Creamy peanut butter filling loaded over a shortbread cookie base and then cloaked in milk chocolate — copycat, homemade Tagalong cookies.
Evidently we are expecting a snowstorm this weekend. A big snowstorm, too.
I’m not positive, because I haven’t checked the weather forecast for myself yet, but judging by the lack of eggs, toilet paper, and milk on the grocery store shelves and the number of people who have asked me “Are you ready for the snow!?”, I’m expecting it will be big (or, conversely, just a few random snowflakes that melt before they can accumulate into anything significant, as often seems to be the case with the weather forecast).
If the skies do decide to bury us in an avalanche of white, I intend to be ready for it. Preparedness in my case does not include toilet paper, but instead consists of stocking up on chocolate and peanut butter (so much peanut butter!). I plan on making my buckeyes recipe and peanut butter cookies, and SO many of these Girl scout copycat cookies.
I’m excited about this potential snowstorm (especially given that it’s slated for the weekend, meaning I don’t have to worry about an icy commute to work). I’ve mentioned before that I like baking in summer thunderstorms, but even more than that I love baking while snowed in.
Snowed in with nowhere to be (except maybe out shoveling the driveway, which fortunately Zach usually takes care of), a world of glittery ice and snow outside my window — these are the best baking conditions.
And while these cookies are not difficult or challenging to make, they do require some assembly, and so are a little bit of a project to keep you occupied and busy while you hole up away from the (miserably cold and windy) outside world. From rolling and cutting out the shortbread dough, to making your peanut butter filling to dipping in and drizzling with chocolate, the payoff for the assembly is well worth it.
I’ll confess that it’s been years since I’ve had a real, Girl Scout-given, Tagalong cookie. So these cookies are really more of a nod to my memory of them than anything.
They remind me a lot more of candy bars (or… candy disks, given their shape…) than they do cookies. With their rich creamy filling, the milk chocolate coating, and the buttery crunch of the shortbread, they are decadent little treats with a perfect ratio of peanut-given saltiness and chocolate/shortbread sweetness.
Bet you can’t eat just one.
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If you, too, are prepping for a big snowstorm where you live, don’t hesitate; go out and get your peanut butter now, before you get snowed in.
Enjoy!
Tagalong Cookies
Ingredients
Cookie
- 1 cup unsalted butter softened
- ¾ cups sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 large egg yolk
- 2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
Peanut Butter Filling
- 1 ½ cups creamy peanut butter
- 3 Tbsp butter softened to room temperature
- 1 cup powdered sugar
- ½ tsp vanilla extract
Chocolate coating
- 1 ½ packages 12 oz milk chocolate melting wafers (I do not recommend using chocolate chips/shortening here -- it is quite messy and melting wafers are the easiest cleanest option)
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips or melting wafers to drizzle (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In KitchenAid mixer or with electric hand-mixer, cream the butter until it is smooth.1 cup unsalted butter
- Add sugar and beat with the butter until well-creamed.¾ cups sugar
- Add vanilla extract and salt, stirring until well-combined, pausing occasionally to scrape down the sides of the bowl using a rubber spatula to ensure ingredients are well-incorporated.1 tsp vanilla extract, ½ tsp salt
- Add egg yolk and beat until combined.1 large egg yolk
- With mixer on medium-low speed, gradually add flour until well-incorporated (you will definitely need to scrape down the sides and the bottom of the bowl several times for this, as the mixture is fairly dry and crumbs tend to settle at the bottom of the bowl) and dough begins to clump together.2 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- Transfer dough to clean surface and use your hands to form it into a cohesive ball.
- Flatten into a disk (about 1" thick), cover with clear wrap, and chill for 10 minutes.
- Once dough has chilled, transfer it to a clean, lightly floured surface and use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll out to about ¼" thickness.
- Lightly flour 2 ¼" diameter round cookie cutters and cut out your cookies, transferring them to ungreased cookie sheet.
- Once you have cut out all of the cookies that you can, be sure to re-combine the scraps and roll out and cut out again to get the maximum number of cookies from your dough.
- Bake cookies on 350F for 10-12 minutes and allow cookies to cool completely before topping with peanut butter.
Peanut Butter Filling
- Prepare peanut butter filling by creaming together peanut butter and butter in KitchenAid or with electric hand mixer. Stir in vanilla extract.1 ½ cups creamy peanut butter, 3 Tbsp butter, ½ tsp vanilla extract
- Gradually add powdered sugar until well-combined, pausing to scrape down sides of bowl.1 cup powdered sugar
- Transfer peanut butter mixture into a Ziploc bag with one corner snipped and pipe peanut butter evenly on top of each cookie (about 1 ½ Tbsp of filling per cookie).
- Gently spread evenly with a knife so that the filling nearly touches the edges of each cookie.
