This healthy Girl Scout Cookie peanut butter Tagalongs recipe can be vegan, gluten free, sugar free, grain free, and keto friendly!
Homemade Girl Scout Cookies
It is Girl Scout Cookie season once again.
And you know what that means… Tagalongs! Thin Mints! Do Si Dos! Samoas!
Or whatever cookies they are selling nowadays.
(Mango Cremes? What??)
Also try these Vegan Chocolate Chip Cookies
Healthy peanut butter Tagalongs
I will stick with the classic.
Today’s recipe is for healthy homemade Tagalongs, those thick peanut butter patties with a buttery shortbread crust and smooth chocolate coating.
Until they come out with healthy Girl Scout Cookies (or at least vegan Girl Scout Cookie Tagalongs) I am not letting the Girl Scouts have all the fun.
At press time in 2025, Girl Scout Peanut Butter Patties, supplied by ABC Bakers, are vegan. However Tagalongs, supplied by Little Brownie Bakers, are not. The region you live in will determine which option is available to you.
And both options contain unhealthy hydrogenated oil.
So last weekend, I set up a DIY Girl Scout Cookie factory in the kitchen.
By the end of the night, my factory successfully churned out batches of homemade healthy Thin Mints, Caramel deLites, and Tagalongs.
The best part? All of the cookies were whole grain, gluten free, trans fat free, dairy free, and egg free.
I will never understand why an institution concerned with bringing up healthy young girls continues to produce and promote cookies containing artery clogging hydrogenated oil when alternative baking methods exist.
True, cookies are not supposed to be a health food, but why keep the trans fats? Even Oreos got rid of hydrogenated oil in their cookies.
Seriously, you will not miss the trans fats in these healthy Girl Scout Cookies.
They are just really good.
Trending recipe: Snowball Cookies (4 ingredients)
Healthy Girl Scout Cookie recipe video
Above, watch the full video showing how to make the cookies.
Ingredients
The recipe calls for peanut butter, chocolate chips, almond flour, sweetener of choice, salt, baking soda, water, and pure vanilla extract.
Peanut butter – Feel free to use either conventional or natural peanut butter.
For a peanut free alternative, almond butter, sunflower butter, or cashew butter work. Refrigerate the nut butter until ready to use, because you want it firm.
Almond flour – Fine almond flour or flourless almond meal is readily available at regular grocery stores, Trader Joe’s, Target, Whole Foods, and health food stores.
Allergic to almonds? Use this simple recipe for Vegan Sugar Cookies as the base of the cookies instead.
Chocolate – It is your choice whether to go with semi sweet, milk, oat milk, or dark chocolate chips.
Sweetener – I like unrefined pure maple syrup here. Honey, powdered sugar, and agave also work.
To create keto girl scout cookies, sweeten with stevia or powdered erythritol instead.
How to make healthy Girl Scout Cookies
The first step is to gather your ingredients. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
Store the peanut butter in the refrigerator, because you want it firm, not runny.
Combine all dry ingredients except the chocolate chips in a large mixing bowl. Stir well to evenly incorporate the baking soda and salt.
Add in the wet ingredients, minus the peanut butter. It will seem dry at first. Keep stirring for at least a minute, breaking up large clumps of dough as you go.
Smush into a large ball, or transfer the cookie dough to a large Ziploc bag and smush into a ball from inside the bag. I find this second option much less messy and easier to shape without dough sticking to your hands.
From inside the bag or between two sheets of parchment paper, use a rolling pin to thinly roll the almond cookie mixture into a rectangle with about 1/8 inch thickness.
Use a cookie cutter or the rim of a small glass to cut circles or shapes of choice.
Re-roll any leftover dough scraps so none are wasted.
Place the raw cookie cut outs on a greased baking sheet or silicone baking mat, and bake on the center rack of the preheated oven for twelve minutes.
Let the baked cookies cool, then transfer to a parchment lined plate. Refrigerate or freeze until cold to the touch.
Spread peanut butter on top of each cookie base, then return to the refrigerator. This step is important because it ensures the peanut butter will not melt when it touches the hot chocolate sauce in the next step.
Chocolate coating
Add the chocolate chips to a microwave safe dish or the top bowl of a double boiler.
Carefully melt the chocolate, going slowly and checking often so it does not burn. If you are new to melting chocolate, you may find it helpful to read through the thorough instructions in my recipe for Chocolate Covered Strawberries.
Once the chips are fully melted, I find that stirring in just a teaspoon of vegetable or coconut oil yields a much smoother sauce. However, this ingredient is optional.
Using a spoon or fork, lower one peanut butter topped cookie into the chocolate. Set back on the parchment lined plate, and repeat this step with all remaining cookies.
Refrigerate to set the chocolate coating, then serve and enjoy.
Store any leftover Tagalongs in a cool, dry place or in the refrigerator or freezer.
The recipe was adapted from my Vegan Peanut Butter Cookies and these Keto Cookies.
