Red Velvet Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt

December. Christmas baking. Pound cake first. Always first. The foundation. Hattie Pearl's recipe — butter, sugar, eggs, flour, vanilla. The mixer runs and the batter gets thick and the kitchen fills with that warm, sweet, December smell that means the holidays are real and the oven is on and somebody cares enough to bake from scratch.

This year's hot sauce labels: "2022 — The Year of the Award." Because that happened. A crystal award sits on my counter. A four-year-old drew me cooking. A book is in its third printing. A man named Thomas is no longer alone. A woman named Mrs. Crawford sits under live oaks instead of inside her house. 2022 was a year of things working. I want the jars to remember that.

Kayla and I made cookies. And Amara. The three of us — three generations of Henderson women — standing at the counter with dough and cutters and icing and the certainty that the ugly cookies are the best cookies. Amara's technique has not improved. Her Santa looks like he survived an explosion. Her tree is architecturally impossible. Her star has seven points and she says, "It's special." She's right. It is special. Everything she touches is special because she touches it with the same intention I bring to the stove: total commitment, zero hesitation, no apologies.

I watched Kayla help Amara ice a cookie. Kayla's hand over Amara's hand, guiding the bag, the icing flowing in a wobbly line that neither of them could have drawn alone but together made into something. That's what tradition looks like in real time. Not a recipe card. Not a book. A hand over a hand, moving the icing, making the line.

Now go on and feed somebody.

After all that baking — the pound cake cooling on the counter, the cookies drying under their wobbly icing lines — we needed something cold and sweet to balance out the warm kitchen and the flour-dusted everything. This Red Velvet Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt is that thing: red like Christmas, cookie dough stirred right through it, and simple enough that Amara can help scoop it and nobody has to worry about technique. Because sometimes the best dessert after a day of baking is the one you don’t have to bake at all.

Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 0 minutes (freeze time: 4 hours) | Total Time: 4 hours 20 minutes | Servings: 6

Ingredients

For the frozen yogurt:
3 cups plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tablespoon red food coloring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup whole milk
For the cookie dough:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 pinch salt
3/4 cup heat-treated all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons whole milk
1/3 cup mini chocolate chips

Instructions

Make the cookie dough. Beat butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Mix in vanilla and salt. Stir in the heat-treated flour and milk until a soft dough forms. Fold in the mini chocolate chips. Roll into small balls (about 1/2 teaspoon each), place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and freeze for 15 minutes.
Prepare the frozen yogurt base. In a large bowl, whisk together the Greek yogurt, sugar, cocoa powder, red food coloring, vanilla, and milk until smooth and evenly colored.
Churn or freeze. If using an ice cream maker, churn according to manufacturer’s directions until thick and creamy, about 20 minutes, adding the cookie dough balls in the last 2 minutes. If no ice cream maker, pour the mixture into a freezer-safe container and freeze, stirring every 45 minutes for about 3 hours, folding in the cookie dough balls after the second stir.
Final freeze. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours.
Serve. Let sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before scooping. Top with extra mini chocolate chips if desired.

Nutrition (per serving)

Red Velvet Cookie Dough Frozen Yogurt — The Ugly Cookies Are the Best Cookies