- Transfer cookies with peanut butter to freezer and chill for 10-15 minutes while you prepare the chocolate topping.
- Prep chocolate by placing melting wafers in microwave-safe bowl and microwaving at 15 second increments and stirring in between. Repeat with your dark chocolate chips (if using) in separate, small bowl until melted.1 ½ packages 12 oz milk chocolate melting wafers, ½ cup dark chocolate chips or melting wafers
- Once chocolate is melted, remove cookies from freezer and balance each cookie on the tines of a fork while you pour melted chocolate overtop, until cookies are coated (I do not coat the bottoms of the cookies, I think it makes the chocolate overwhelming to do this).
- Transfer to cooling rack (place wax paper beneath for easy clean up) and immediately drizzle with dark chocolate. Allow to set and harden before serving (the dark chocolate will take a bit longer to set if you use chocolate chips and not wafers).
Nutrition
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.
Paige Larson
These are amazing, but obviously a lot more work than some recipes of yours. So if I make these again someone knows they are extra special. 🙂
Susan
Question; 1 and a half 12 oz package, for a total of 18 oz of milk chocolate; OR just 12 oz of milk chocolate wafers?
I ask this because different brands have different amounts in packages. Like Bakers packs are now 4 oz each, so please let me know.
Thanks so much!
Sam
Hi Susan! Sorry for the confusion! This is an older recipe that does need to be updated. You need 12 oz of chocolate here. 🙂
Kristy
Made these last night. So fantastic! Thank you for the recipe. I only used half the powdered sugar in the peanut butter filling, as I don’t like things to sweet and they turned out fabulous!
I was wonering if you could make the centers chocolate by adding Cacao. Have you tried?
Thanks again
Sam
Hi Kristy! Do you want the peanut butter layer chocolate or the peanut butter layer chocolate? I think either could work but if you do it to the cookie layer you will probably want to reduce the flour a little bit. 🙂
Jane
I made these for family party and they were a HUGE hit!! This is an awesome recipe. I am going to make them again and experiment with adding a little bit of salt to the peanut butter filling.
Sugar Spun Run
I am so glad that your family and the guests are your party enjoyed them, Jane! Thank you for trying my recipe and for commenting. 🙂
madeleine
Made these the other day and they turned out amazing!!! Could not stop eating them! 😛 They taste great. Also stored them in the fridge and they kept good for a couple days. This is the second recipe I have made on this site and I’m loving it. Thank you!
Sam
I’m so happy to hear this! Thank you for coming back and letting me know how the recipe turned out for you!! 🙂
Maffus
These look great, I’m just a bit confused how everyone else made these cookies when step 3 says to add cream when there is no quantity of cream listed :S
Maffus
Nvm, it means like the action cream not the liquid, not worded very nicely
Sam
Hi, sorry about the confusion. You are right, it meant to cream the sugar with the butter, I’m re-wording it now to make sure that the recipe is clear, thank you for pointing that out!
Morgan
I know this reply is SOOO late but anyways, Basically when it says “well creamed” it means that you beat the butter and sugar in the mixer until it is smooth and creamy 🙂
Beeta @ Mon Petit Four
Oh my! These look drool worthy <3 I am in love with peanut butter and would totally be stocking up on that too if there were a snow storm headed my way. These are so beautiful and look just like the original. Fantastic, Sam!
Sam
Thank you so much, Beeta! I’ve been on a peanut butter kick, lately 🙂
Jess @ Flying on Jess Fuel
Oh man, do these look amazing. Hubby and I were JUST talking about what garbage girl scout cookies are actually made of and how they don’t even taste that good anymore (not to mention how expensive they are now)…. SO I think a homemade version sounds AMAZING! I am sure they’re 500 times more delicious!
Sam
Right though! They are SO expensive! Thank you, Jess! 🙂
Sues
These are all you ned for a snow day!! We were supposed to get it bad here, too, but it sounds like it will be passing it now. I love a good snowstorm, but am grateful it’s not coming since I have lots of plans this weekend. I prefer a good stay at home and snuggle up snowstorm 🙂
Sam
Lucky that it passed you! My family was snowed in for days, we got over 30 inches! Thanks, Sues 🙂
Marsha | Marsha's Baking Addiction
I love anything peanut butter, and it’s always on my grocery list! I totally need to make these cookies, they look so good!
Sam
Thank you, Marsha! I’m a peanut butter fiend too.
Medha @ Whisk & Shout
These look unreal! I alwayyyys make peanut butter a priority- pinning 🙂
Sam
Thanks so much, Medha! 🙂
Amanda
Baking in the snow is so fun. I love the atmosphere! These tagalong cookies look so gooey and crispy and delicious. And since there aren’t really any girl scout-age kids in the neighborhood anymore, I should really try these. I bet I couldn’t stop at one! 🙂
Sam
It’s definitely my favorite time to bake :). Thank you, Amanda!!