German Chocolate Brownies

by Sabrina Snyder

Published on

6 Comments

5 from 3 votes
16 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
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German Chocolate Brownies are homemade fudgy brownies smothered with a decadent sweet, sticky coconut and pecan frosting. Tastes just like cake, only better!

These easy, fudgy Chocolate Brownies topped with a rich and gooey coconut pecan frosting are about to be your new favorite go-to Brownie Recipes! 

German Chocolate Brownies in stack

GERMAN CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Get all of the gooey, sweet coconut frosting and rich chocolate cake without the work of making a layered German Chocolate Cake with this new recipe! A homemade brownie batter makes these German Chocolate Brownies extra delicious and is just as easy as a boxed brownie mix. The coconut-pecan topping is made in minutes for a decadent dessert ready to eat in less than an hour.

Part of what makes a German Chocolate Cake so delicious is the balance of semi-sweet chocolate with the gooey, caramel coconut-pecan frosting. The German Chocolate frosting for these brownies is made without egg yolks so there’s no need to worry about scrambled eggs. Plus you can lick the spoon while your brownies finish baking!

The chopped pecans added to the German Chocolate batter and frosting give these brownies a double chewy crunch. If you have leftover pecan halves, you can press one into the top of each brownie for a tasty decoration. You can also skip the nuts or make these with whatever chopped nuts you have on hand like walnuts or almonds.

For an extra decadent and sweet German Chocolate Brownie, spread a thin layer of Salted Caramel Sauce or Chocolate Ganache over cooled brownies before adding the coconut frosting. These rich, chewy brownies are great on there own but even better served warm with a scoop of Vanilla Ice Cream and more chopped nuts!

MORE DELICIOUS BROWNIE RECIPES:

Tips for German Chocolate Brownies

  • To bring out the chocolate flavor without adding extra sweetness, add a tablespoon instant espresso powder or strong coffee to the brownie batter.
  • If you want to toast coconut: Toast the coconut in a skillet, stirring occasionally, until golden browned. You can also microwave the coconut in 30 second bursts, stirring each time, until toasted.
  • Over-mixing the batter will make your brownies dry and dense, so only stir until just combined. Sift the dry ingredients before adding them to the wet ingredients to cut back on the total time you need to mix.

German Chocolate Brownies topping ingredients in bowl

  • Use baking German Chocolate bars if you want to use melted chocolate instead of unsweetened cocoa powder. German chocolate baking chocolate is less sweet than semi-sweet chocolate, but still has sugar so reduce the granulated sugar by ¼ cup.

German Chocolate Brownies in baking pan

VARIATIONS ON GERMAN CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

  • Chocolate: For extra chocolaty German Chocolate Brownies, add ½ cup chocolate chips. Use semisweet chocolate chips, dark chocolate chips, or white chocolate chips. Add the chocolate chips to the brownie batter, to the frosting, or both.
  • Brown Sugar: For chewier brownies, swap out the granulated sugar with brown sugar, or use half white sugar and half brown sugar.
  • Mix-Ins: Fold in a ½ cup of baking add-ins like caramel chips, butterscotch chips, toffee chips, Oreo cookie chunks, M&Ms, or peanut butter chips.

German Chocolate Brownies in stack

  • Cream Cheese: Give your German Chocolate Brownies a cream cheese swirl. Mix 8 ounces softened cream cheese with ½ cup powdered sugar and ½ cup sour cream. Pour brownie batter in pan and add dollops of cream cheese mixture and swirl. Bake and frost as usual.
  • Upside Down Brownies: Flip your brownies upside down! Prepare frosting mixture and spread in the bottom your pan before adding the brownie batter and baking. Grease your baking pan really well or use parchment paper.

EVEN MORE DELICIOUS BROWNIE RECIPES

 

HOW TO STORE GERMAN CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

  • Serve: Since the frosting has milk and butter in it, German Chocolate Brownies should only be at room temperature for a few hours before chilling.
  • Store: Keep your German Chocolate Brownies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Use parchment paper between layers so they don’t stick together. 
  • Freeze: Cut brownies and freeze on a tray for 1 hour before transferring to a sealed container. Freeze German Chocolate Brownies for up to 3 months and thaw at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.

cross-section of German Chocolate Brownies in baking dish

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Dinner, then Dessert

German Chocolate Brownies

German Chocolate Brownies are homemade fudgy brownies smothered with a decadent sweet, sticky coconut and pecan topping. Tastes just like cake, only better!
Yield 16 servings
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Author Sabrina Snyder
German Chocolate Brownies in stack
PrintRate

Ingredients
 

Chocolate Brownies

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter , melted
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 cup pecans , chopped

Coconut Pecan Topping:

  • 1/4 cup unsalted butter
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup corn syrup
  • 1/4 cup whole milk
  • 2 cups sweetened shredded coconut
  • 1 cup pecans , chopped

Instructions

Chocolate Brownies:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Spray an 8x8 inch baking pan with baking spray.
  • Whisk together melted butter, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract.
  • Whisk in the cocoa powder, flour, salt, and baking powder.
  • Spread batter evenly into greased baking pan.
  • Sprinkle the 1 cup chopped pecans over the batter evenly.
  • Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Coconut Pecan Topping:

  • Add butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and milk to a medium saucepan on medium heat and cook until just melted.
  • Stir well until smooth then mix in the coconut and pecans.
  • Spread over the brownies and bake an additional 6-8 minutes until bubbly.

Nutrition

Calories: 364kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 22g | Saturated Fat: 10g | Cholesterol: 44mg | Sodium: 84mg | Potassium: 157mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 36g | Vitamin A: 309IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 37mg | Iron: 1mg
Keyword: German Chocolate Brownies

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German Chocolate Brownies collage

About the Author: Sabrina Snyder

Sabrina is a professionally trained Private Chef of over 10 years with ServSafe Manager certification in food safety. She creates all the recipes here on Dinner, then Dessert, fueled in no small part by her love for bacon.

Sabrina Snyder is a professionally trained personal and private chef of over 10 years who is the creator and developer of all the recipes on Dinner, then Dessert.

She is also the author of the cookbook Dinner, then Dessert – Satisfying Meals Using Only 3, 5 or 7 Ingredients, published by Harper Collins.

She started Dinner, then Dessert as a business in her office as a lunch service for her coworkers who admired her lunches before going to culinary school and becoming a full time personal chef and private chef.

As a personal chef Sabrina would cook for families one day a week and cook their entire week of dinners. All grocery shopping, cooking and cleaning was done along with instructions on reheating. As a private chef she cooked for private parties and cooked in family homes in the evenings for families on a nightly basis after working as a personal chef during the day.

Sabrina has been certified as a ServSafe Manager since 2007 and was a longstanding member of the USPCA Personal Chef Association including being on the board of the Washington DC Chapter of Chefs in the US Personal Chef Association when they won Chapter of the year.

As a member of the community of food website creators Sabrina Snyder has spoken at many conferences regarding her experiences as a food writer including the Indulge Food Conference, Everything Food Conference, Haven Food Conference and IACP Annual Food Professionals Conference.

Sabrina lives with her family in sunny California.

See more posts by Sabrina

Dinner, then Dessert, Inc. owns the copyright on all images and text and does not allow for its original recipes and pictures to be reproduced anywhere other than at this site unless authorization is given. If you enjoyed the recipe and would like to publish it on your own site, please re-write it in your own words, and link back to my site and recipe page. Read my disclosure and copyright policy. This post may contain affiliate links.

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