Research Paper

Avocado Cookies

(As Healthy Alternatives for Snacks)

October 14, 2017

Submitted to:

Mr. Danilo Alvarez Jr.

 Avocado Cookies
(As Healthy Alternative for Snacks)

Chapter I: The Problem and its Background

Background of the Study

Filipino loves to eat and they usually consume foods that are made of oils and bad fats
which are found in many different types of foods and can be very difficult to avoid. Unhealthy
eating habits are common as 84% of the surveyed Filipinos said that they tend to eat while
distracted. 81% admitted to eating unhealthy snacks between meals and 71% had their dinners
close to bed time (by pan-Asian insurance giant AIA Group). The inability for one to control too
much consumption of sweets or unhealthy foods may lead to high risk of diabetes, cholesterol
level, weight gain, tooth decay, dieting difficulties, and reduces nutrient intake and bone
strength. However, there are also Filipinos who have a healthy lifestyle but has limited choices
for food consumption because of the unavailability of healthy snacks. Filipinos need foods that is
less unhealthy and just enough to satisfy their cravings. This study seeks to produce or create a
healthy alternative snack for a healthier diet that will help lessen the said effects without spoiling
the fun of eating a similar product. Avocado, which contains healthy fats that consist largely of
heart-healthy monounsaturated fatty acids, is used to avoid using butter and eggs in the cookie
recipe.

The purpose of this study is to let Avocado Cookies become an alternative (healthy)
snack for everyone and to know if Filipinos are willing to try the said product.

Statement of the Problem

Unhealthy food consumption is a habit here in the Philippines and Filipinos are known to
be picky about their food hence majority of them don’t eat vegetables. They prefer snacks that
are easy to eat and are rich in fat. Producing a similar product but in a healthier way as
alternatives for snack like Avocado Cookies will surely help in reducing chances of diabetes,
and will help lessen unhealthy food consumption.

Filipinos usually prefer fruits over vegetables, especially adolescents which exceeded the
recommended intake of fruits. However there is no guarantee that they will be willing to buy the
product since not all Filipinos like cookies or avocado. “Will they buy the product? Are they
willing to purchase something that is new to the public? Will they choose avocado cookies as
snacks?” They might not be interested despite the product being healthy and will still choose to
buy unhealthy ones.
Significance of the Study

This is designed to help Filipinos who likes to eat healthy foods as well as Filipinos who
have an unhealthy eating habit, have a perfect alternative that is similar to other snacks but is
way healthier. This will make Filipinos especially students, to realize that healthy snacks are
better than unhealthy ones and this will help lessen health damage in terms of food or snack
consumption.

Hypothesis

 Avocado cookies would have a similar physical profile as well as similar acceptance rate
as compared to normal baked cookies.

This hypothesis predicts that Avocado cookies as a healthy alternative for snacks will have
the same characteristics as normal baked cookies and will be accepted by the consumers just
fine.

Definition of Terms

Alternatives- a choice limited to one of two or more possibilities, as of things, propositions, or

courses of action. The selection of which precludes any other possibility.

Augment- makes something greater by adding to it; increase

Consumption- the using up of a resource

Food Diversification- introducing new food and textures in a specific diet to a more varied food.

Interrelated- relate or connect to one another

Chapter II: Review of Related Literature

Definition of Food Diversification

Food diversification has various definitions. According to Riyadi (2003), diversification

is an election process food that is not only dependent on one type of food, but has a variety of
options (alternate) to a variety of foodstuffs.

While according to Suharjo (1998), mentioned that basically diversification includes three
interrelated scope of understanding, namely food consumption diversification, diversification of
food availability and diversification of food production.

While, Soetrisno (1998) defines a narrower diversification (in the context of food
consumption) is an effort to diversify the type of food consumed, includes food sources of
energy and nutrients, thus meeting the needs of food and nutrition in accordance with good
sufficiency in terms of quantity and quality.

Materials for making Avocado Cookies

The raw materials needed according to Erica Hale are unsweetened chocolate, coconut
oil, organic avocado to substitute for traditional fats (oil, butter), unsalted organic almond butter
(may substitute peanut butter), honey, organic, cage-free eggs, organic cocoa powder and organic
almond flour.

