Tagalong Cookies - Homemade

By MJH

Ingredients

• Shortbread:
• 1 cup (2 sticks) butter, room temperature
• (1/2 cup) sugar
• (2 cups) all purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons milk
• Peanut Butter Filling:
• 1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter (peanut allergies? try almond butter!)
• 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• Chocolate Topping:
• 8-oz milk chocolate

Details

Adapted from instructables.com

Preparation

Step 1

Shortbread:
Cream together butter and sugar with a mixer until light and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.

Slowly add this to the butter mixture.

Finally, at low speed, add in the milk and vanilla.

Separate the dough into halves and wrap in plastic or store in tupperware.

Refrigerate until the dough is as firm as a stick of butter.

Preheat oven to 350F (180C) and line two baking sheets with parchment or silicone liners.

Remember that the parchment sheets can be re-used between batches!

Once the dough is firm enough to roll out on lightly floured surface.

Once dough is rolled to about 1/8" - 1/4" thickness, use a cookie cutter to cut out round shapes.

Re-roll the scraps and repeat.

Move the cut cookies onto a cookie tray.

Bake batches of cookies one sheet at a time for 10-12 minutes, rotating the cookie sheet 180 degrees, halfway through baking.

This ensures that all the cookies turn the same color instead of getting browner in the hotter parts of the oven.

Using a spoon, scoop, or thumb, make an indentation in the center of each cookie.

This is the well for peanut butter filling goodness.

Do it before the cookies cool!

Cool cookies on the sheet for about 5 minutes, and transfer to a wire rack.


Peanut Butter Filling:
In a microwavable bowl, sift the powdered sugar into the peanut butter and mix well.

Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring between each, until very melty.

Stir in vanilla.


Chocolate Topping:
Melt the chocolate with tiny zaps in the microwave - 30 second intervals, stir frequently.

May prefer to use the double-boiler method since chocolate needs to remain melted while dipping.

Otherwise, keep a bowl in another bowl with a bit of hot water in it, and be prepared to re-zap the chocolate in the microwave whenever it gets too firm to work with.

Before adding the peanut butter filling to the cookie....Coat the bottoms first and set on wax paper until the chocolate hardens (bottom side up).

Place the coated-bottom cookies on a wire cooling rack over a cookie sheet with the well side up.

Next, add the peanut butter filling to the cookies using a spoon, piping bag or plastic bag with the corner cut off.

Pile the filling into the well of the cookies.

Slowly, pour melted chocolate over the top of the filling and cookie.

The excess chocolate will drip over the sides of the cookies onto the cookie sheet.

This can be remelt and reuse the excess chocolate for other things.