Healthy Girl Scout Cookie Tagalongs
Ingredients
Tagalong Cookies
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup or honey, or stevia equivalent
- 2 tsp water or oil
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup peanut butter or allergy friendly sub
Chocolate Coating
- 2/3 cup chocolate chips or Sugar Free Chocolate Chips
- 1 tsp oil (optional for a smoother chocolate sauce)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 F. Chill the peanut butter in the refrigerator. Stir cookie dry ingredients in a mixing bowl, then stir in wet (minus the peanut butter). It will be dry at first. Keep stirring for a minute or two, breaking up large clumps, until it resembles a cookie dough. Transfer to a large Ziploc bag and smush into a ball from inside the bag. Either still inside the bag or between two sheets of parchment paper, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough about 1/8 inch thick. Cut circles or shapes of choice with cookie cutters or the rim of a small glass. Bake 10 minutes. Let cool, then refrigerate or freeze until cold to the touch. Spread peanut butter on each cookie base. Return to the refrigerator while you carefully melt the chocolate then stir in the optional oil. Use a spoon to coat the cookies in chocolate. Refrigerate to set. Enjoy your homemade healthy Girl Scout Cookies!View Nutrition Facts
Video
Notes
Healthy Cookie And Bar Recipes
Healthy Chocolate Chip Cookies
tell me you will post the Samoas!
Ditto! I loooove Samoas!
I was touched by this post, because I stand up for the exact same opinion.
Thank you for the amazing blog and brilliant mind.
I think I love you… 🙂
Katie, these are gluten free, healthy Tagalogs. You are officially my hero, thank you so much for creating this recipe. I cannot wait to try it out! 😀
I believe Girl Scout Cookies are actually trans fat free now, and have been for a few years.
From their website: “Girl Scouts of the USA is proud that all Girl Scout Cookies are “zero trans fat per serving” with the same great taste that has made them one of America’s favorite treats over the years.”
You might want to revise your post 🙂
I’m glad they’re taking a step in the right direction, but “no trans fat per serving” isn’t the same as having no trans fat, because it can add up if (if?) you eat more than one serving. I would love to see them take out the partially-hydrogenated oils from the cookies.
Girl Scout cookies are made with crack.
It’s SO TOUGH to have “just one…or two….or five…”
I don’t like the shortbread crust of tagalongs but I may just do your recipe at some point in my life because
Nutritional info is based on 20 peanut-butter-topped cookies, and it does include the chocolate coating.
Holy crap, WIN.
Any chance you’ll be posting recipes to the others? Say….thin mints?? *bats eyes*
10 minutes ago the little girl that lives two doors down from me dropped off the two boxes of tagalongs I had ordered. I opened the box and ate one and my very first thought was “I hope Katie adds a recipe for these. That would just be PERFECT.” When I opened up my email and saw the Tagalongs in my inbox I just started cracking up. Thanks for reading my mind Katie!
Too funny! Next, you should wish for a million dollars.
Just to see what happens ;).
Did I read correctly that you made a healthy version of Samoas? I would LOVE to try them! Do you have a recipe posted?
Not yet. The bottom needs work 🙂
Gotcha! I’ve got something to look forward too! 🙂
Katie,
I’m not sure if someone has already pointed this out, but on your cookie page, I think you have the wrong picture for the gluten-free chocolate lace cookies.
I’ve never bought a box of girl scout cookies… but I’ve tried a few before. I love thin mints, and this other lemon cookie was pretty good too (I don’t know the name)
Katie,
I am probably missing something very obvious, but are your nutritional info boxes based on the sugar or stevia versions?? I have never been able to figure it out. I always use the sugar versions and eat them any way, but I was curious!
Unless otherwise stated (which is sometimes the case, the nutritional info is for the lower-calorie ingredient. In this case, I don’t think it would make a giant difference since there are only 2 tbsp maple syrup for the entire recipe. So just 6 more calories per cookie.
Wait, 18tsp of peanut butter? Really? This is the same as 6 tbsp. Sounds tasty!
Haha yes it is the same thing. But I listed it this way so people can measure it out onto individual cookies. Personally I wouldn’t even bother to measure. Just slap some pb on each cookie! But I know people want specific measurements.
If you could send me a box of these I’d be in heaven.
I was SO excited to see this post that I made them tonight! I had trouble with the dough; it just wouldn’t hold together. I added more liquid in very small doses and I think I ended up adding about a tablespoon each of milk and oil. I used all purpose flour instead of almond flour, so that could have been the problem.
Unfortunately, ap flour is very different from almond flour and they can’t usually be subbed on a 1-for-1 ratio.
Yes!!!! Thank you! I’m waiting for the rest of the cookies now!
Thanks so much for a great Paleo friendly recipe! My 6 yr old is selling girl scout cookies this year and it has ruined my eating. After loading, unloading, storing, distributing and sorting 900 boxes for her troop, I caved and had to try my favorites again. I’ve regained my will power though, especially after reading the ingredients in them. I really wish an organization that is suppose to help girls grow would make at least one healthier cookie option. Until then, the troops will get the rest of mine.
These look great and are healthy! The real girl scout cookies taste good, and I do want to support the girls, but most of them are loaded with trans fat! Also, for me it is dangerous to have a whole bunch of cookies just sitting around my apartment! 🙂