homemade nut butter tagalongs (gluten-free);

Anyone else wish Girl Scout cookie season was all year round??? Well, when you have that craving for crisp cookies topped with peanut butter and chocolate, grab your mixing bowl. I’ll show you how to make homemade nut butter tagalongs to rival those addicting little boxed cookies! Plus a fun bonus PB&J twist to try out.

The best part about making these homemade nut butter tagalongs is the homemade part. It means I can finally enjoy the taste of tagalongs again since my stomach decided to rebel against gluten. But this recipe is primed for some other tweaks, like supporting all my peanut-free folks! Use almond butter, or your favorite nut butter and you don’t have to worry about those pesky peanut allergies.

So let’s start these homemade nut butter tagalongs off with the cookie. Almond flour makes the shortbread cookie base gluten-free. It gives an extra nutty depth of flavor to the cookies, and considering we’ll be topping the cookie with some additional nut-based butter, it pairs extremely well. Because these shortbread cookies are sweetened with maple syrup, they’ll be a little softer than the original tagalong cookie. But I actually like the softer texture and don’t mind giving up a little snap of the cookie for the extra nutty flavor.

Before baking your nut butter tagalongs, use your thumb to make a small depression in the cookies (think like a thumbprint cookie). Trust me, when you get to the peanut butter step, it’ll be messy enough. You want the peanut butter to stay put, and that little divet in the cookie will make your life a whole lot easier if you do it before baking. And of course if you prefer a different nut butter, by all means, swap out the peanut butter.

For the nut butter, I grab fresh-processed honey roasted peanut butter. Just make sure you stir up your peanut butter. Natural peanut butter is prone to separating.

secret to success

For the nut butter, I grab fresh-processed peanut butter from Whole Foods (or any fresh market or bulk food store). I prefer the honey roasted because it already has the sweetness baked right into the peanut butter. But if you don’t have access to a grinder yourself, any fresh peanut butter will do. Just make sure you stir up your peanut butter. Natural peanut butter is prone to separating.

Make sure to let the cookies cool completely before you continue to the peanut butter and chocolate coating steps. Residual heat will make your nut butter runny, and can mess with your chocolate setting. You need to move quickly when coating in chocolate to make sure the consistency stays right.

First things first, pick your chocolate! You all know I’m partial to dark chocolate myself, so I go with semi-sweet chocolate chips. It’s the perfect balance to the nuttiness in the cookie, and pairs so well with a sprinkle of sea salt to finish. But milk chocolate is the classic “tagalong” original chocolate, or you could even change it up and go white for a sweeter twist! Pick your favorite, or even do a variety to satisfy every palate.

Use your favorite type of chocolate! You all know I’m partial to dark chocolate myself. But milk chocolate is the classic “tagalong” original chocolate, or go white for a sweeter twist!

secret to success

Want to add a little surprise to your homemade nut butter tagalongs? Make them PB&J style! Adding some freeze dried fruit powder gives them just a little pop of color and flavor. The fun part about homemade is experimenting and trying some tweaks on the classic! I love using freeze-dried strawberry powder, but raspberry works just as well.

For a fun peanut butter & jelly twist, try adding some freeze-dried fruit Strawberry is my go-to, though raspberries would work equally well.

secret to success

Make a PB&J Tagalong! For a fun peanut butter & jelly twist on your nut butter tagalongs, try adding some freeze-dried fruit Strawberry is my go-to, though raspberries would work equally well. Stir some of the freeze-dried powder into the peanut butter, and then sprinkle the coated chocolate cookies with extra powder for decoration. It’s subtle, but there’s a good reason PB&J is a classic!

Or for a fun extra texture, try mixing in King Arthur Flour’s jammy bits to your peanut butter before scooping onto the cookie (similar to my peanut butter & jelly truffles). I topped my PB&J nut butter tagalongs with an extra sprinkle of powder so I could tell the difference from the classic cookies.

secrets to success;

Want all the best tips and tricks to make this recipe a success? Check out the blog post above to find out more!

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more recipes;

Looking for other classic favorites to make in your very own kitchen? Well, look no further!

• Olive garden zuppa toscana is one of my favorite soups, especially when paired with fresh bread!
• Lemon-butter-salmon is one of my all-time favorite dishes, adapted from the restaurant Bonefish. It’s such a study in beautiful flavors that pop in your mouth, and makes for such a satisfying meal!
• For a more classic shortbread cookie with caramel, check out these twix-cookies, always a fan-favorite.