Calling all peanut butter lovers! These Healthier Homemade Tagalongs are a girl Scout cookie copycat recipe made with simple, wholesome ingredients! Lightly sweetened peanut butter sitting on top a crispy almond flour shortbread cookie and then dipped in chocolate – it’s like a peanut butter cup in cookie form! | Gluten Free + Vegan + Grain Free

Shout out to the girl scouts for coming up with the best cookie ideas. After sharing a reimagined Samoas recipe in the form of these no bake samoas bars and a healthier spin to the tune of these gluten free Thin Mints – you know I had to make my own homemade tagalongs next!

What are taglongs?

Tagalongs (AKA peanut butter patties) are like a peanut butter cup in cookie form: they’ve got a crisp, shortbread cookie bottom that’s topped with a sweet peanut butter filling and coated in chocolate.

While the original cookie has certainly earned its status as a classic for good reason, my homemade tagalongs certainly give them a run for their money. These cookies are:

✔️gluten free, grain free & vegan (paleo if you use almond/cashew butter)
✔️made with only 8 ingredients
✔️not too sugary
✔️a perfect balance of salt and sweet

How to Make Homemade Tagalongs

These really aren’t too hard to make but they do take a bit of time once you factor in the chilling and dipping.

In simplified terms, the process can be broken down into a few main stages:

1. Make the cookies:
   • Simply whisk together the dry ingredients then stir in the wet. Mix until a thick, soft dough forms.
   • Roll out the dough and cut into cookie shapes. Cut into circles, about 2 inches wide and transfer to a large baking sheet. The cookies shouldn’t spread much while they bake so you can fit quite a few cookies on your tray.
   • Bake & cool. Bake the cookies for about 9-10 minutes until lightly browned.
2. Make & spread the peanut butter mixture:
   • Combine the peanut butter filling ingredients together in a small sauce pot. Warm lightly and mix until melted and combined.
   • Once the cookies have cooled, top each cookie with about 1 teaspoon worth of the peanut butter.
   • Transfer to a baking tray or plate and freeze. You want the peanut butter to slightly freeze so that it doesn’t melt and come off as you dip the cookies in chocolate later.
3. Dip in Chocolate:
   • While the cookies are chilling in the freezer melt & prep your chocolate. Make sure to let the chocolate cool to room temperature so that you don’t burn your self while dipping.
   • Dip each cookie, peanut butter side down in to the chocolate – then let the excess chocolate drip back off into the bowl. Place the cookies aside on a large pieces of baking paper or a silicone mat to set and that’s it!

Final Tips & Questions

How can I make these paleo friendly?

• Easy! Simply use almond butter or cashew butter in place of the peanut butter. Also make sure that you’re using a paleo friendly chocolate and that’s it.

What if I don’t have the right sized cookie cutter?

• Most small bowls or lids will work with a little more effort. I used a the lid of a spice jar to make my cookie shapes (make sure to clean the lid well first!).
• When using something other than a cookie cutter:
  • Use a press & twist method. Firmly press the tool into the dough then twist your wrist to fully cut the shape out. By doing this your cookies will unstick themselves from both the remaining dough and your cutting tool.
  • You might also want to lightly grease your lid/bowl to keep the dough from sticking to it.

How should I store these cookies?

• Pack up in a airtight container or bag and keep in the fridge for about a week. You can also store extra cookies in the freezer for about 3 months.

And that’s it! Let me know what you think about these cookies in the comments below!

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Yield: 20 cookies

Homemade Tagalongs

5.0 Stars (6 Reviews)

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Additional Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes

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Calling all peanut butter lovers! These Healthier Homemade Tagalongs are a girl Scout cookie copycat recipe made with simple, wholesome ingredients! Lightly sweetened peanut butter sitting on top a crispy almond flour shortbread cookie and then dipped in chocolate - it's like a peanut butter cup in cookie form! | Gluten Free + Vegan + Grain Free

Ingredients

Cookie Base

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• 1 1/2 cup | 144 g almond flour
• 3 tablespoons | 21 g coconut flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons | 42 g melted coconut oil
• 5 tablespoons | 100 g maple syrup
• 1 teaspoon | 5 ml vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Filling

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• 1/2 cup | 125 g smooth, natural peanut butter
• 2 tablespoon | 40 g maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon | 14 g coconut oil
• pinch of salt

Chocolate Coating

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• 1 teaspoon coconut oil
• 300 g dairy free chocolate chips or chocolate bars, chopped

Need help converting to weights? Check out my cups to grams Conversion Guide.

