Girl Scout Tagalong Cookies aka Peanut Butter Patties Recipe

When it comes to cookies, Girl Scouts has some of the best! Now you can make these Girl Scout Tagalong Cookies right at home!

Cookie season in our house is not a casual event. My daughter is a Girl Scout, we just finished our first full cookie season together, and I can tell you from personal experience that the demand for Tagalongs specifically is not normal. People wait for these. They buy multiple boxes. They are unreasonably upset when they’re gone.

Which is why I originally made this recipe — to have them year-round without depending on a seven-year-old’s sales schedule.

The homemade version is three components: a buttery vanilla shortbread base, a thick peanut butter filling that’s closer to peanut butter fudge than a spread, and a thin chocolate coating that sets up firm. The filling is the part that makes these distinctive. It’s not whipped or light — you mix peanut butter, powdered sugar, and vanilla until it’s completely smooth and dense, about four minutes. It holds its shape when piped onto the cookie and doesn’t slide off during the chocolate dip. That’s what makes the whole thing work.

Total active time is about 45 minutes. Total time including chilling and setting is about two hours — most of that is hands-off. Makes approximately 24 cookies, which in our house lasts significantly less than 2-3 weeks.

What ingredients are in a tagalong?

How do you make it?

In the bowl of a stand mixer, cream the butter and sugar for 4-5 mins until light and fluffy.  Add in the vanilla extract and mix until well combined. Slowly add in salt and flour.  Mix until just comes together – do not over mix. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes.

To make the filling: Mix peanut butter, powdered sugar and vanilla until completely smooth (about 4 min). Place filling in a piping bag or Ziplock bag and set aside. After 30 mins Use a 2 tbsp size cookie scooper to scoop the dough onto the parchment lined baking sheets.

Flatten to about ¾ inch with your fingers and bake at 350 for 10-12 minsAllow the cookies to cool for 10 mins before moving them to a cooling rack to cool completely (10-15 additional mins). After the cookies have cooled Pipe a thick ring of the peanut butter mixture onto the cookie.

Melt 16 oz chocolate melting wafers or almond barkMelt chocolate in 30 second increments in a microwave safe bowl, stirring after each. (Should take 3 times) Dip cookies in chocolate and use a fork to lift up. Scrape the fork (bottom of the cookie) across the side of the bowl to release excess chocolate.

Place on parchment paper and allow cookies to set for at least 30 mins. Pour the excess chocolate onto a sheet of parchment paper, once it sets you can take the dried chocolate and store it in a ziplock bag to be used again (unless you have crumbs in it)

What is in a tagalong Girl Scout cookie?

Tagalong Girl Scout cookies are made with a vanilla wafer, peanut butter, and chocolate coating. They are one of the most popular Girl Scout cookies! You can find them in the cookie aisle at your local grocery store.

FAQs

What are Tagalongs called now?

The Three Components (and Why Each One Matters)

The shortbread base is a simple butter-sugar-flour dough chilled before baking. The 30-minute chill is important — it firms the butter back up so the cookies hold their shape in the oven rather than spreading into thin discs. If you’re cutting shapes, freeze the cut dough for an hour before baking; rolled shapes need more structure than scooped rounds.

The peanut butter filling needs to be mixed until completely smooth — the recipe says 4 minutes and means it. Fresh out of the jar, peanut butter has enough oil that it won’t hold shape when piped. Mixed with powdered sugar for several minutes, it becomes dense and almost fudge-like. That texture is what lets you pipe a thick mound onto each cookie without it slumping or sliding off when you dip. Don’t rush this step.

The chocolate coating uses melting wafers or almond bark rather than real chocolate. This is intentional — melting wafers contain stabilizers that make them easier to work with, set faster, and hold up at room temperature without bloom (that white streaky appearance on old chocolate). Real chocolate needs to be tempered to behave properly as a coating. Unless you’re comfortable tempering chocolate, stick with the melting wafers.

Tips For The Best Tagalongs

Chill the dough — don’t skip it. 30 minutes minimum for scooped cookies. If you’re rolling and cutting shapes, freeze the cut pieces for a full hour before baking. Cold dough = cookies that hold their shape. Skipping the chill is the primary reason copycat shortbread spreads thin.

Mix the filling the full 4 minutes. This is the step most people rush and then wonder why their filling is soft and sloppy. Four minutes on medium speed transforms the texture from loose peanut butter to dense, pipeable fudge. Set a timer.

Use melting wafers, not chocolate chips. Chocolate chips contain stabilizers designed to help them hold their shape during baking — that same property makes them difficult to use as a dip coating. Melting wafers are formulated specifically for coating and dipping. Almond bark works the same way. The coating will be thinner, smoother, and will set properly at room temperature.

Keep the chocolate warm while you work. If it starts thickening between cookies, 10–15 seconds in the microwave and a stir will bring it back. Don’t let it sit too long — once it starts to set in the bowl it’s harder to recover smoothly.

Let them set at room temperature, not the fridge. Moving warm chocolate-dipped cookies straight to a cold refrigerator can cause condensation that interferes with the set. Patience at room temperature gives you a cleaner, glossier finish.

Don’t discard the excess chocolate. Pour it onto a parchment-lined baking sheet, let it set completely, then break into pieces and store in a zip-lock bag. Use it for the next batch or melt into hot chocolate. As long as there are no cookie crumbs mixed in, it remelts perfectly.

Storage and Make-Ahead

Finished cookies keep in an airtight container at room temperature for 2–3 weeks — the chocolate coating seals the peanut butter filling and preserves the whole cookie. No refrigeration needed. Stack with parchment paper between layers to prevent the chocolate from sticking.

Make-ahead options: The dough can be made 3 days ahead, wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, and refrigerated. Let it sit at room temperature for 10–15 minutes before scooping — it will be firm from the fridge and needs to soften slightly to scoop cleanly. The dough also freezes well for up to 2 months; thaw overnight in the refrigerator.

The baked shortbread rounds (before filling and dipping) can be baked, cooled, and stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days before you’re ready to fill and dip. This is the best strategy if you’re making a large batch for a bake sale or event — bake the cookies one day, fill and dip the next.

If you make these, especially during the actual cookie season gap (you know the one — when you’ve eaten the last box and the next season is months away), drop a comment and let me know how the dipping went. That’s the step everyone texts me about.

And if Tagalongs are your favorite, you should know our whole Girl Scout cookie copycat collection is here: Thin Mints, Samoas, Lemonades, and Raspberry Rally. All worth making!

What are some more fun Girl Scout Cookies to try?