Tagalong Cookie Bars — Say hello to year-round Girl Scout cookie season with these delish bars! All the flavors of the classic cookies in easy bar form!!
Copycat Tagalongs Recipe
I think that Girl Scout Tagalong Cookies live in the shadows of Samoas and Thin Mints. But since I’ve already recreated fast, easy, DIY versions of both Samoas and Thin Mints, it’s time to bring Tagalongs into the limelight.
After all, who can resist a buttery soft shortbread base, topped with creamy peanut butter, and finished with a satisfying layer of chocolate?
Rather than making individual cookies, which would include rolling and cutting out shortbread and then dipping each cookie individually in chocolate, I took the flavors in classic Girl Scout Tagalongs and made bars. Bars are so much faster, easier, and less labor-intensive than cookies.
I adapted my own Peanut Butter Caramel Twix Bars recipe by simply omitting the caramel. Love it when the answers to my recipe prayers are already in my own archives! This is a no-mixer recipe that comes together quickly and easily.
The melt-in-your mouth shortbread is the perfect base for the salty-and-sweet peanut butter, and there’s just enough chocolate to satisfy your chocolate cravings. I don’t necessarily know if it’s a good thing to be able to have year-round Girl Scout cookie season with so much ease right from your kitchen. But let’s go with counting it as a good thing.
What’s in Tagalong Cookie Bars?
To make these copycat Tagalongs Girl Scout cookie bars, you’ll need:
- Unsalted butter
- All-purpose flour
- Confectioners’ sugar
- Cornstarch
- Vanilla extract
- Creamy peanut butter
- Salt
- Semi-sweet chocolate chips
- Vegetable shortening
How to Make Tagalong Cookie Bars
You’ll first need to make the shortbread dough and press it firmly into the bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish. Bake the crust until barely set, then set aside.
Then, make the creamy peanut butter filling (the best part!). Simply stir together the filling ingredients, then smooth over the still-warm shortbread crust.
To make the chocolate topping, melt the chocolate chips and shortening. Stir to smooth out, then spread evenly over peanut butter layer.
Lastly, cover pan with a sheet of foil and allow bars to cool and set up for at least 4 hours, or overnight, before slicing and serving.
Can I Use Natural Peanut Butter?
No, both natural and homemade peanut butter are too runny for this recipe. You want to use a creamy peanut butter from a brand like Jif or Skippy.
Tips for Making Tagalong Cookie Bars
When baking the shortbread crust, you’re looking for it to set up but you don’t want it to become overly golden.
To prevent the chocolate topping from becoming too hard, I added a little shortening to the melted chocolate. The shortening is optional, but recommended.
Lastly, you can pop these Girl Scout Tagalong cookie bars into the fridge to speed up the cooling process. However, you’ll then need to allow them to come to room temperature for a few minutes before slicing into them so neither the crust nor the chocolate cracks.
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Tagalongs Cookie Bars
Ingredients
Shortbread Crust
- ½ cup unsalted butter, extremely soft (1 stick)
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Peanut Butter Filling
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- 1 heaping cup creamy peanut butter, not homemade or ‘natural’, it’s too thin and runny
- ½ cup confectioners’ sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt, optional and to taste
Chocolate Layer
- 1 heaping cup, about 8 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
- 2 tablespoons vegetable shortening, optional but recommended so chocolate doesn’t set up overly firm and crack upon slicing
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Line an 8-inch square baking pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray; set aside.
- Shortbread Crust
- Combine all ingredients in a large bowl, cutting in the butter with a pastry cutter or two forks until until a sandy, crumbly mixture forms.
- Turn crumbly mixture out into prepared pan and using your fingertips or a spatula, hard-pack the crumbs to form an even, flat, smooth crust layer. Pierce crust with a fork in a dozen places so steam can escape while it bakes.
- Bake for 12 to 13 minutes, or until crust has just barely set. It should not be golden or browned and should still be white, but crusted over and set. While crust bakes, make the filling.
- Peanut Butter Filling
- Add the butter to a medium microwave-safe bowl and heat on high power to melt, about 1 minute. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until smooth.
- Spread filling over crust using a spatula, knife, or offset knife. Crust does not have to be cool, and spreading filling while crust is still warm is beneficial to help it smooth out more easily; set aside.
- Chocolate Layer
- Add the ingredients to a medium microwave-safe bowl and heat on high power to melt, about 1 minute. Stop to check and stir, and heat in 15-second bursts until mixture can be stirred smooth.
- Pour chocolate over peanut butter and shake the pan a bit to help chocolate slide and disperse. Then smooth it very lightly with an offset spatula, knife, or offset knife.
- Cover pan with a sheet of foil and allow bars to cool and set up for at least 4 hours, or overnight, before slicing and serving.
- Alternatively, place pan in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to help expedite the cooling process, noting that sometimes chocolate becomes a bit dull-looking (cosmetic only and doesn’t effect taste) if refrigerated. If bars have become very cold, allow them to come up to room temperature for a few minutes before slicing so neither crust nor chocolate cracks.
Notes
- Bars will keep airtight at room temp for up to 1 week.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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great
I made these sugar free substituting Lakanto powdered monk fruit sweetener for the confectioner’s sugar and used Hershey’s Sugar Free chocolate chips for the top layer. They turned out so good!
