These easy-to-make Keto Tagalong Bars taste just like the original Girl Scout Cookie! You won’t believe they are low carb and sugar-free.
Way way back, in the early days of dreaming up low carb recipes, I created some peanut butter shortbread bars. And it took me by surprise, how good they were. Everything came together just perfectly.
My husband took one bite and said they tasted like his favorite Girl Scout cookies, Tagalongs. I was absolutely thrilled with such a comparison. And we made them frequently for a few months.
But as a recipe creator is wont to do, I moved on to make many other wonderful keto cookies and cookie bars. I perfected my Keto Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I created some gorgeous Salted Caramel Bars. And I conquered the perfect texture for Keto Shortbread Cookies.
I all but forgot my lovely Tagalong Bars in the meantime. Until now!
Why you need these in your life
If you find it difficult to resist the siren’s call of Girl Scout Cookies, then this recipe is for you! They are a delicious sugar-free copycat of the famous Tagalong Cookies.
But unlike individual cookies, these bars are remarkably easy to make. You press the crust into a pan and bake it. You make an easy peanut butter filling and pour it over. Then you melt some sugar-free chocolate and spread it on top. Done, finished, finito!
I actually have a recipe for Keto Tagalong Cookies as well and I love them. But they are definitely more time consuming.
And these bars have just a fraction of the carbs compared to real Girl Scout Cookies. Only 4.1g net carbs per serving!
Ingredients you need
- Almond flour: A good fine almond flour makes the best shortbread crust. I do not recommend coconut flour here. But if you can’t eat almonds, you can try sunflower seed flour.
- Sweetener: I recommend an erythritol based sweetener for the crust, such as Swerve Granular. Don’t use allulose or BochaSweet, as they will prevent the crust from crisping up. You will need a confectioner’s style sweetener for the filling.
- Butter: Good shortbread crusts always use butter!
- Peanut butter: I use a good creamy natural peanut butter like Santa Cruz. They have a no-stir version that means you can just scoop it and measure it out.
- Heavy cream: Heavy cream helps create a delicious peanut butter filling with a frosting-like consistency.
- Caramel or vanilla extract: Vanilla extract is an easy pantry staple. But if you can get your hands on some caramel extract, it adds amazing flavor!
- Sugar free chocolate: ChocZero is one of my favorite brands and you can use the dark chocolate or milk chocolate chips for these bars. Also use FOODDREAMER for 10% off your order!
Step by Step Directions
1. Prepare the shortbread crust: Combine the almond flour, sweetener, and salt in a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Sprinkle the butter pieces overtop and continue to pulse until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
2. Bake the crust: Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of a greased 8×8 inch baking pan and bake at 350ºF for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove and let cool.
3. Make the peanut butter filling: In a microwave safe bowl, combine the peanut butter and butter and cook until melted and it can be stirred together. You can also do this in a pan on the stove over very low heat. Stir in the powdered sweetener until well combined and then whisk in the cream and the extract.
4. Spread over the crust: Pour the mixture over cooled crust and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Refrigerate until set, about 20 minutes.
5. Make the topping: In a microwave safe bowl, combine the chopped chocolate and the butter. Heat on high in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until smooth. Be careful not to overheat and make your chocolate seize.
6. Spread over the filling: Spread over the chilled filling. Return to the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set the chocolate.
Expert tips
While almond flour makes the crust more like real shortbread, you can use other nut or seed flours for these bars. It won’t be as fine looking, and you may need a little additional butter to help it hold together better. I do not recommend coconut flour for a crust like this.
Many natural peanut butters don’t contain any salt. If you use unsalted butter and unsalted peanut butter, you may want to add ¼ teaspoon fine salt to the filling. It will bring out the sweetness more.
Melt the chocolate carefully in the microwave, in short increments. But you can also do it in a pan over very low heat. I like to use the same bowl or pan I did the peanut butter filling in so there are fewer dishes to wash at the end!
