To assemble the cookies, dip or spread a cookie base with melted chocolate to fully cover the base. Place it on waxed paper. Then overfill the cookie trench with caramel sauce (place the sauce in zip-type plastic bag and snip the corner) and spread it over the sides of the cookie with a knife. Sprinkle liberally with toasted coconut and press it into the underlying caramel. Allow to cool thoroughly. Peel the cookies off the waxed paper and transfer them to a clean sheet of waxed paper, shaking off the excess coconut.
Finally, prepare the remaining chocolate topping, and place it into a zip-type plastic bag and snip the corner. Pipe thin chocolate stripes across the tops of the cookies. Allow the cookies to cool again.
Note: If you lose your spunk after making twenty or thirty of these, please know that the extra dough can be used to make good sugar cookies. Just roll and bake (about 8 minutes).
Girl Scout Tagalongs-Style Cookies
brown rice flour
MAKES ABOUT 40 COOKIES
In the original Tagalongs, the underlying cookie is rather thin, a little hard, high
in vanilla flavor, and not too sweet. The peanut butter is plain and the chocolate
coating is sweet. It combines for a delicious cookie that you may have enjoyed
prior to dietary restriction.
⅓ cup shortening, 70 grams
1½ cups brown rice flour, 185 grams
¼ cup sugar, 50 grams
1 egg
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
CHOCOLATE COATING:
12 ounces broken milk chocolate bars, 340 grams
2 tablespoons confectioners’ sugar
FILLING :
½ cup peanut butter
Preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a cookie sheet.
In a medium-size bowl, combine the shortening and brown rice flour. Beat well. Scrape down the sides of the mixing bowl at least once during mixing. Add the remaining ingredients and beat well. Continue beating until the dough comes together; it will be soft like play dough.
Roll out the dough to ⅛-inch thickness. Use a 1½-inch round cookie cutter to cut the cookies and place them on the prepared pan. Depress the center of each cookie a bit with the back of a measuring spoon; this will eventually help hold the peanut butter. Then prick the center of the cookie to help the bottom of the cookie stay flat. Bake for 8 to 9 minutes, until the edges begin to brown. The cookies should be crisp upon cooling. Let cool well before proceeding.
For the chocolate coating, I suggest making two batches of coating (using half of the ingredients at a time) so that it does not harden before you have used it all. Place half the chocolate into a microwave-safe bowl and cook on HIGH for 1 to 2 minutes, until melted. Stir in half the sugar. Stir until creamy.
Place about ½ teaspoon of peanut butter on top of each cookie and spread, leaving a margin of ¼ to ⅓ inch from the edge of the cookie. Dip the cookies into the chocolate coating (remove the excess, especially from the bottom) and place on waxed paper to cool. The coating should be as thin as possible to mimic the original.
Shortbread, page 57
Blondies #2, page 45
Carrot Cake Bars, page 46
Chocolate Chip Cookies #2, page 25
Almond Flower Cookies, page 20
Gingerbread Men, page 81
Chinese Marble Cookies, page 70
Love Letter Rolled Chocolate Sugar Cookies, page 172
Graham Crackers, page 82