I made these sugar free substituting Lakanto powdered monk fruit sweetener for the confectioner’s sugar and used Hershey’s Sugar Free chocolate chips for the top layer. They turned out so good!
Thanks for the 5 star review and glad these worked out great with your substitutions you made!
YUm!
I made these for a dinner party last night and they were a huge hit! Thanks!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you!
Hey Averie, would like to thank you for the wonderful recipe! Just a small question, my peanut butter filling does not seem to stick well with the crust. The chocolate layer seems fine tho. What gives?
Glad you’re enjoying the recipe! As far as it not sticking well, not sure what to say because mine stuck fine but all brands of PB and ingredients do vary. I typically use something like Jif in this recipe.
My dad and sister loved these! They are so amazingly easy and quick, as long as you have the time to let them set. The one thing is that I made these in May, so it was hot and humid outside, so the chocolate still didn’t set after 4 hours so I put it in the fridge for about 1.5 hours and they cut beautifully! And just to be safe I’m storing them in the fridge too because we’re not using AC just yet. But great recipe! Tagalongs (or Peanut Butter Patties in my area) are my favorite!
Averies, I wonder if I can use only the section “Shortbread crust” to make Scottish shortbread cookies ? or is there one of your recipes you would recommend for buttery shortbread cookies ? thanks
I haven’t tried this crust in any other application so can’t say for sure if it would work with cookies.
I am personally not a fan of shortbread cookies (a little too boring for me, just being honest) so don’t have a recipe, sorry!
Amazing. Just amazing. I’ve been enjoying squares of these bars all week, only to be trumped tonight by your buttermilk vanilla cake recipe. The TJ’s milk chocolate bar worked well – I did not add shortening and it cuts perfectly after warming a bit from the fridge. These are far better than actual tagalongs :)
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you! Just read your comment about the cake, too :) Glad that’s a keeper! Thanks for saying these are better than actual Tagalongs…I agree :)
Tagalongs are my favorite!!! so these bars are perfect to me!
I cannot wait to cut into these suckers! They are currently chilling in the fridge after what seemed like an incredibly simple recipe for a 3 layer bar. I ended up using about 8oz of the Trader Joe’s Pound Plus milk chocolate bar instead of semi-sweet chips to stay true to the tagalong style…will let you know how they turn out. Thanks for another great recipe as always, Averie!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it was easy for you! Love TJ’s Pound Plus Bars…I always have about 10 on hand, not kidding :)
Hi Averie,
I made these cookies twice in the past week. They were so easy and such a huge hit with my family. I’m a big fan of your blog – not only because you have the best recipes but because it is clear you work so diligently to make your blog so amazing (and it is as a result). First, your recipes are always great and easy to follow (and when they’re not easy recipes you make that clear). Also, you always post great pictures to back them up. Finally, I don’t know how you do it but you reply to almost all the comments on your posts and you have alot of fans so you get alot of comments. (You’ve thanked me every time I posted that I tried your recipe and loved it which is so nice). Thank you for working so hard and providing such a treat for us dessert fans out there.
Thanks for trying the recipe (twice in 1 week!) and I’m glad it came out great for you!
And thanks for ALL the amazing compliments! WOW, you just made my day, seriously!!! Thanks for noticing that I do try to respond to everyone and that I do put my heart and soul into my blog! Thank you for being such a great and loyal reader!!
I just finished making these, and I’m so looking forward to trying them!
We don’t have a microwave so I used a Pyrex bowl over warm water for both the peanut butter and chocolate.
I cooked the cookie just a couple minutes longer because I’m afraid the peanut butter (which tastes AMAZING!) would soak into the shortbread.
I put the pan into the fridge for a bit just to set it before adding the chocolate, which melted perfectly with the shortening.
Your recipe is super easy to follow, and it allowed me to practice things (double boiler, melting chocolate) that will help me hone my baking skills.
Tagalongs remind me of Tastykake Kandy Kakes, which I haven’t had in ages.
Thanks so much for creating this recipe!
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad it came out great for you and that it’s helped you work on some kitchen skills and that it tastes like the Tastykakes you remember fondly :)
These are delicious. I am a Tagalong fan, and the filling is spot-on. In the chocolate layer I used coconut oil instead of shortening (I was out) and they do crack when cut cold, but still are delicious! I just have to keep “evening out” the rows! :) My one issue that affects “company” presentation is that the peanut butter/chocolate layer separates from the shortbread layer when cut–even when warmed up a bit on the counter. Any remedies? I don’t think I overbaked the shortbread-12 minutes-but maybe next time I will shorten that time?
Thanks for trying the recipe and I’m glad you think the filling is spot on! Coconut oil behaves very differently when chilled compared to shortening so that’s why it likely cracked (use shortening next time; I love coconut oil but not in something like this)
The layers separating…hmmm, hasn’t happened to me with either this recipe or the recipe I adapted it from that I linked to in the post. Not sure what to say. I use PB that’s either Jif, Skippy or something similar. And I use King Arthur flour and Trader Joe’s butter. Nothing really too ‘unique’ but sometimes brands of ingredients can alter results so that’s what I used. But it sounds like it’s more of a cosmetic issue than anything. Maybe try 10 mins rather than 12 for the baking time, too.