Tagalong Cookies Recipe

Tagalongs (or Peanut Butter Patties as I knew them in my Girl Scout days) were always my favorite. There's just something about peanut butter and chocolate that only a cookie can make better.  Or ice cream.  Wait, that gives me an idea. . . .

What was  I saying?  Right!  Girl Scout Cookies are awesome. But it's not always GSC season! (see what I did there?)  So now you can make your own, at home, any time of year.  And since it uses the same recipe base as Trefoils and Samoas, you can turn your kitchen into a cottage industry of cookie goodness!

Step 1: Ingredients

First, you'll need the basic shortbread recipe, which you can find here.
Just to have it handy, here's a repeat of those ingredients:

• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
• 115g (1/2 cup) sugar
• 250g (2 cups) all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk

For the topping:

• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (peanut allergies?  try almond butter!)
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 8-oz milk chocolate  - you may notice my picture includes semi-sweet.  Mistake!  In fact, for an even more copycat type chocolate coating, use this one.

Step 2: D'ough

Prepare the dough as according to the shortbread recipe.  Use a round cutter to cut the shapes.

Bake your batches of cookies one sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet 180 degrees, halfway through baking. This ensures that all the cookies turn the same color instead of getting browner in the hotter parts of your oven.

Using a spoon, scoop, or your thumb, make an indentation in the center of each cookie.  This is your well for peanut butter filling goodness.  Do it before they cool! 

Step 3: Filling

In a microwavable bowl, sift the powdered sugar into the peanut butter and mix well.

Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until very melty.  

Stir in vanilla.

Step 4: Top Them Cookies

With a spoon, piping bag, or plastic bag with the corner cut off, pile your filling onto your cookies.

As you might deduce, I used a piping bag with a star tip.  It was the only one I had, and it made me sad because they looked so weird.

But then the peanut butter filling held its shape after being coated in chocolate, and I decided to embrace and appreciate the weirdness.

Sadly, before I opened my heart to the differently-shaped tagalong toppings, I squished out their  uniqueness from most of the cookies before dipping.  Next time I will leave it in.

Step 5: Dip

The final step to these tiny masterpieces is the chocolate coating.

Melt your chocolate with tiny zaps in the microwave (you know how by now, yeah? - 30 second intervals, stir frequently, etc etc). 

Since we'll be constantly lowering the temp of the chocolate each time we dip a cookie, you may prefer to use the double-boiler method.  Otherwise, keep your bowl in another bowl with a bit of hot water in it, and be prepared to re-zap the chocolate in the microwave whenever it gets too firm to work with.

Just remember - the less you heat your chocolate, the better.  (that's not a technical measure or anything, just a good thing to keep in mind)

Dip your cookies in the chocolate with a fork, give that fork some healthy taps on the side of the bowl to remove the excess chocolate, and place cookies on waxed paper to cool.

Enjoy!

Comments

[Mayuri-sama]

Please make all the Girls Scout Cookies
I want to try them all
I'm from Asia. And I think they only sell those in America-
thanks btw ~

[BetsyFartBlossom]

I was going to try and make these right now because I have about an hour or so free time, but now I can't:( I have to clean the drool off of my 'puter! But, I'll try them real soon!

[designgrrl]

Unfortunately your recipe has dairy and for some odd reason, this is one of the only cookies GS makes that is dairy free. My hubs is allergic to casin so dairy is out for us and he adores these cookies. BUT I am going to make this recipe for my peanut butter loving father.

[bobby.d.79]

designgrrl,
Sorry your incorrect the Girl Scout Tagalongs DO contain milk ingredients, at the bottom of the ingredients list shown in the image below

[prickly vegan]

This one is easy then! Just replace the butter with margarine or vegetable shortening (I will do more 'research' to see if oil or something else can be used). The cow milk can be replaced with soy/rice/almond whatever other milk. And the chocolate coating? Forget milk chocolate. Dark chocolate is always better. ;)

Happy baking!

And thanks for posting all of these evil cookie recipes, Scoochmaroo! you're keeping at least one little vegan baker busy.... :)

[scoochmaroo]

You can swap the butter for non-hydrogenated vegetable shortening!

[thehbird]

looks good! I have a sister in girl scouts but these are great when its not cookie season.

[SlashmasterAeoniX]

I'm tempted to try these...even though like the Girl Scout mom who posted before me, I would prefer to see people buying them. Lord knows I've spent enough years of my life standing outside of stores and begging people to buy my cookies. (I even learned how to sell 'em in Spanish for those sneaky people who pull that "Suddenly no habla Ingles" trick. ;D) Anyways, lovely tutorial! I look forward to trying them!

[darthpotato1]

I see what you did thar...

[brooklynbrownie]

These look so great! I can't wait to make them at home!

[imthemomthatswhy]

As a GS leader and mom, I would prefer that people buy our cookies (duh) but as a mom to a gluten free, egg free, peanut free girl scout...thanks for putting these recipes out there. It is so hard for her to work hard to sell these cookies but never get to eat them. Especially when all the other girls are eating them. If you want to support your local GS troop(s) but still eat the homemade version..give the troop $2. Each troop gets about $.50 - $1 per box (depending on the council) so you can give the troop their profit without buying the cookies. That way it is a win-win situation.

[Foaly7]

By far the best Girl Scout cookies there have ever been. We bought a box recently, but we could have just made our own...

[SageMinto]

I remember these!! :O

The GSC stopped selling them here in Massachusetts! Now I have the recipe to make them myself. MUAHAHA! >:D
Thank you for posting it.

[peacenique]

Hey, what about those killer chocolate mint ones the Girl Guides have?
Can you make those?

[scoochmaroo]

https://www.instructables.com/id/Unauthorized-Girl-Scout-Cookie-Recipes/

[peacenique]

Oh wow scooch.. you're a Goddess!
Thank you!

[inkette]

Just a suggestion for making these look a little nicer for Presentation

Before adding the peanut butter filling to the cookie....Coat the bottoms first and set on wax paper until the chocolate hardens. Then place the coated-bottom cookies on a wire cooling rack over a cookie sheet. Next, add the peanut butter filling to the cookies. Slowly, pour melted chocolate over the top of the filling and cookie. The excess chocolate will drip over the sides of the cookies onto the cookie sheet. You'll then be able to remelt and reuse the excess chocolate for other things.

~

[PuzzleJenn]

Excess Chocolate: The chocolate you shake off ONLY because you want to have enough for ALL the cookies to get a coating. ;)

[scoochmaroo]

EXACTLY. It actually took me a few tries to figure that out. :D

[karlpinturr]

WAIT! - I don't understand - what is "excess chocolate"!?