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It’s officially Girl Scout Cookie season around here, and all of the sudden I find myself craving my childhood favorites, like Thin Mints and Tagalongs (also known as Peanut Butter Patties). I’ve already satisfied my craving for Thin Mints with my Peppermint Fudge Bars, a recipe found in my cookbook, so today I want to focus on my other favorite– Tagalongs.
If you’re not familiar with Tagalongs, they feature a crisp shortbread-like cookie topped with a layer of creamy peanut butter, and then the whole thing is covered in chocolate. It’s basically a chocolate-covered peanut butter cup with a crunchy cookie added in the middle. In other words, perfection.
When I started working with grain-free baking a few years ago, I thought it was nearly impossible to create a “crispy” cookie using almond flour, but that was before I discovered arrowroot starch. I still don’t work with starches too often and try to use them sparingly, but in this case just a little bit of starch creates a cookie with the perfect crunchy texture for a knock-off Tagalong. Topped with peanut butter (or almond butter or sunflower butter, if you prefer) and a coating of dark chocolate, I don’t miss the traditional Girl Scout cookies one bit.
Of course, this doesn’t mean we won’t still support my nieces’ Girl Scout troops year… I just think my version tastes better. I hope you enjoy it, too!
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Gluten-free Tagalong Cookies
Makes 12 cookies
Ingredients:
For the cookies
1 cup almond meal
2 tablespoons arrowroot or tapioca starch
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
2 tablespoons melted coconut oil or butter*
Pinch of fine sea salt
Peanut Butter Layer
1/4 cup all-natural creamy peanut butter (or nut butter of choice)
2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
Pinch of salt
Dark Chocolate Coating
1 cup dark chocolate chips (I used 70% dark chocolate)
1 teaspoon coconut oil or butter*
*This recipe is vegan if you use coconut oil, however the coconut oil does impart a slight coconut flavor to the final cookie. If you don’t need a vegan recipe, real butter also works well without adding the coconut flavor.
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 300F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. To prepare the cookies, combine all of the cookie ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and stir well to create a sticky, uniform dough. Use a heaping teaspoon to scoop the dough into 12 mounds onto the lined baking sheet, then use your fingers to shape the dough into 2-inch circles about 1/4-inch thick. (You can get your hands wet to help prevent the dough from sticking to your hands.) Press your thumb into the center of each circle to create a well for the peanut butter. Bake the cookies at 300F until the edges are lightly golden, about 18 minutes, then set aside to cool completely while you prepare the peanut butter layer.
To prepare the peanut butter filling, simply stir together the peanut butter, maple syrup, and salt until smooth. Drop a teaspoon of the mixture onto each cooled cookie, and then use your fingers or a spatula to spread the peanut butter over the top of the cookie. Place the peanut butter topped cookies in the freezer to set while you prepare the chocolate topping.
To prepare the dark chocolate coating, simply melt together the dark chocolate chips and coconut oil or butter in a double boiler. (I use an oven-safe bowl that fits over a small sauce pot filled with about an inch of boiling water.) Once the chocolate is melted and smooth, remove the cookies from the freezer and spoon the melted chocolate over the top of each cookie, making sure to coat the sides.
Once all of the cookies are coated, place them back in the freezer to set until the chocolate is firm. Serve immediately, or keep them chilled in the fridge until ready to serve. (The chocolate may melt at room temperature if your room is too warm. Since it’s currently winter, my kitchen has been cool enough lately to store them at room temperature without them melting, and I do prefer the texture of the shortbread cookie at room temperature when it’s possible.)
Note: If you’d like to coat the bottoms of the cookies in chocolate, simply remove them from the freezer once the chocolate tops have set, flip them over, and spoon more chocolate over the bottom. Place in the freezer to set the bottoms, and then serve. My husband and I both preferred the batch of cookies I made without the chocolate bottoms, so I recommend skipping that extra work!
Ingredients
For the Cookies
- 1 cup almond meal
- 2 tablespoons arrowroot or tapioca starch
- 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil or butter*
- Pinch of fine sea salt
Peanut Butter Layer
- 1/4 cup all-natural creamy peanut butter (or nut butter of choice)
- 2 teaspoons pure maple syrup
- Pinch of salt
Dark Chocolate Coating
- 1 cup dark chocolate chips (I used 70% dark chocolate)
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil or butter*
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. To prepare the cookies, combine all of the cookie ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and stir well to create a sticky, uniform dough. Use a heaping teaspoon to scoop the dough into 12 mounds onto the lined baking sheet, then use your fingers to shape the dough into 2-inch circles about 1/4-inch thick. (You can get your hands wet to help prevent the dough from sticking to your hands.) Press your thumb into the center of each circle to create a well for the peanut butter. Bake the cookies at 300F until the edges are lightly golden, about 18 minutes, then set aside to cool completely while you prepare the peanut butter layer.
- To prepare the peanut butter filling, simply stir together the peanut butter, maple syrup, and salt until smooth. Drop a teaspoon of the mixture onto each cooled cookie, and then use your fingers or a spatula to spread the peanut butter over the top of the cookie. Place the peanut butter topped cookies in the freezer to set while you prepare the chocolate topping.
- To prepare the dark chocolate coating, simply melt together the dark chocolate chips and coconut oil or butter in a double boiler. (I use an oven-safe bowl that fits over a small sauce pot filled with about an inch of boiling water.) Once the chocolate is melted and smooth, remove the cookies from the freezer and spoon the melted chocolate over the top of each cookie, making sure to coat the sides. Once all of the cookies are coated, place them back in the freezer to set until the chocolate is firm. Serve immediately, or keep them chilled in the fridge until ready to serve. (The chocolate may melt at room temperature if your room is too warm. Since it's currently winter, my kitchen has been cool enough lately to store them at room temperature without them melting, and I do prefer the texture of the shortbread cookie at room temperature when it's possible.)
Notes
Nutrition
Per Serving: Calories: 182, Fat: 14g, Carbohydrates: 13g, Fiber: 2g, Protein: 4g
Substitutions:
I think it’s fair to say that this recipe will work with any other nut butter you like, such as almond or sunflower butter, but I haven’t experimented with any other flours to make the cookies nut-free. Coconut flour does not make a good substitute in almond flour baking, but perhaps ground sunflower seeds could work? As always, please leave a comment below letting us know what has worked or not for you, so we can all benefit from your experience.
Happy cookie eating!
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Reader Feedback: Do you have a favorite Girl Scout Cookie? Austin’s favorites are the Peanut Butter Sandwiches (I don’t get it) and the Samoas– which I agree, are delicious.
No need to chill the dough? And how to store these? If no chocolate etc.