We Blind Taste-Tested Tagalong Knockoffs to Discover the Best Fudge-Peanut Butter Cookie

Girl Scout cookie season is one of our favorite times of the year, but it’s also way too short. Sometimes, you just want to enjoy those irresistible cookies at other times during the year.

If you're a serious cookie fan, your freezer is probably stocked with boxes year-round. But if you're like me, you tend to underestimate how quickly those boxes disappear. What was meant to last all year is gone in just a few weeks!

I love supporting young entrepreneurs, but sometimes that craving for Tagalongs or Samoas is just too strong. With so many store-brand knockoffs available, it’s almost impossible not to grab a box or two while shopping.

Since the big three Girl Scout cookies—Thin Mints, Samoas, and Tagalongs—are so iconic, it’s no surprise that grocery stores and other brands have created their own versions to sell throughout the year.

On a quick visit to Walmart, Aldi, Trader Joe's, and even Dollar General, you'll find peanut butter and chocolate cookies that closely resemble Tagalongs.

With so many options available, which peanut butter and chocolate cookie truly matches the original? I blind-tested four different Tagalong knockoffs, and the winner might just surprise you—honestly, it surprised me.

What Makes a Tagalong So Irresistible?

For me, there are three key elements that make a Tagalong one of the best Girl Scout cookies. First, the cookie must have a satisfying crunch; otherwise, the texture feels off. The crisp cookie needs to complement the creamy peanut butter and smooth chocolate.

Then, the chocolate should have just the right balance of flavor and sweetness, without overwhelming the other ingredients. If I wanted a cookie that’s all about chocolate, I’d reach for an Oreo.

Lastly, there needs to be a generous amount of peanut butter. It should complement the chocolate perfectly—if the peanut butter gets lost in the mix, it defeats the purpose of the Tagalong.

To find the best cookie, I blind-tasted each one, ranked them, then tasted them again to assess the crispiness, chocolate, and peanut butter. After considering all these factors, the cookie with the lowest score emerged as the winner.

Top Tagalong Alternatives

The Winner: Clover Valley Fudge Peanut Butter Filled Cookies (Dollar General)

You can imagine my surprise when I discovered that my favorite Tagalong wasn’t even a Tagalong—it was the Dollar General store brand version. I couldn’t believe it, but it turned out to be the cookie I kept reaching for. The combination of fudge coating and the chocolate cookie base had a pleasantly mild cocoa flavor. The thick layer of peanut butter running through the entire cookie was the perfect touch, making this one the clear winner for me.

The Runner-Up: Great Value Fudge-Covered Peanut Butter Cookies (Walmart)

Don't overlook Walmart! For such an affordable price and surprisingly great flavor, why wouldn’t you give Great Value’s version a try? While the outer fudge wasn’t the best, the real star was what’s inside. The chocolate cookie had a strong, distinct flavor, and even though there wasn’t tons of peanut butter, the taste was rich and fresh, making it surprisingly flavorful.

3rd Place: Girl Scout Tagalongs

I was just as shocked as you are to see the classic Tagalongs rank in the middle. It's always been one of my all-time favorite Girl Scout cookies, so seeing it fall short compared to some of the generic alternatives was a bit disappointing.

The original cookie was the only one without a chocolate-flavored cookie base. Because of this, the chocolate coating had to do most of the work to deliver sweetness, but I don’t think it quite succeeded. My biggest gripe, though, is that the peanut butter is only in the center, so the first and last bites barely had any. Surprisingly, I also found the Tagalong to taste the most artificial compared to the others.

The one redeeming factor of the Tagalong is its incredible crispiness and satisfying snap.

Even though it’s the most expensive, the Girl Scout cookie was the smallest of the bunch. While I didn’t factor size into my taste rankings, it’s definitely something to keep in mind when shelling out extra cash.

4th Place: Benton's Peanut Butter Fudge Cookies (Aldi)

Aldi's cookie turned out to be more impressive than I first expected. Initially, I was disappointed by the cookie's crispiness and the thin fudge coating. However, the generous amount of peanut butter in that little cookie stole the show—it was the kind that sticks to the roof of your mouth. As the second cheapest option, it’s a decent choice in a pinch, but there are definitely better knockoffs available.

5th Place: Chocolate & Peanut Butter Joe-Joe's (Trader Joe's)

Trader Joe's Joe Joe's is like a blend of an Oreo and an inside-out Tagalong. With the peanut butter on the outside, it definitely had the strongest and most intense peanut butter flavor. I was almost ready to crown it as the winner until I took a bite of the chocolate. The cookie base tasted more like coffee than chocolate—there’s coffee powder in the mix, but it shouldn’t be that overpowering.

All things considered, it might be a stretch to call this a true "dupe," but it does scratch that Tagalong itch—more so than a peanut butter Oreo, for sure.

The Bottom Line

Taste is subjective. The cookie I picked as my top choice may not be your favorite—and you might not even have a Dollar General nearby to try the Clover Valley brand. But what this taste test proved is that Girl Scout cookies don’t have to be confined to Girl Scout season. I’ll keep supporting the kids on their cookie-selling mission, but you’ll definitely catch me picking up a few boxes at my grocery store as well.