You guyssss. It’s coming up on that time of year again. The time that we all look forward to, without wanting to admit we’re looking forward to it.

Girl Scout cookie time!!!!

Except this year I couldn’t wait.

And that’s how I made this dangerous discovery: That you can have homemade Girl Scout cookies year round.

I blame this on my friend Jacquey.

Jacquey brought these over a few weeks ago when we were watching The Bachelor. I assume she was doing the same thing I do when I bring treats into work – getting them out of her house so she wouldn’t eat them all. Maybe not. Jacquey is fabulous, has lots of self control, and would probably never eat a cookie with her breakfast just because it was there.

Anyway, it worked. I ate them all instead. Then I made several more batches, and ate those too. Thanks a lot, Jacquelyn.

These are like crack to me. They are just like tagalongs/peanut butter patties, but better. Better because they are bigger… they basically have twice as much of everything in one cookie.

Side note: Did you call these tagalongs or peanut butter patties growing up? They were definitely peanut butter patties in New England, but I’m now smack in the middle of tagalong country. That was pretty weird for me last year when I went to buy Girl Scout cookies here for the first time, but I think I’m OK with it now. A rose by any other name…

Well, whatever you call these, they have always been my faaaavorite Girl Scout cookie. Sure, I like thin mints. I might even make some of those soon. But the peanut butter patty, despite its unsexy name, just can’t be beat for me. Thinking back to my childhood Girl Scout cookie obsession, the only bummer was that there were so few peanut butter patties in a box. Remember that?! Thin mints came in sleeves of like 18, with multiple sleeves per box, and I’m pretty sure that each box of peanut butter patties only contained 12. Same price. So unfair. The thin mint was definitely the best bang for your buck.

Once again… enter the homemade peanut butter patty. No more feeling like you should have bought thin mints so you could get 3x as many cookies. Now you just need an extra jar of peanut butter and you are good. to. go.

These cookies, believe it or not, are super easy to make, and have only 3 ingredients (plus an optional garnish). But it’s worth saying a few words about the ingredients you use here:

Think like you were Brownie age again, instead of the incredible health-conscious home chef you are today. That means no homemade gluten-free crackers, no all-natural peanut butter, no high-quality dark chocolate. Straight up Ritz crackers, Skippy, and chocolate bark.

Embrace it. They are better this way, trust me.

I made two other versions of these, one with milk chocolate chips and one with dark chocolate. They didn’t even come close to the chocolate bark version. Chocolate bark doesn’t taste great when it’s melted (it’s very sweet), but once it’s hardened, it’s really what makes these taste like Girl Scout Cookies and not just chocolate peanut butter Ritz crackers.

If you’ve never heard of chocolate bark before (umm, I hadn’t), it is just a big chocolate slab that you can probably find in the baking aisle at your grocery store for $1.99. As far as I can tell, it’s just melted-down scraps from other chocolates. It also seems to have a pretty high fat content, because it stays nice and melty while you’re dipping these peanut butter Ritz sandwiches in it, which I found was not the case with chocolate chips. But if you’d rather use chocolate chips, dark chocolate, etc., I might suggest adding a bit of butter or coconut oil to it if you have trouble with the dipping.

Just look at that little tin of heaven… I really can’t emphasize enough how good these are. I thought I liked Girl Scout cookies… until I had these. I may never spend $4 on 12 peanut butter patties again.

Last but not least, I need to give a birthday shout-out to my little sister Alban, who is 19 today! Happy birthday sister! Hope you are having a wonderful start to your birthday, and that it includes real-life sweets :)

That’s all for today, folks! Happy Friday – have a great weekend!

Better Than Tagalongs (or Peanut Butter Patties)

Makes 20 cookies

Ingredients:

4o Ritz crackers

3/4 cup smooth peanut butter (I used Skippy)

8 oz. chocolate bark

sprinkles, sea salt, chopped roasted peanuts, etc. for garnish (optional)

Instructions:

First, make peanut butter and Ritz sandwiches, using almost 2 tsp of peanut butter in each sandwich.

Melt chocolate bark in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each.

Dip each peanut butter Ritz sandwich in chocolate, coating completely. I like to use a fork to turn the sandwich over a few times and make sure it’s totally covered in chocolate before removing it.

Set chocolate-covered cookies on a baking sheet. (Unlined is fine.) If desired, garnish with sprinkles, sea salt, or crushed peanuts.

Place in the freezer for 10-15 minutes to firm up. Once firm, store in an airtight container at room temperature. You can also keep them in the fridge, but bring to room temperature before serving. Will keep for several days.

Time:

30 minutes