Instructions

Cookie Base

1. Preheat oven to 350°F/ 180°C. Line or lightly grease or line couple of baking sheets and set aside.
2. In a medium sized mixing bowl: whisk together the almond flour, coconut flour and salt.
3. Add the coconut oil, maple syrup and vanilla extract. Mix into a soft dough.
4. Place the dough in between two large pieces of baking paper and roll out until about 1/8-1/4inch thickness.
5. Peel off the top layer of baking paper and cut the dough with a cookie cutter into 2 inch round cookies. Carefully transfer each cut out cookie to your prepared baking sheets. Leave about 1/2 inch in between each cookie. They should not spread much in the oven so you can fit a lot on each tray. Re roll and cut out the dough until all of the dough has been used.
6. Bake in the middle of the oven for 9-10 minutes until the edges look lightly golden and cooked. Remove and let cool until you're ready to add the peanut butter.

Peanut Butter Mixture

1. While the cookies are cooling: mix the peanut butter, coconut oil, maple syrup and salt together in a small sauce pot. Warm over a low heat until everything has melted and mixed together.
2. One at a time: Scoop out about a teaspoon worth of the peanut butter mixture (how much you use will depend on how big your cookies are) and carefully spread on to each cookie. Repeat until every cookie has been topped with peanut butter.
3. Transfer the cookies to a baking sheet or plate that can still fit inside your freezer. Place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes or until the peanut butter has set.

Chocolate Coating

1. Melt the chocolate and oil in a microwave or double boiler (see notes on each method below).
2. Let the chocolate cool enough to handle and then begin dipping cookies. Dip the cookies peanut butter side down into the chocolate. Let excess chocolate drip back in to the bowl then place the cookies on piece of baking paper or silicone mat to dry. Repeat until each cookie has been dipped.
3. Let the cookies cool at room temperature or speed up the process by transferring them to the refrigerator to set and enjoy!
4. Cookies will keep at room temperature for about a week in the fridge or room temperature. You can also keep them in the freezer for 2-3 month

Notes

Tip:

• If you live in a hot climate or it's a warm season I recommend chilling the rolled out, pre-cut cookie dough in the fridge for at least 20 minutes before baking to prevent the coconut oil from spreading too much in the oven.

How to Melt Chocolate

• Double Boiler Method: Place chocolate and oil in a heat proof bowl that’s large enough to sit over the top of a small sauce pan. Add an inch of water to the sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Once the water is simmering place the bowl of chocolate over the top of the bowl, make sure that the water doesn’t touch the bottom. Stir the chocolate as it melts. When there are only a few chunks of chocolate left remove the bowl from the heat. The residual heat will be enough to melt the rest. Stir in the peppermint extract. Set the bowl aside to let the chocolate cool.
• Microwave Method: Place the chopped chocolate and oil in a heat safe bowl and pop in the microwave to melt at 30 second intervals stirring in-between so the chocolate doesn't start burning. Once your chocolate has melted, stir in the peppermint and set aside to cool until you're ready to dip your cookies.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

20 cookies

Serving Size:

1 cookie
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 208Total Fat: 14gSaturated Fat: 6gSodium: 94mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 3gSugar: 13gProtein: 4g

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.

© A Saucy Kitchen, Sarah Nevins

Course: Gluten Free Cookies Cuisine: American

If you like these you might also like these:

• No Bake Samoas Bars
• Gluten Free Thin Mints
• Homemade Coconut Peppermint Patties
• No Bake Vegan Snickers Bars
• Healthier Homemade Snickers
• Healthier Almond Joy Snack Bites