Over the last two months, homegrown brand ‘Bakedo’ has been making waves on social media. Its handcrafted gourmet cookies are not the regular ‘chewy on the inside and crispy on the outside’ kind. As claimed by the founder, Shirin Harshath, they are Kochi’s first-ever authentic New York-style thick (stuffed) cookies.
The 25-year-old was inspired by chunky cookie brands like Levain Bakery and Chip city. Being a foodie, Shirin follows numerous food pages, and cookies almost always pop up. “Such gooey cookies are prominent in the US and UK, when I saw them on social media, I checked if they are available in Kerala as well. Sadly, I couldn’t find them. So I decided to bake them myself,” says Shirin.
Having run a home-based bakery a few years ago, Shirin was confident about making New York-style cookies. But it took her three years to come up with the authentic style. “Since I knew how to make cookies, I thought some alterations in the proportion could make them like NYC cookies. But I was wrong. The difference is in the dough used. It took me a while to get it right because I also didn’t want to bake with the recipes that are already available,” she says.
Shirin even avoided attending classes to learn about NYC cookies, because she didn’t want it to influence her style. Using local ingredients, she makes cookies that are a bit coarse on the outside. When broken in the middle, the creamy Belgian chocolate filling oozes out. Though these look small, they weigh around 140g.
“Though it is palm-sized, one cookie can be eaten by at least two people,” she adds. Ten flavours are available for New York thick cookies. Their base is made of milk cookie dough. Classic milk/dark, red velvet bomb, caramello, lotus biscoff are a few of them. Of these, toffee crumble has many takers. “The flavour is inspired by the cookie brand ‘Chip City.’ I have made slight modifications, like Belgian milk chocolate filling with caramel. On the outside, streusel topping is poured with caramel drizzle,” says Shirin.
Bakedo is also popular for cookie pie and petite cookies. Cookie pies are filled with Lotus Biscoff, toffee or oreo. “Since they are loaded with fillings, for some they might be too sweet. Our Toffee nut cookie pie is made with just nuts and caramel and it is perfect for the elderly,” says Shirn.
Petite cookies are coin-sized and crispy on the outside while staying chewy on the inside. They are sold in a tin. The cookies can last for seven days at room temperature and up to two months when refrigerated. “Cookies have to be eaten straight out of the oven. If not, it is essential to reheat them so you can enjoy the fillings at their best,” says Shirin.
The baker is thrilled with all the feedback coming her way. “People readily accepted it. Malayalis, especially Kochiites, are always on the lookout for new items,” she says.cPrice starts from Rs 780.