Process for preparing snack products with expanded coating

Abstract

A process for producing a snack product with an expanded coating comprising a core material selected from the group consisting of nuts, beans, seeds, expanded starchy materials coated with fatty confectionary material and shaped fatty confectionary material. While being tumbled, the core material is given a first coating by alternately sprinkling or spraying a 60:40 to 30:70 mixture by weight of a starchy flour that has small expandability but provides good savor and a highly expandable pregelatinized starchy flour and an aqueous sugar solution comprising corn syrup or a mixture of 1 part by weight of corn syrup and not more than 2 parts by weight of sucrose that is dissolved in water to give a refractive Brix value between 30 and 40. The coated core material is then given a second coating by alternately sprinkling or spraying a mixture of the less expandable but highly savory starchy flour with an equal or less amount by weight of the highly expandable pregelatinized starchy flour and an aqueous sugar solution that comprises sucrose or a mixture of 2 parts by weight of sucrose and not more than 1 part by weight of corn syrup and/or soluble starch that is dissolved in water to give a refractive Brix value between 50 and 60. The core material with the first and second coatings is then fried after optional drying.