Tagalongs and Teasers

It's that time of year.  You cookie lovers know what I'm talking about.  The time of year when the Girl Scouts are out selling those yummy cookies.  I do enjoy Girl Scout cookies, but there's really no room in our budget for them.  My favorites are the thin mints and tagalongs, so I was super excited when I came across a recipe to make Tagalongs at home!  These are a bit time-consuming, but to me it's worth it for a special treat (especially since I find baking to be really relaxing and fun).

Just as a disclaimer, I'm not in any way posting this recipe to discourage people from buying Girl Scout cookies.  I'm just posting it because it's a delicious recipe and not all of us can afford to buy boxes of cookies....and Girl Scout cookies are only available once a year, so these can help get you through from one year to the next!

Tagalongs
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
Scant 1/2 tsp salt (that means slightly less than 1/2 tsp)
3 cups flour
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
4 cups chocolate chips
1/2 - 1 Tbsp shortening

In the bowl of a mixer, cream butter until smooth; add sugar and cream well.  Add vanilla and egg; mix until smooth.  With the mixer on low, add the flour and salt, mixing until all the flour is incorporated and the dough is uniform.

Shape the dough into a long roll, about 2-3 inches in diameter and wrap in wax paper.  Freeze for 30 minutes or refrigerate for at least 2 hours.

I put it in the wax paper and just worked it until I got a long cylinder (see below).

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Remove dough from freezer or refrigerator.  Slice the dough into 1/8-inch-thick discs.

Place about 1/2-inch apart on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 8 to 12 minutes, or until cookies are baked through.  Place on a cooling rack until completely cool.

Mix peanut butter and powdered sugar.

I found that the best way to mix it was to use my hands.  I started out with a spoon, then used my hands once it wasn't so sticky.

Press a small amount of the peanut butter mixture onto each baked and cooled cookie.  I found that the easiest way to do this was to roll the peanut butter mixture into a ball, place it on the cookie, and carefully work it out to the edges with my fingers.

Melt chocolate and shortening; adjusting shortening to reach desired consistency (more shortening=thin chocolate; less shortening=thick chocolate).  Carefully dip each cookie into the chocolate.  Allow excess chocolate to drip off, then place on wax paper to harden.  You can speed up this process by putting them in the refrigerator or freezer.

That takes care of the Tagalongs part.  Now for the teaser.  Come back tomorrow for a special Thursday post regarding some exciting news!!!  You won't want to miss it!