We may earn money or products from the companies mentioned in this post.
These healthier vegan tagalongs are made with just 8 simple whole food plant based ingredients! They are gluten-free and oil-free and taste JUST like the classics!
I am so excited to be writing this blog post because we have been eating these healthier vegan tagalong cookies for a couple weeks now and I can’t wait for you all to try them!
These vegan tagalongs took a few tries to get perfect but it was worth the extra effort because they taste SO SIMILAR to classic tagalongs! No, this isn’t just some peanut butter and chocolate treat: these cookies really do taste just like tagalongs! So, if you are looking for a healthier vegan girl scout cookie, I got you!
When I first started working on this healthy vegan tagalong recipe, I used peanut butter (just peanut butter) for the filling. I was shocked when I took a bite and realized there wasn’t a strong peanut butter flavor! I tweaked the cookie recipe and tried it again. Still a solid delicious cookie, but NOT a tagalong! At this point I was determined to get this right lol!
Anyway, I made a peanut butter dough for the filling (instead of using just peanut butter) and I added peanut butter to the cookies so there is NO shortage of delicious peanut butter flavor in these tagalongs! The end results is big crispy peanut butter shortbread cookies topped with a thick layer of creamy peanut butter and covered in decadent chocolate. I am so happy with how this recipe turned out and I think you will be, too!
These healthier vegan tagalongs are:
WFPB (whole food plant based)
Gluten-Free
Oil-Free
Contain NO refined sugars and NO refined flours
So easy to make
Made with 8 simple ingredients
Incredibly delicious
Ingredients
There are only 8 simple whole food plant based ingredients in this healthy vegan tagalong recipe!
Blanched Almond Flour
Oat Flour- use certified GF oats/oat flour if neeeded!
Natural Peanut Butter- make sure the peanut butter is drippy and soft!
Pure Maple Syrup
Vanilla Extract
Pink Himalayan Salt
Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips- I highly recommend using Enjoy Life. This is my favorite brand of chocolate chips and I find that NO oil is needed for melting!
Substitutions
Oat Flour: if you don’t have any oat flour on hand, you can use all almond flour. You will need to bake the cookies a little bit longer if you use all almond flour, about 16-17 minutes total.
Peanut Butter: of course you can feel free to sub in any natural nut or seed butter for the cookies and the filling. Just make sure its drippy and soft so it mixes easily.
Pure Maple Syrup: any liquid sweetener will work.
How to Make Healthier Vegan Tagalongs
Step 1: Make your cookies
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.Add all of the cookie ingredients to a medium bowl and mix very well with a small spatula until dough forms. Use 1 heaping tbsp per cookie.Roll into balls, then flatten until cookies are about 1/4 an inch thick. You should have 8 cookies. Bake cookies on the middle rack for about 14-15 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. All ovens vary so watch your cookies closely!
Remove the cookies from the oven, cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.
Step 2: Make your peanut butter dough
While the cookies are baking, add all of the peanut butter dough ingredients into a medium bowl and mix very well with a small spatula. This will look very wet at first but keep mixing until a soft dough forms.
Once your cookies are completely cooled, add 1 tbsp of peanut butter dough on top of each cookie. Roll the dough into balls, then flatten the dough into a disc shape so that it covers the entire cookie, leaving just a little room on the edges.
Step 3: Melt the chocolate
Add 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips to a small microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 1 minute, stirring at the 30 second mark. Stir until completely melted.
Step 4: Coat the cookies
Line a plate with parchment paper. Dip each cookie into the melted chocolate, using a fork to flip the cookie over. Make sure to cover the sides of the cookies with chocolate. Lift the cookies out of bowl with the fork and drag the fork over the rim of the bowl to remove the excess chocolate from the bottom of the cookie. Place each cookie on the plate with parchment paper.
Step 5: Freeze cookies
Place the cookies in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes until the chocolate has set, then enjoy!
Store leftover covered in the refrigerator.
More Healthy Vegan Girl Scout Inspired Recipes
Vegan Thin Mints [GF, Oil-Free]
Healthier Vegan No Bake Samoa Bars [GF]
PIN IT for later!
If you make this recipe, I would love a rating and comment below! Don’t forget to take a photo and tag @wholesome.crumbs on Instagram!
Healthier Vegan Tagalongs [GF, Oil-Free]
Ingredients
Cookies
- 1/2 cup blanched almond flour
- 1/2 cup oat flour certified GF if needed
- 1 & 1/2 tbsp natural peanut butter this needs to be drippy and soft!
- 3 & 1/2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp baking soda
Peanut Butter Dough
- 1/3 cup + 1 tbsp natural peanut butter
- 1/4 cup blanched almond flour
- 2 tbsp pure maple syrup
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- a couple pinches of salt
Chocolate Coating
- 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
Instructions
- Step 1: Make your cookiesPreheat the oven to 350 degrees F and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.Add all of the cookie ingredients to a medium bowl and mix very well with a small spatula until dough forms. Use 1 heaping tbsp per cookie. Roll into balls, then flatten until cookies are about 1/4 an inch thick. You should have 8 cookies. Bake cookies on the middle rack for about 14-15 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown. All ovens vary so watch your cookies closely! Remove the cookies from the oven, cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooling rack.
- Step 2: Make your peanut butter dough While the cookies are baking, add all of the peanut butter dough ingredients into a medium bowl and mix very well with a small spatula. This will look very wet at first but keep mixing until a soft dough forms. Once your cookies are completely cooled, add 1 tbsp of peanut butter dough on top of each cookie. Roll the dough into balls, then flatten the dough into a disc shape so that it covers the entire cookie, leaving just a little room on the edges. Scroll up to see my photos of this step if needed!
- Step 3: Melt the chocolate chipsAdd 1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips to a small microwave safe bowl and microwave for about 1 minute, stirring at the 30 second mark. Stir until completely melted.
- Step 4: Coat the cookiesLine a plate with parchment paper. Dip each cookie into the melted chocolate, using a fork to flip the cookie over. Make sure to cover the sides of the cookies with chocolate. Lift the cookies out of bowl with the fork and drag the fork over the rim of the bowl to remove the excess chocolate from the bottom of the cookie. Place each cookie on the plate with parchment paper.
- Step 5: Freeze the cookiesPlace the cookies in the freezer for about 10-15 minutes until the chocolate has set, then enjoy!Store leftover covered in the refrigerator.
Notes
- You can use all almond flour if preferred. The cookies will need to bake longer, about 16-17 minutes until the edges are golden brown.
These vegan Tagalongs are the perfect balance of salty and sweet. They’re also easy to make and the recipe makes it very understandable on what to do! I used almond butter for the peanut butter dough part and it was delicious!