THE 3-D PRINTERS used to create everything from industrial prototypes to jewelry are coming to the culinary world. In collaboration with chefs and companies like Hershey’s and Barilla, makers of 3-D printers are experimenting with chocolate, cookie dough, sugar and other ingredients that can be loaded into a printer.

The promise of these machines isn’t just mass production, but also an entirely different type of deliciousness. The printers can render ingredients like chocolate and pasta in shapes and textures that have previously...