Development of Natural Colorant-Loaded Oleogels and Their Use in Cookies

This study aimed to investigate the production of color-enriched oleogels using sunflower oil enriched with natural pigments, and to evaluate their potential as fat replacers in cookie formulations. Tomato, carrot, and spinach were used as natural color sources to obtain red, orange, and green colored oils, which were subsequently structured with candelilla wax to produce colored oleogels. The physicochemical, structural, oxidative, textural, and color properties of both oils and oleogels were evaluated. Oleogel’s performance was further assessed in cookie systems compared with margarine-based control formulations. The results showed that all oleogels exhibited high oil-binding capacity (99.44–99.84%) and stable gelation behavior. Oxidative stability analysis indicated a tendency for peroxide, free fatty acid, and p-anisinide values to increase during storage. FTIR analysis confirmed that no chemical modification occurred in the lipid structure, indicating that oleogel formation was governed by physical interactions. Color analysis demonstrated that pigment incorporation significantly affected L*, a*, and b* values, while spinach oleogel showed superior color stability over 90 days. Oleogel-based cookies generally exhibited lower hardness and higher spread ratios (4.71–5.38) than the margarine control (3.04), while their expansion ratios (137.50–162.50%) were lower than that of the control (212.50%); however, baking weight loss remained unaffected. This study demonstrates that naturally pigment-enriched oleogels can serve as healthy fat replacers within clean-label bakery product development.