Avocado

Organic avocado According to Erica Hale is used to substitute for traditional fats (oil,
butter). Avocado is considered one of the main tropical fruits, as it contains fat soluble vitamins
which are less common in other fruits, besides high level of protein, potassium and unsaturated
fatty acids. This fruit has been recognized for its health benefits, especially due to the
compounds present in the lipidic fraction, such as omega fatty acids, phytosterols, tocopherols
and squalene (SANTOS et al., 2014b).

Studies have shown the benefits of avocado associated to a balance diet, especially in reducing
cholesterol and preventing cardiovascular diseases. The processed avocado pulp is an alternative
to utilize fruits, which can be used in various value added products.

Unsweetened chocolate

Unsweetened chocolate originates from a paste made from ground cacao beans
unsweetened chocolate keeps its cocoa butter. It also a building block in desserts such as
brownies and chocolate cake; CL (2010)
Coconut oil

Coconut oil, or copra oil, is an edible oil extracted from the kernel or meat of mature
coconuts harvested from the coconut palm, (Wikipedia).

Sugar

According to Lekker (2011), function of sugar are giving sweetness, giving color to the
skin cake, helping to soft the cake, moistening the cake, and relaxing the dough. The amount of
sugar and good quality will affect the texture, appearance and taste of the final product.

Baking Powder

Baking powder is a developer material (leavening agent), which consists of a mixture of

sodium bicarbonate, sodium aluminum phosphate, and monocalcium phosphate. According to
Faridah (2008, p, 53), baking powder has three types are fast acting, slow acting, and double
acting.

1. Fast acting: react when shaking

2. Slow acting: react when roasting

3. Double acting: react when shaking and roasting

Aroma

According to Wibowo (2012), is an extract from the aroma of foodstuffs such as vanilla,
chocolate, orange, strawberry and others. Aroma used to augment or reinforce the aroma of the
ingredients of cake, bread, cakes, puddings and drinks.

Salt

According to Lekker (2011), salt can evoke flavor or aroma, also plays an important role
in causing the color of the crust. The amount of salt added depends on several factors, especially
the type of flour used. Flour with lower protein content will require more salt because salt will
strengthen the protein.
Milk

The protein in milk creates a strong batter or dough, capable of rising and withstanding the
rigors of baking. (2017)

Products of Cookies

Cookies are from word koekie that means small cakes. According to BSN (1992), cookies
are a type of biscuit that is made from soft dough, high fat, relatively crisp when broken and
densely textured sectional cuts. Cookies can be classified based on techniques formation (make-
up) used (Hamidah, 1996, p,94). The classification of cookies is comprised of:

1. Drop cookies are made from relatively, soft dough that is dropped by spoonfuls onto the
baking sheet. Chocolate chip cookies and oatmeal cookies are popular example of drop cookies.

2. Refrigerator cookies are made from stiff dough that is refrigerated to become even stiffer. The
dough is typically shaped into cylinders which are sliced into round cookies before baking.

3. Molded cookies are also made from stiffer dough that is molded into balls or cookie shapes by
hand before baking.

4. Rolled cookies are made from stiffer dough that is rolled out and out into shapes with a cookie
cutter. A gingerbread man is an example.

5. Pressed cookies are made from soft dough that is extruded from a cookie press into various
decorative shapes before baking.

6. Bar cookie consists of batter or other ingredients that are poured or pressed into a pan.

7. Sandwich cookies are rolled or pressed cookies that are assembled as a sandwich with a sweet
filling. Filling may be with marshmallow, jam, or icing.
Chapter III: Research Methodology

Research Design

Filipinos, more specifically students from primary, secondary and tertiary school is
known for having a sweet tooth. After every meal and during mirienda time, students take its
traditional snack which is commonly a sweet delicacy. STI’s canteen food menu mostly caters
sugary snacks and drinks that increases one’s risk of heart disease, diabetes and causes lower
immunity. In order for it to be solved, the research team created an idea on how to make the
student’s snack enjoyable, delicious and most importantly healthy. According to research,
avocado contains lots of benefits and it is incredibly nutritious. It contains more potassium than
banana. In addition to its benefits, avocado is loaded with heart-healthy monounsaturated fatty
acids that is believe responsible for the health benefits of olive oil. In order to determine if the
students prefer avocado cookies as a healthy alternative for normal cookies, the researchers used
descriptive method and questionnaires which served as an instrument in determining how many
students are interested in buying the said product and if they would recommend it to their friends
and family. As planned, the data has been collected in October 14, 2017. The money that has
been used throughout the whole research isn’t very costly since we’ve been gathering data
through surveys.

