February
15, 2010
Homemade Tagalongs (Peanut Butter Patties)
You’d think that come girl scout cookie season, there is not much you can do to avoid buying a box or two. I’m sure in most neighborhoods, brownies run rampant, and it’s not like you can say no to a sweet face and the promise of even sweeter treats.
But if you live in a building where the children are scarce, and the few that are around are still far too young to be hocking cookies, then getting your hands on a box or two of Tagalongs is no easy task. To get a box, we’d have to make the extra effort to scout a girl scout. So instead of braving the neighborhood mega mart on a Saturday afternoon (that is where they all congregate, isn’t it?) I figured, why not just make my own?
The final result is quite delicious. Although it’s been two solid years since I’ve had a real Tagalong, I can honestly say I don’t really care anymore. These are a damn good substitute for the real thing. And this chocolate covered peanut butter and shortbready goodness will satisfy your tagalong cravings all year round.
They are surprisingly easy as well, so don’t let the multiple-step process fool you. Yes, you bake cookies. Yes, you make a filling, and yes, you then dip the entire thing in chocolate. It may be messy, but that only adds to the fun.
I couldn’t figure out how to dip the ENTIRE cookie in chocolate. So I grabbed the very edges of the cookie, inverted it, and submerged as much as I could (including the fingers holding the cookie) in the melted chocolate coating. You can’t linger in the chocolate too long or the peanut butter will melt. Dip it and get out quick. I just barely had enough coating for all the cookies, otherwise I probably could have come back after and done a second dip or spread of chocolate on the bottom.
Peanut Butter Patties
Makes about 3 dozen. Recipe adapted from Baking Bites.
Ingredients
Cookies
1 cup butter, room temperature
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp milkFilling
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (natural or regular)
3/4 cup confectioners’ sugar
generous pinch salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extractCoating
about 8 oz. semisweet chocolate chips
2 oz cocoa butter OR 1 tablespoon vegetable oilDirections
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk. The dough should come together into a soft ball.
Take a tablespoon full of dough and flatten it into a disc about 1/4-inch thick. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough. Cookies will not spread too much, so you can arrange them fairly closely together.
Bake cookies for 11-13 minutes, until bottoms and the edges are lightly browned and cookies are set.
Immediately after removing cookies from the oven, use your thumb or a small spoon to make a depression in the center of each cookie. Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
To make filling, whisk together peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, salt and vanilla in a small microwave-safe bowl. When the mixture has come together, heat it in the microwave (in short intervals, stirring frequently), until it is soft. Working carefully with the warm filling, transfer it to a pastry bag (or plastic bag with the tip cut off) and pipe a generous dome of the filling into each cookie’s “thumbprint”.
Chill filled cookies for 20-30 minutes, or until the peanut butter is firm.
Melt the chocolate and cocoa butter in a small, heat-resistant bowl placed over a small saucepan filled with simmering (not boiling) water.
Dip chilled cookies into chocolate, let excess drip off, and place on a sheet of parchment paper to set.
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Ngoc - "So good! I think next time I'll replace a little of the framboise with…"
Katie @ goodLife {eats} - "I made the NY Time Chocolate chip cookies with dried apricots, pistach…"
Shanon - "Those cookies look delicious. I cannot wait to try them. They are offi…"
Maria - "I love summer apricots and I can't wait to make these cookies!"
#1 | Reply
love it! i can’t wait to try it.
#2 | Reply
Mmm..tagalongs are my favorite Girl Scout cookies…
#3 | Reply
um. yes please.
thank you for sharing!!!!
#4 | Reply
YUM! I don’t live near any girl scouts, and out of the 3 employees I work with that used to sell them; 2 changed jobs, and the other’s daughter aged out of girl scouts! So no cookies here.
Oh, once when I actually had some cookies, I came home from work, and Nathan had eaten an ENTIRE SLEEVE of Trefoils in one day. I was NOT happy to say the least!
#5 | Reply
These look great! I’m still on my Valentine’s Day chocolate binge!
#6 | Reply
WOW!! I am so excited to try this!! Thank you!
#7 | Reply
I must add these to my growing number of peanut butter and chocolate recipes!
#8 | Reply
tagalongs are my fave!
#9 | Reply
Yum, these sound amazing. Can’t wait to try them out – thanks for the recipe!
#10 | Reply
can’t wait to try these :)
#11 | Reply
Thank you, thank you, thank you! My family is currently living outside of the U.S. and every year at Girl Scout cookie season we really miss those yummy cookies. We will be making these this week, hopefully they will hold us over for our last year away from home!
#12 | Reply
HOW much do I love you for this? It seems like every girl scout cookie recipe I can find is for thin mints, or samoas. Those are all fine and good, but my favorite GS cookie of all time is the tagalong.
#13 | Reply
These look DELICIOUS! I’ll admit I never had the Girl Scout cookies… but I’m not even interested after seeing this. I can’t imagine them looking any better than these!
#14 | Reply
I’ve never heard of such a thing, but they look seriously great! I can see the appeal!
#15 | Reply
They aren’t called tagalongs around here (did you know they have different names based on region?) but peanut-butter patties are my husband’s fave! He keeps them in the fridge.
#16 | Reply
Squee! I’m gluten-intolerant so actual Girl Scout cookies are a thing of the past for me. With a recipe like this, I can find a way to adapt and make the cookie gluten-free. Tagalongs for me, hooray!
#17 | Reply
Popped in to say hi! I’ve never had one of these, and I must remedy that immediately.
#18 | Reply
LOVE your site especially the photos! I really enjoy Tagalongs and these look very simple. Something even I might be able to bake. I am going to try them this weekend. Thanks!
#19 | Reply
Ooooh, I have a box of these in the fridge. But when that runs out, I can’t wait to make these. Dangerous though; being able to eat Tagalongs all year.
#20 | Reply
This was my favorite Girl Scout cookies, YUM. These look delicious!
#21 | Reply
A way to dip the entire cookie would be to hold the cookie with a pair of tongs and dip it all in the chocolate. You let the excess drip off and you put it to dry. Hopefully, while the chocolate dries, it’ll fill in the spots where you held it with the tongs.
#22 | Reply
These look fabulous and I had been excited to make them but was actually very disappointed with the end result. Next time I will just find a girl scout instead. :(
#23 | Reply
you can also find a local girl scout selling cookies and support programs that teach girls marketing, sales, communication, money handling, financial literacy, goal setting, and other life skills that help them become more awesome women.
#24 | Reply
Warning….I made these and while they may not taste exactally like Tag A Longs….they are like crack….addictive!
#25 | Reply
thank you for sharing this. I made them dairy free and my boys were in absolute heaven!