If you liked her Homemade Samoa recipe, you’ll love this take on Homemade Tagalongs from Siri Daly, Today Show food contributor and author of Siriously Delicious.
“In my house, the chocolate/peanut butter combination tends to trump all. Luckily for my family, my second favorite Girl Scout cookie has always been Tagalongs. They have a smooth, chocolate exterior and the inside is luscious peanut butter cream on top of crisp shortbread.
For this reason, I created a homemade version of the hit cookie and they are truly magical. I would even be so bold as to say they are better than the real thing, because they are made with love. Is that a cheesy thing to say? I don’t care. While these might be more time consuming than your average homemade cookie, the best part about them is how many they yield. Once you’re finished, you can eat what’s equivalent to “a sleeve” of cookies, which is totally not something I’ve ever done before, box after box. . .”.
Cookbook Author Siri Daly. Photographer: Ellen Silverman, Food Stylist: Eugene Jho, Stylist: Karin Olsen, Hair and Makeup Stylist: Valerie Star.
Copyright © 2018 Oxmoor House. Reprinted with permission from Time Inc. Books, a division of Meredith Corporation. New York, NY. All rights reserved.
Recipe photo credit: Photographer: Caitlin Bensel, Food Stylists: Margaret Monroe Dickey and Karen Shroeder-Rankin, Prop Stylist: Kay E. Clarke.
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1/8 teaspoon almond extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon table salt
Peanut Butter Filling
- 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
- Pinch table salt
Chocolate Coating
- 6 ounces milk chocolate baking bar, chopped
- 6 ounces semisweet or dark chocolate baking bar, chopped
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
Preparation
- 1 Make the Cookies: Beat the butter and powdered sugar with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth, about 4 minutes. Add the vanilla and almond extracts, and beat until combined.
- 2 Sift together the flour and salt in a separate bowl. Slowly add the flour mixture to the butter mixture, beating on low speed until combined.
- 3 Shape the dough into a disk; wrap in plastic wrap, and chill for 30 minutes.
- 4 Preheat the oven to 350°F. Unwrap the chilled dough disk, and roll it out on a lightly floured surface to a 1⁄4-inch thickness. Cut the dough using a floured 2-inch round cutter, rerolling scraps once. Place the cookies 1 inch apart on parchment paper-lined baking sheets.
- 5 Bake until the edges just begin to turn golden, 12 to 14 minutes. Cool the cookies on the pans for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire racks, and let cool completely, about 20 minutes.
- 6 Meanwhile, Make the Peanut Butter Filling: Beat the peanut butter, sugar, vanilla, and salt on medium speed until well combined.
- 7 Mound about 1 teaspoon of the filling on top of each cooled cookie. Using a knife and starting in the middle of the mound, spread the filling down to the edge of the cookie. Repeat as you go around the cookie until the filling covers the entire top. The filling should look slightly domed in the center of the cookie. (There will be about 1⁄4 cup filling leftover.)
- 8 Make the Chocolate Coating: Pour water to a depth of 1 inch into the bottom of a double boiler over medium; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to a simmer; place the chocolate in the top of the double boiler, and stir until melted. Add the vegetable oil, and stir until you have a glossy chocolate sauce. Remove from the heat.
- 9 Using 2 forks, dip each cookie into the coating until the cookie is completely coated on both sides, flipping over, if necessary. Lift the cookie out of the chocolate with 1 fork, using the other to scrape any excess chocolate off the bottom back into the pan. Place on aluminum foil- or parchment paper-lined baking sheets. Repeat with the remaining cookies and Chocolate Coating.
- 10 Chill the cookies until firm, about 15 minutes. Store leftovers (if you have any!) in an airtight container in the refrigerator to help them keep their shape.
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