Locale of the Study

The study is conducted in Systems Technology Institute (STI) Colleges, Zamboanga

City, October 14 2017. The school is offering college and senior high school program which
means that there are high school and college students within the campus. The said school has
been selected due to the lack of healthy snacks offered inside their canteen. In addition, most of
the snacks offered are sugar consumed products. This leads the students in purchasing unhealthy
sweet snacks because healthy snacks are not available within the canteen’s menu.

Population or Sample of the Study

A total of 140 senior high school students from STI were surveyed to be able to know if they
would want to purchase or try the product. 68 individuals were from the ABM track which is
49% from the total sample of the study. 40 came from the ITMAWE track which is 29% and 32
individuals came from STEM with a percentage of 23%.
Research Instruments

The researchers used questionnaire based survey that highlights the said product which is
avocado cookies as healthy alternative for normal cookies. This is to determine if the senior high
school students as well as the college students prefer avocado cookies as their snacks. In
preparation of the questionnaires, the team selected seven questions that are mostly answered by
yes or no. This will help the researchers identify if Avocado Cookies will have the chance to
succeed or will end up failing.

Chapter IV: Presentation, Analysis, and Interpretation of the Study

Results of
No the Study
12%

1. Do you
like
Avocado?
a. Yes b.
No

Majority of the surveyed

students likes Avocado, where
123 individuals answered YES
and 17 answered NO.

Yes
88%

No
12%

2. Do you
like cookies?
a. Yes b.
No

Majority of the surveyed

students also likes cookies,
where 135 individuals answered
YES and 5 answered NO.
Yes
88%
3. What type of cookies do you like to eat?
a. Crunchy b. Soft
c. Chewy d. Crumbly
Crumbly
3%
Soft
9%
Chewy
4%

Many students prefer cookies

that are CRUNCHY gaining 117
votes. Next in line is SOFT with
12 votes, CHEWY with 6 and
CRUMBLY with 5 votes.

Crunchy
84%

4. Do you
like fruity
cookies?
No a. Yes b.
24% No

Individuals who like to eat

FRUITY COOKIES accumulated
106 votes and those who do
not gained 34 votes.
Yes
76%
5. Which do you prefer?
a. Healthy and organic cookies
b. Normal cookies

Students prefer to eat healthy

and organic cookies than
Normal Cookies
38% normal ones having 87 votes
and the other 53 votes.
Healthy and Organic Cookies
62%

6. What do you think of Avocado cookies?

a. Sounds good b. sounds gross
 c. I
Gross don’t
10% know

I don't know
16%

The number of students

thinks Avocado Cookies
sounds good, with a total of
Sounds Good 104 votes.
74%

7. Would you like to try the product if it is available?

a.
Sure
I don't know b. Most
12% likely
No c. No
4% d. I
don’t
Most Likely know
6%

Majority of the students are sure

to try the product once it’s
available, gaining 109 votes
claiming a total of 78% over the
Sure
78% others.
Chapter V: Summary, Conclusions, and Recommendations

Summary of Findings

Based from the data acquired from the survey, Avocado cookies are most likely going to
be saleable. Many are willing to try and buy the product once it is out. Plus most of them prefer
to eat a healthy product, specifically male students. The number of male students wanting to try a
healthy snack exceeded the number of female students who wants to try it because most females
like normal cookies more. This just proves that they will definitely try the product and will
choose Avocado cookies as their snack.

Conclusions

Avocado will be an excellent alternative and healthy snack for Filipino students because of
the health benefits of its compounds. The possibility of it becoming a permanent choice for snack
is high because many of the students like avocado and cookies. This concludes that the product is
accepted into the market just like normal cookies and it’s physical characteristics will still be the
same with the normal ones because the process of how it is made is just the same, and they only
differ when it comes to the ingredients and how it is presented, making it more yummy and
healthy.

Recommendations

Students needs to eat healthier foods more that is why it is recommended to create and
develop products that are more on the healthy side to help lessen unhealthy effects of foods on
the body. The availability of healthy foods will create a better future for students and will create
better food choices for them. There are lots of healthy fruits out there that can be used to produce
foods that are healthier and will surely please the others considering that Filipinos love to eat
fruits. Best examples are banana and pineapple. Foods that use fruits as main ingredients will
definitely contribute more to the well-being and for the betterment of the lives of others. We
should use our resources more wisely and more effectively from now on.