Inside Bar Down Cookies' new milk and brookie bar
What started as a bonding activity for two siblings has now become a brookie destination with its own storefront.
Bar Down Cookies opened the doors to its brookie and milk bar in Willowbrook Mall on October 1. It’s co-owned by siblings Brayden and Kayla Harvey, who have been making brookies for much longer than the start of their business.
Dished went to the soft opening of Bar Down Cookies and spoke with Kayla about the new venture.
Kayla said the inspiration behind Bar Down Cookies had all started because she missed her brother at university. “I would come home to bake away my stresses in my family’s kitchen with a borrowed KitchenAid mixer while catching up with my brother. I ended up baking more than my family, neighbours, and all our friends could eat, so our parents suggested we do a market, and that’s where we developed the brookie,” she said.
Marco Ovies/Daily Hive
From there, the duo opened its milk and brookie bar inside Langley’s Willowbrooke mall.
“We wanted to create a space that wasn’t just a bakery or a place to get a drink or mocha or latte, we wanted to do the classic milk and cookies with our spin: brookies,” said Kayla. “There are eight irresistible flavours to choose from that can be paired with 2% milk or chocolate milk.”
But you may be wondering, what exactly is a brookie? Kayla said, “a brookie is half brownie and half cookie and it’s the perfect fusion of both. On the outside, you’re going to have the crispy golden brown that a cookie offers, but on the inside, you’ll have the decadent fudge-rich texture of a brownie.”
Kayla added that her favourite on the menu is the Sin Bin, a brookie with a salted brown butter base, a milk chocolate and Belgium chocolate swirl, and chips throughout. “It’s then stuffed with our handmade hand-pulled soft caramel and garnished with sea salt on top,” she said.
Other tasty offerings include the He Shoots, He S’mores! (milk chocolate, graham cracker, and marshmallow), and the Top Shelf (peanut butter and chocolate stuffed with an entire Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup).
Marco Ovies/Daily Hive
Hockey aficionados might recognize the term Sin Bin, but for those not in the know, it refers to the penalty box. So why the hockey reference? That has to do with the charity work the brookie bar does.
“We’re entirely themed after hockey, and each of our brookies gets a unique hockey-themed name,” explained Kayla. “A portion of each brookie sold is donated to KidSports, which helps local kids from Hope to North Shore get into sports if their parents face financial barriers.”
This love of hockey is also present throughout the store, with hockey memorabilia from Kayla and Brayden’s childhood on display, from the duo’s first mini hockey sticks they played with as children to the family’s first-ever Canuck tickets.
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Bar Down Cookies softly opened on October 1, and its grand opening is scheduled for Saturday, October 5. To celebrate the grand opening, Bar Down Cookie will be adding a giant brookie to its menu, which Kayla said was nearly the size of an entire plate. You can find Bar Down Cookies inside Willowbrook Mall at Willow Way.
Are you excited about this new milk and brookie bar? Let us know in the comments.
Bar Down Cookies
Address: Inside Willowbrook Mall near the Hudson Bay — 19705 Fraser Highway, Langley
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