A Holistic Approach to Organic Baking

By Sharon Herzog


As a food scientist who has formulated for both conventional and organic products, I find it fascinating to compare and contrast the two systems. While there is a whole host of ingredients that make it easier and more convenient to formulate conventional products, the satisfaction that comes from using a smaller, simpler organic “tool box” has its own rewards.

My first organic assignment came in 1992, while working for several conventional food companies. Chuck Enderson, president of Country Choice Naturals, asked me if I could create a certified organic oatmeal cookie using the company’s Old Fashioned Oatmeal as a way to demo the cereal at the All Things Organic trade show. The resulting cookies were so popular, Country Choice launched an organic cookie line shortly thereafter, based on that recipe.

For the next few years I worked concurrently in both fields; one month formulating a conventional cake mix, and the next an organic cookie. One day I could use three different emulsifiers, hydrogenated shortening and all the tools of a conventional baker, and the next I’d be stripping down a regular formula and then building it back up using only those tools approved by the National Organic Program (NOP). Working this way was an invaluable experience and gave me broad insight into each system.

By 1999, I was working full-time at Country Choice as a member of a team that creates great tasting certified organic products using a holistic approach to baking.

Setting Your Sights
Our formulation team has two basic criteria: All of our products are certified organic, and they have to taste as good or better than their conventional counterparts. Developing products with premium taste using only certified organic products is our one and only mission. To do this, we look to best-selling conventional products that enjoy wide consumer support and then formulate, source and produce a certified organic version with a similar flavor profile.

Naturally, it is a complex business to create a simple organic product that has all the features of a conventional product. Defining the product parameters, requirements and goals before heading into the testing lab are all part of the strategies for success, and will reduce the likelihood of failure.

Once we target the kind of product we want to produce, we select ingredients as our building blocks. This is a critical first step because the ingredients chosen ultimately will define the finished product. Does it need to be gluten- or milk-free? Will it also need to be Kosher? Are there specific nutritional or regulatory goals, such as low fat, heart healthy or soy protein, that this product will claim? Importantly, what is the level of organic that the product needs to meet?

Under the NOP guidelines, the level of organic will dictate the ingredients allowed to be used and are found in the National List. It is important to note that some ingredients are allowed for use in 70% made with organic labeled products but not in 95%+ certified organic labeled products. Organic bakery product formulators must acquaint themselves with these requirements at the outset of new product research and development.

Balancing Crumb, Lift and Taste
There are three primary ingredients used in baked goods recipes—flour, sugar and fat. Since every baked good has a structure, the first ingredient to select is organic flour, which is the primary building block of the formulation. Whichever type of flour is used, it is important to know that flour is not just flour. The flour chosen for a cookie has different properties than that chosen for bread. The second primary building block of baked goods is the sugar source. In the natural and organic baked goods industry, sweetener options include organic sugar (evaporated cane juice), molasses, rice syrups, fruit sweeteners, honey and a group of organic grain syrups, such as wheat and tapioca. The third main building block is fat, which adds moisture and tenderness to the final product. Establishing a dependable shelf life is an important concern that can be aided by certain oils. Additionally, natural vitamin E can be used as an antioxidant for products in which a longer shelf-life is required.

With these ingredients in place you can look to your secondary ingredients. The minor components of a formula may be small in percentage of the total recipe but very important in providing functionality to the final product. Gums, starches and emulsifiers hold it all together, while leavening provides for crumb structure and lift. Flavors and spices are added to ensure that the product tastes good, and all of these ingredients need to be balanced to maintain the ideal flavor and texture profile.

When building an organic baked good, it’s tempting to want to use an emulsifier that will give you more aeration or a bit more tenderness, especially if you are used to that option in conventional baking, but on a simplistic level, they’re really not necessary. You just have to find the balance in other ways. Instead, we go back to the basics and look at using gum, some starches and the few emulsifiers that organic food manufacturers are allowed to use. There are some compromises to be made but we’ve found that if you do your homework and really understand the functionality of what ingredients can do, then you can achieve the same thing. We find the most superior formulas come from natural solutions, and ultimately, taste more homemade than the industrial competition.

Ingredient Interaction in the Baking Matrix
The ways ingredients interact also are important aspects of the organic baking matrix. We need to look at each ingredient to see how it is going to interact with the other ingredients in the formulation so that we’re not caught off guard by unexpected or undesirable results. Not taking into account the interaction between ingredients can result in everything from missed opportunities to disasters.

There can be negative outcomes, such as rancidity, when ingredients come into contact with each other. For example, the presence of some components, such as trace minerals and enzymes, can accelerate the rancidity of oils. Chelating agents, such as citric acid are often added to deactivate trace minerals, such as copper and iron, which can accelerate these reactions. Enzymes can greatly limit the shelf life of some grain components due to rancidity if they are not deactivated. Moisture transfer from one ingredient to another can cause one part of the product to dry out and another part to become unacceptably soggy.

Ingredient combinations also can have a big impact, for good or ill, on taste and texture. Thanks to a growing number of certified ingredients, we now have a whole host of sweet options, including organic cane syrup, organic cane juice, organic brown rice syrups, organic honey, and organic fruit or juice concentrates. But we need to know how using one over another will impart features that translate into the finished product. For example, the interaction of protein and reducing sugars, or non-enzymatic browning, can result in “pruney” off-flavors that develop as the product ages.

Being aware of these characteristics and interactions of the ingredients can give the formulator an edge in the development process.


Sourcing, Co-Packing and Cost
The single biggest change in the organic industry in the past 10 years is the greater availability of certified ingredients. What was once a trickle of organic raw materials and ingredients coming into the market has become a flood, and this abundance of product has brought down costs and increased overall quality of the ingredients available.

Ingredient sourcing is the cross-function of what ingredient is necessary versus what is available. As more “conventional” ingredient suppliers have entered the organic market, availability of certified organic ingredients has improved. Thus, product developers should no longer feel held back by a lack of quality certified organic ingredients.

One of the most rewarding aspects of organic baking is working directly with suppliers as they are developing new organic products. The advantages of partnerships with suppliers can result in a true win-win situation for both sides. As an organic manufacturer, we often have insights into the organic market that help in developing ingredients that increase sales on both sides. Conventional ingredient manufacturers continue to introduce organic ingredients into the market and assistance from organic product developers is critical to their success. Additionally, while ingredient cost control is important, partnerships with suppliers can allow for combining volumes of key ingredients to bring overall costs down.

The contract manufacturing industry is another group that has made tremendous strides in its understanding of organic. No longer perceived as a scary alternative venture, organic programs are now viewed as just another way to bake–similar to an allergen or Kosher program—with its own guidelines and procedures.

The cost of obtaining certified organic ingredients, however, is still a major issue for certified organic product developers. Ultimately, cost determines whether we can go forward with a product to its final form. Prices can vary from 25% to 300% more than the cost of similar conventional ingredients. In the case of certified organic egg whites, for example, it can be as much as five times more than conventional eggs. Choosing the right ingredients early in the process and providing cost constraints to organic ingredient suppliers will better ensure your bakery operation’s success. Not only do we want our products to meet the NOP requirements and taste great, but we want our products to be available at a reasonable price for consumers.

By taking the holistic approach to the organic baked goods formulation process, customers will be assured of a great tasting, certified organic product that they will reach for on the supermarket shelf again and again.

Sharon Herzog is Director of R&D with Country Choice Naturals, in Eden Prairie, MN. She has been involved in food product development for 20 years, and is a member of the Institute of Food Technologists. She can be reached at sharonh@countrychoicenaturals.com.