For more than 20 years, Amber Younger worked on perfecting a cookie recipe for family and friends.
Today, those years of trial and error have become something much bigger — a Bellevue-based business that is quickly becoming a family affair.
Younger launched Cozy Dough Cookies in November 2025, selling gourmet cookies from her home while continuing to be a stay-at-home mom and homeschool her three younger children.
“I started baking cookies over 20 years ago, mainly chocolate chip, for my family and friends,” Younger said. “During this time, I became determined to perfect a basic recipe I was going by and making it my own.”
After several years of experimenting, Younger said she finally landed on the recipe she had been looking for.
Her family and friends had an idea about what she should do next.
“They kept telling me for years how I could sell them because they were so good,” she said.
Eventually, Younger decided to listen.
Cozy Dough Cookies became her first business, but she hasn’t been building it alone.
Even the business’s name came from the family. When they were considering possibilities, Younger’s oldest son suggested “Cozy Dough.” He has also contributed ideas for cookie flavors that have become hits with customers and is working on a website for the business.
Now another of Younger’s children is getting an early lesson in entrepreneurship.
“My 10-year-old son is now selling his strawberry lemonade alongside my cookies,” Younger said. “He came up with his own recipe a couple of years ago.”
For Younger, operating the bakery from home was a practical choice. As a stay-at-home mother who homeschools her younger children, a traditional storefront wouldn’t have fit as easily into the family’s routine.
“I needed to incorporate that into my business, so baking out of my home made sense,” she said.
The arrangement has also led to an unconventional bakery model.
Younger bakes cookies in large batches, then vacuum seals and freezes them, allowing her to maintain a substantial inventory. That means customers can often get cookies on short notice.
She recalled one customer ordering six dozen cookies and picking them up the same day.
Customers currently place orders by messaging Cozy Dough Cookies through its Facebook page and arrange a time for porch pickup. Once the company’s website launches, Younger plans to move ordering to the website.
She also maintains a daily cookie stand and occasionally participates in farmers’ markets and pop-up events — including pop-ups in her own driveway.
Cozy Dough specializes exclusively in gourmet cookies, with the monster cookie emerging as its bestseller. It is also one of Younger’s personal favorites, along with butterscotch.
This summer, lemon cookies and strawberry-blueberry cheesecake sandwich cookies have been particularly popular.
Younger said she strives to use high-quality and organic ingredients and is continually experimenting with new flavors. Sometimes inspiration comes from her children, and other times an idea simply pops into her head.
She is already teasing new offerings for the fall.
The business also accepts orders for birthdays, weddings, graduations, corporate events and other special occasions. While many orders can be filled the same day, Younger said requests for flavors that aren’t already in stock, along with sugar-free or gluten-free orders, generally require a couple of days’ notice depending on her schedule.
Cozy Dough Cookies is firmly rooted in Bellevue.
Younger grew up in the community and graduated from Bellevue East High School.
“Bellevue is a great tight-knit community and I love it,” she said.
Like many new small-business owners, Younger said money and getting the word out have been among her biggest challenges. There are slow days at the cookie stand, she said, but there are also great ones, and the response from customers has encouraged her to keep going.
The most rewarding part, however, has been finding a way to earn additional income while remaining home with her children — and seeing the influence the business has had on them.
What began in the family kitchen could eventually grow well beyond it.
Younger has a long-term dream of purchasing 10 acres where she and her children and their spouses could build homes. Somewhere on that property, she envisions a special place for Cozy Dough Cookies.
“I plan to build a cookie shed and sell out of that,” Younger said. “We will see what else may get added to the business.”
For now, though, the business remains where the story started: at home, with Younger, her family and a cookie recipe more than two decades in the making.
“What I started in my kitchen has grown beyond what I ever expected,” Younger said, “and I’m excited to see where it goes.”
More information about Cozy Dough Cookies can be found on the business Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61583519304806
