Recipes

Copycat Tagalongs Cookie Bar recipe

If you love this classic peanut butter patty, you are going to flip for this homemade version.

This Copycat Tagalongs Cookie Bar is perfect for any peanut butter and chocolate lover. 

Copycat Tagalongs Cookie Bars. Recipe at TidyMom.net image

I love and hate myself for making these homemade copycat Tagalong Cookie Bars.  You see, every January when the Girl Scouts start making their rounds for cookie orders, my husband has always been one to WAY over order.  By March our freezer is usually stocked full of Thin Mints, Trefoils, Do-Si-Do’s and lots and lots of Tagalongs!

Tagalongs,  peanut butter patties with a shortbread crust and thick chocolate coating, is by far the favorite cookie at our house…….so much so, we actually named one of our dogs Tagalong, or Tag for short.  Now that’s love isn’t it? lol  I mean who names a dog after a cookie?  Tagalong cookie lovers! that’s who!!  (RIP Tag, we miss and talk about you all the time) 

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Copycat Tagalongs. Peanut Butter Patty Cookie Bars recipe at TidyMom.net photo

The last year or two, we managed not to stock our freezer, and just picked up a few boxes from the troops selling them in front of gas station and Wal-Mart.  So what’s a girl to do when she her family wants their favorite cookie and there aren’t any in the house?…….Well, this desperate girl made her own!  That’s the kind of Mom I am, you know…..I did it all for my family 😉  (that’s my story and I’m sticking to it)

Say goodbye to your self control!  Don’t let their innocence fool you. These copycat tagalong cookie bars should come with a warning label. Something like… warning: you may eat the entire pan.

Making our favorite cookie into a bar cookie makes these SO easy.   They are almost no bake. Meaning you only bake the shortbread crust layer for about 12 minutes…..the other two layers are just hand mixed and poured over top.

Copycat Tagalongs Cookie Bars picture

These cookie bars are full of texture and everything you want in a good bar recipe.

The soft buttery shortbread is perfect! not too dry, but perfectly soft and tender.  (secretly……..it’s my favorite layer)  It’s pressed into a square baking pan and baked.

The creamy peanut butter layer is fluffy thanks to the powdered sugar mixed into the peanut butter along with a little vanilla and spread over the shortbread.

copycat tagaongs Peanut Butter Patty cookie bars image

And finally, the chocolate layer ties it all together.  Tagalongs have milk chocolate coating, but I prefer semi-sweet, so you can use either. I added just a little shortening to help it spread easier and prevent cracking when I cut the bars. Then I sprinkled the copycat tagalongs  with just a little sea salt to really pull out the chocolate flavor!

If you love this classic cookie as much as we do, I’ll bet you’re going to flip for these homemade copycat tagalongs!

Peanut Butter Patty- Copycat Tagalong Cookie Bars. Recipe photo

If you are on a diet, I’m sorry.  Please do yourself a favor and step away from the computer. The soft buttery shortbread topped with creamy peanut butter covered in chocolate is hypnotizing.

If being obsessed with Tagalong cookies is wrong, then we don’t want to be right 😉

What’s your favorite Girl Scout Cookie?

Yield: 15-20 smaller squares

Copycat Tagalongs Cookie Bars

Prep Time:15 minutes

Cook Time:12 minutes

Total Time:27 minutes

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

Shortbread Crust
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Peanut Butter Filling
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Chocolate Layer
9-11 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
3 tablespoons shortening

sea salt (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8x8 or 9x9 square baking pan with aluminum foil leaving overhang, spray with cooking spray and set aside.

Shortbread Crust - Combine all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl, cutting in the butter with a pastry cutter or wooden spoon until a  crumbly mixture forms. Transfer dough to prepared pan and press dough into the prepared pan, using your fingertips.  Randomly pierce crust with a fork about a dozen times so steam can escape while it bakes. Bake 12 to 15 minutes, or until barely set, not golden. Crust should still be white, but crusted over.  While crust bakes, make the filling.

Peanut Butter Filling - Combine all 4 ingredients in medium bowl and stir until smooth. Spread over crust while crust is still warm. The thick filling will be easier to spread over a warm crust.  Go slow and either push it into place with a spatula or your fingers, taking care not to rip the crust while spreading the peanut butter filling.

Chocolate Layer - Combine the chocolate and shortening in a medium microwave-safe bowl and heat to melt, at 30 second intervals, stopping to stir each time until mixture can be stirred smooth. Pour chocolate over peanut butter layer.

Cover pan with aluminum foil, and place pan in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours, or overnight.  After bars have set, lift out of pan with foil overhang, lightly sprinkle with sea salt, if desired and slice to serve. If bars have become very cold, allow them to come up to room temperature for a few minutes before slicing. We stored the bars in the refrigerator.  They will keep for at least 10 days (if they last that long), or in the freezer for up to 3 months.

recipe slightly adapted from Averie Cooks

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Enjoy this Girls Scout Cookie favorite any time! Copycat Tagalong Cookie Bars is the must have recipe for any peanut butter patty lover! recipe at TidyMom.net

Categories: Cookies, Desserts, Recipes
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