By the state of the pastry scene, you'd think cupcakes were the only single-serving dessert.

Luckily, Michael Savino is here to remind us that cookies are the original and here to stay. His bakery, Michael's Cookie Jar, has been serving up high-end made-from-scratch cookies via pick-up, mail and at special events since 2006. And as of this week, Savino has a Michael's Cookie Jar storefront near West University in a back corner of a shopping center at Weslayan and Bissonnet.

His cookie creations are split between homestyle yummy and sweetly sophisticated. The classics (called the Americana collection) include chunky chocolate chip, peanut butter, fudge walnut, ginger molasses and a cinnamony, not-too-sweet snickerdoodle. Perfectly soft, they beg to be taken home and shared as your own creation.

But Savino's true calling are the smaller, fancier Tea Cookies. Ranging in texture, ingredients and origin, the only thing they have in common with the larger offerings is the touch of a master (Savino trained at the Culinary Institute of America and worked for years at The Four Seasons).

The coconut macaroon is light and airy, with a base dipped in chocolate adding just the right amount of richness. The Mexican Wedding cookie explodes with nuttiness that rivals the opening salvo of powdered sugar (it's even better than the cookie that went to space). The palmier's light flakiness would be perfect with a cafe au lait in Montmartre.

Michael's Cookie Jar also has seasonal cookies and can create custom and bridal orders. And if West U is out of your way, you can still place an order and pick it up at a partner location, like Antidote coffeehouse or Carter & Cooley.