Frequently Asked Questions
Tagalong cookies are a popular treat sold by American Girl Scouts. They feature a shortbread cookie covered in chocolate, with a sweetened peanut butter filling. They are also known as Peanut Butter Patties.
Conventional Tagalongs have 13g of carbs per serving. These Keto Tagalong Bars have only 6.8g carbs and 2.7g fiber per serving. So they have a net carb count of 4.1g.
You can store the bars on the counter in a covered container for up to 4 days, or in the fridge for up to 8 days. They can also be frozen for several months.
More Girl Scout Inspired Recipes
Keto Tagalong Bars Recipe
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 ¼ cups almond flour
- ⅓ cup Swerve Sweetener
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup butter chilled and cut into small pieces
Peanut Butter Caramel Filling
- ⅔ cup creamy natural peanut butter
- ¼ cup butter
- ½ cup powdered Swerve Sweetener
- ¼ cup heavy whipping cream
- ½ teaspoon caramel extract can use vanilla extract
Chocolate Topping
- 3 ½ ounces dark chocolate chips, sugar-free
- 2 tablespoon butter
Instructions
Crust
- Preheat the oven to 350ºF and lightly grease an 8×8 inch metal baking pan.
- Combine the almond flour, sweetener, and salt in a food processor. Pulse a few times to combine. Sprinkle the butter pieces overtop and continue to pulse until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
- Press the mixture evenly into the bottom of the prepared pan pan and bake 12 to 15 minutes or until light golden brown. Remove and let cool.
Peanut Butter Filling
- In a microwave safe bowl, combine the peanut butter and butter and cook until melted and it can be stirred together. You can also do this in a pan on the stove over very low heat.
- Stir in the powdered sweetener until well combined and then whisk in the cream and the extract. Pour over cooled crust and spread evenly with an offset spatula. Refrigerate until set, about 20 minutes.
Chocolate Topping
- In a microwave safe bowl, combine the chopped chocolate and the butter (you can use the same bowl or pan from the peanut butter mixture).
- Heat on high in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until smooth. Be careful not to overheat and make your chocolate seize.
- Spread over the chilled filling. Return to the refrigerator for 30 minutes to set the chocolate.
Christina says
Omg – these look so good. I would have to stumble upon this recipe while in out of town for work, and can’t bake anything. The suspense is killing me! Lol I think I will make these and top the with a little bit of coconut. Sounds divine!! If the fairy hobmother visits me, I would like a vitamix! Life would be so much easier with a vitamix.
Thanks for the great recipe(s)! Can’t wait to try this one!
Sharon Looper says
I would love a visit from the Fairy Hobmother. I could really use a new single burner cast iron stove. Mine is about to go out. I do all of my cooking on a single burner or in my toaster oven. It’s all the room we have because we have to travel so much with my husband’s job.
Christy says
These look soooo yummy!! my wish would be for a Vitamix…I have been trying to reverse some major health issues & there are so many healthy recipes I could use the Vitamix for…I’ve been learning over the past year or so that putting healthy things in my body makes a HUGE difference on how I feel & how much pain I have!!
cindy says
wow will try this soon. would love to have a quality immersion blender,since you asked
Teresa Bey says
Can’t wait to try these. YUM!
I’d love to have a food processor to make all these wonderful recipes. 🙂
Blessings.
Jacki says
A kitchen Aide stand mixer. Please Fairy Hobmother??!!
Francesca says
Going to see if I can adapt this to “dairy free”. Wheat – dairy allergy here..and avocado just to make Keto fun and interesting.
I can get lactose free whipping cream now, so this should be possible
A stand mixer would be cool…food allergies mean cooking from scratch and when friends and family are around I need to do the cooking.
My mom has an amazing stand mixer she brought from England when we emigrated in 1974. They had the electrical redone on it so it would work in Canada. It’s still going.!
