Inside Zooies, LAs gas station home to next-level elite cookies

Some of LA’s most devoted cookie fans are pulling into a gas station to get their fix.Inside is Zooies, a cookie shop with dozens of flavors and a loyal following built by founder Arezou Appel, who still develops every recipe herself.“We are in a gas station,” Appel said.The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.

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Never miss a story The unusual location came naturally.Her husband Jeff Appel already owned the gas station, located in the West LA neighborhood of Cheviot Hills, giving the family a place to launch Zooies without the overhead of a traditional storefront.Arezou said operating out of the family-owned gas station has allowed her to keep prices down while using the ingredients and techniques she wants.

Cookies cost around $4 on average.“Being able to be in a gas station and taking advantage of this side of the food mart and gas station has helped us to keep the prices low,” Appel said.Zooies began when Appel’s children were in preschool.She taught herself to bake through books, magazines and cooking shows, initially making cookies for her family.“I just wanted to make the best that I could for my husband, two kids,” Appel said.As more people tried her cookies and began asking for recipes, the idea of turning her baking into a business took shape.Nine years later, Zooies offers about 65 cookie choices, including vegan, gluten-free, paleo and refined-sugar-free options.

Two of its biggest sellers are the Brown Butter Chocolate Chip and Gooie cookies.Appel showed The California Post how the Brown Butter Chocolate Chip cookie is made, with ingredients weighed in grams and a combination of chocolate chips and chunks cut from larger blocks.The result, she said, is “a nice crust” with an inside that remains “soft and gooey.”Zooies remains a family operation.Appel�...