We Blind Tasted Tagalong Knockoffs to Find the Best Fudge-Peanut Butter Cookie Out There

Girl Scout cookie season is one of our favorite seasons. But that's the problem, it's just a short season, and sometimes you want to enjoy those delicious cookies at other times during the year.

If you're a cookie pro, your freezers might be lined with boxes at all times. However, if you're like me, you underestimate just how many boxes of Girl Scout cookies you can eat in a few short weeks. What was supposed to last you all year has turned into a month-long supply.

I love supporting these young entrepreneurs, but sometimes a hankering for Tagalongs or Samoas is just too strong. With so many store-brand alternatives on the market, it's nearly impossible to not add a box of Girl Scout cookie knockoffs to your cart.

Because America's big three Girl Scout cookies are Thin Mints, Samoas, and Tagalongs, it should come as no surprise that grocery stores and brands everywhere have recreated a version of the cookies to sell all year round.

Just on a quick trip to Walmart, Aldi, Trader Joe's, and even Dollar General, you'll find peanut butter and chocolate cookies that look mighty similar to a Tagalong.

But with so many options out there, which fudgy, peanut butter-and-chocolate cookie is actually as good as the original? I blind-tested four Tagalong knockoffs and the winner might surprise you—because it surprised me.

What Makes a Tagalong Great?

For me, there are three things that make the Tagalong one of the best Girl Scout cookies. First, the cookie has to be crispy otherwise the texture is all wrong. I want the crunchy cookie to offset the soft peanut butter and chocolate.

Next, the chocolate has to have a little bit of flavor and sweetness, but it can't be overpowering. If I wanted to eat an all-chocolate cookie, I'd grab an Oreo.

Finally, there has to be a decent amount of peanut butter. Going hand-in-hand with the chocolate, if the peanut butter is overpowered that defeats the Tagalong's purpose.

To find the best cookie, I blind-tasted them all, ranked them, tasted them again to analyze the crispiness, chocolate, and peanut butter, and ranked them in those categories. The cookie with the lowest score at the end was the winner.

Best Tagalong Alternatives

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

Cookie Crispness: 2nd place
Chocolate Taste: 1st place
Peanut Butter Ratio: 3rd place
Blind Taste Test: 1st place
Price: $2.25

Imagine my surprise when I found out that my favorite Tagalong wasn't a Tagalong at all, but instead the Dollar General private label version. I was shocked, but it was the cookie that I kept wanting to eat. Both the fudge on the outside and the chocolate cookie on the inside had a nice, subtly sweet cocoa flavor. The sweet chocolate coupled with the thick layer of peanut butter that went all the way through the cookie made this one the winner for me.

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

Cookie Crispness: 3rd place
Chocolate Taste: 2nd place
Peanut Butter Ratio: 4th place
Blind Taste Test: 2nd place
Price: $1.73

Don't sleep on Walmart! For such a low price and surprisingly great taste, why wouldn't you buy Great Value's version? While the cookie didn't have the best outer fudge, it was really redeemed by what's inside. The chocolate cookie had a very prominent flavor, and even though there wasn't a lot of peanut butter, it still packed a flavorful punch because it had such a rich, fresh taste.

3rd Place: Girl Scout Tagalongs

Cookie Crispness: 1st place
Chocolate Taste: 4th place
Peanut Butter Ratio: 5th place
Blind Taste Test: 3rd place
Price: $5.00

I was just as surprised as you are that the OG Tagalongs ranked in the middle. It's always been one of my favorite Girl Scout cookies so to see that it didn't match up with some of the generic alternatives was slightly disheartening.

The OG cookie was the only one that didn't have a chocolate-flavored cookie in the center. Because of this, the chocolate coating had to work overtime to bring the sweetness and I don't think that it did. But my biggest issue with the cookie is that the peanut butter is only in the center, so my first and last bites barely had any. Surprisingly, I also felt that the Tagalong tasted the most artificial out of all the cookies.

The redeeming quality of the Tagalong is that the cookie is incredibly crispy and has a nice snap to it.

Despite the fact that it has the highest price, the Girl Scout cookie was the smallest of the bunch. I didn't include that in my consideration to determine taste, but it might be something to think about when forking over the extra money.

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

Cookie Crispness: 5th place
Chocolate Taste: 3rd place
Peanut Butter Ratio: 2nd place
Blind Taste Test: 4th place
Price: $1.99

There was much more to Aldi's cookie than I originally thought. At first, I was underwhelmed by the crispness of the cookie and the fudge. However, the amount of peanut butter in that tiny cookie took the cake—it was stick-to-the-roof-of-your-mouth level. As the second cheapest option, it's good in a pinch, but there are definitely better knockoffs out there.

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

Cookie Crispness: 4th place
Chocolate Taste: 5th place
Peanut Butter Ratio: 1st place
Blind Taste Test: 5th place
Price: $2.99

Trader Joe's Joe Joe's was like a cross between an Oreo and a Tagalong—but an inside-out Tagalong. Because the peanut butter is on the outside, obviously the Joe Joe had the best and most intense peanut butter flavor. I was ready to give it a gold star until I got to the chocolate. The chocolate cookie tasted more like coffee than chocolate—sure there is coffee powder in the cookie, but I don't think it should be that noticeable.

All in all, it might not be fair to call this a "dupe," but I'd still say it satisfies that Tagalong craving, though—more than a peanut butter Oreo would, that's for sure.

The Bottom Line

Taste is subjective. The cookie I chose as my number one might not be your favorite—and you might not even have a Dollar General near you to try the Clover Valley brand. However, what this taste test did determine was Girl Scout cookies don't need to be limited to just Girl Scout season. I will still continue supporting the young kids on their mission to sell boxes, but you'll definitely find me at my grocery store adding a few cookies to my cart there, too.