The stuffed cookie wait is over

For months I'd been taunted by the online traces of the Good Stuff Cookie Co. The pop-up cookie shop serves up stuffed cookies from inside East Village's idiosyncratic men's apparel boutique, 5&A Dime.

At least it did. In early January, cookie production got put on hold. But apparently, most of the internet didn't keep track of this development, because every time I've searched around online for local desserts to try in the past six months, I kept finding happy recommendations for Good Stuff's core cookie concept: making cookies stuffed with a cheesecake filling.

Great idea, I thought. But when I'd stop by, or call, it was always the same thing: no cookies. Only a post on the small cookie company's Facebook page explaining the cookie business would be "closed for a while." Disappointed and cookieless, I tried to remedy my despondence with pints of ice cream.

Last week I learned the cookies were back, and headed over to 5&A Dime to find a vintage-styled kitchenette behind the counter at the small boutique, and cookies being served out of mason jars. The deal is, you may buy an individually wrapped cookie for about two bucks, or a jar of six for 12. Bring back the jar, and you get your next six for 10, etc. That sort of dough isn't normally built into my cookie budget, but I had been waiting eight months for this.

I learned there'd be a variety of alternatives to try, beyond the cheesecake-stuffed original. Long story short, I wound up with a mixed jar, featuring two each of three types of stuffed cookie: oatmeal filled with chocolate ganache, chocolate-filled peanut butter, and a so-called S'mores cookie, dusted with cinnamon and filled with chocolate and marshmallow cream. I grabbed a single snickerdoodle filled with cheesecake.

These are soft cookies, and I hope I might try them warm sometime — but that didn't stop me. Most impressive were the s'mores cookies, with distinct chocolate and marshmallow layers. Though I don't normally love oatmeal cookies, the ganache made this one a winner. Sure enough, the cheesecake-filled snickerdoodle reminded me of getting to the crusty bottom edge of a cheesecake.

Their fillings make them fairly substantial. Someone with an empty stomach and a giant sweet tooth could down a jar in a sitting, I maxed out at two. As I revisited the cookie jar over the next couple of days, I noticed they kept well. And paired nicely with ice cream.