I can borrow it, but she lives 90 minutes away, and it just doesn’t work for us to be driving it back and forth.
sandi dubble says
Hello Fairy Hobmother…I’d like a once cup coffee maker…like a Krups..but odesnt have to be a Krups. I’d settle for something cheaper. 🙂
Mariah says
That looks really good!! Would stevia work instead of the erythritol? One of these days I need to get a stand mixer. I would be SO much more interested in baking! Hand mixers just take too much time.
Carolyn says
I don’t know if stevia would work that well in the filling. I suspect the consistency would change a great deal.
Hope says
We’re having a little food-fest this Labour Day weekend, before school starts next week and we get really serious about our diet again. So, I made these today and all I have to say is, YUMMO!!!
Deborah says
Carolyn, could you tell me what brand stevia extract you use, so I can order it? I’m used to using the nunaturals stevia powder, but since your recipes seem to use liquid stevia extract a lot, and i am beginning to use your recipes a lot, i figured it would be easier to order the liquid extract rather than try and work out how much powder i should use each time. thanks!
I haven’t yet made these, but i did make just the base last week, and spread your lemon curd over it. divine.
Carolyn says
Hi Deborah. I usually use NuNaturals as well, but it’s the liquid variety. NuNaturals Clear Liquid Stevia
Diana says
Does it have to be a liquid stevia? Or can we use granulated swerve if so whats the difference in measurements?
Thank you so much for all these great recipes!!
Carolyn says
1/4 tsp stevia = 1/4 cup sugar (or Swerve).
Juanita says
I’m a recently diagnosed diabetic who is eating low carb-high fat, and I cannot WAIT to try these! I’m just waiting for my Swerve to get here!
Also? If this small-appliance Fairy Hobmother thing is still on, I do need a food-processor. We are prepping all our food from scratch at this point; I can’t afford processed foods in my diet anymore. So it would be a real life-saver for me. Thanks for considering it! And if not, that’s ok, too. I came late to the party….. 😉
Tammy says
I made these a couple days ago and they are wonderful! Turned out perfect! Thanks!
Sarah says
I just made these for the second time today. They are soooo good! The only change I made this time was to add about 1/4 tsp salt to the crust and a few sprinkles to the caramel. I think the salt really helped enhance all the flavors a bit. These are a definite new favorite. I was already melting the erythritol for the caramel when I realized I was out of heavy cream. Luckily I had 1/2 & 1/2, so I did that plus a couple tblsp butter. It actually turned out great! Phew!
Katharine says
Just made my fourth batch. In a month. I love grabbing one out of the fridge when I hit an afternoon slump. Oh, and after dinner when I need a sweet nibble. Oh, and mid-morning when I need something quick to keep me energized until lunch…I need an intervention!!
Amanda says
These look just like the chocolate caramel bars we used to make! I miss them so much since needing to eat Gluten Free, imagine my excitement when I found your recipe! I can’t wait to try these out later!
Mari Fenili says
oh my! I NEED to make this recipe!!
Elaine says
I am impressed with this recipe…low carb things are just so difficult to make “wonderful” like regular things. I can just envision that these will be different…hope, hope…because it has ALL my favs…PB, chocolate, shortbread!!! I would just love to have one of those grill combo things that has all the different plates for waffles, donuts, omelettes, etc…but econonmy and finances just wont allow it.
Allyn Bamberger says
I hope you have made them by now because you will find them truly wonderful!
Heather says
HI, did you oil your pan before baking the crust? Thank you!
Carolyn says
No, in this case you don’t have to. I always specify if the pan needs greasing.
Soul Sister says
I was never into baking until I discovered you and low carb baking! Now I’m dying to get a real stand mixer instead of my tiny hand held!
Carolyn says
Honestly, it would be worth it. I’ve had my KitchenAid mixer for 11 years and it still works perfectly. I adore it. And whipping cream and egg whites is so fast.