66.06%, 2.28%, 17.20% and 2.33% respectively, while sample S3 has 11.02%, 1.8%, 62.94%, 2.98%, 18.80% and 2.46% of nutritional content, respectively. The sensory result showed that sample S2 was rated highest for the aroma, taste and overall acceptance. The antioxidant activity was analysed and the result indicated that antioxidant activity in samples S1, S2, and S3 was 21.56%, 50.0% and 59.22% consecutively. In conclusion, the developed walnut soft cookies could serve as a potential alternative to improve breakfast intake among students.