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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I am overindulging left and right on peanut butter and chocolate lately so when I saw this recipe I immediately had to make it. It’s “setting up” right now but I’m not sure I am going to be able to restrain myself. When I sampled all the layers separately they were delish so I’m sure I’m going to be in heaven later when I try them together. Thank you for the yummy, simple recipe!
Thanks for trying the recipe! Glad all the layers tasted great on their own and enjoy the finished compilation :)
Tagalongs are my favorite! Can’t wait to try these!
Ahhhh those are my favorite Girl Scout cookies! Yea!
Ps the write up on your book insid for Hello Giggles is up today:
https://hellogiggles.com/peanut-butter-chocolate-cookies
Great comparison and I would have loved to be there helping taste-test through all 3 peanut butters! Safe to assume you had some cookies on hand for awhile…then again, with PB cookies, they disappear way too quickly from here :)
Pffft peanut butter > than mint + coconut combined in my book. Taglongs are my favorite and these bars look like they’re be a new favorite in our house soon.
Tagalongs are the best! My sons and I love them! Samoas are second! I can see these making an appearance this weekend!
yum, yum, yuuum
https://aspoonfulofnature.wordpress.com/
These bars look perfectly layered and delicious! I used to think that thin mints are my favorite GS cookies, but I’m starting to love Tagalongs :)
I want all of them… now! Those all look amazing. Nice work.
I love that these are bars!! Ever since I first made bars, I hardly ever make cookies anymore… because, well, the faster I can get sweets in and out of the oven and into my mouth, the better. ;) And YES totally a good thing girl scout cookies all year round!!
IS It Ok If I Use Salted Butter
Yes I’m sure that’s fine.
You just made the wait for Girl Scout cookies that much easier! These will be the perfect thing to whip up tomorrow when it’s too cold to do anything other than bake away in a nice warm kitchen! You’re the peanut butter queen! Xo
O-M-G! *_*
I’ve never heard the term Tagalongs before. They look absolutely great! But you really killed me when I scolled down to the “Related Recipe-Section” and I saw the “Peanut Butter Caramel Twix Bars” AND the “Samoas Cookie Pie”… How can you do that to me… haha :))
Thanks for sharing. I’ll definitely try them out… ALL OF THEM. lol
http://www.color-castles.com
Glad a few things caught your attention :)
I agree with you about Tagalongs living in the shadow of Samoas and Thin Mints. Now, I do love a Thin Mint…but come on, Tagalongs are like Reese’s Cups in a cookie! These bars look FANTASTIC.
These look amazing! I love how huge they are and the layers look so perfect :)
I’m starting to think that all of the Jenny Craig’s and Weight Watcher’s kinds of businesses are paying you to come up with irresistible recipes so they can reap the benefits when we eat these goodies and then get on the scale and panic … even thinking about how good this must be is making my thighs grow …
Which is why I had to donate these babies, ASAP! They are thigh-growing food :)
I say Tag-a-longs are my favorite cookie, but I also love Thin Mints and Do-si-Dos; I really love them all! I’ve made Tag-a-longs before and they are a lot of work, love this bar idea!
The bars were SO easy and so much faster than cookies would have been!