German Chocolate Brownies
German Chocolate Brownies are a combination of homemade brownies made with German chocolate and topped with a toasted coconut and pecan frosting.
Servings: 15 brownies
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter salted cut into tablespoons
- 4- oz. German chocolate baking bar
- 2 cups sugar granulated
- 4 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/2 tsp sea salt fine
- 1 cup all-purpose flour sifted
For the topping:
- 1 cup sugar granulated
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1/2 cup butter salted cut into tablespoons
- 3 large egg yolks
- 1 & 1/2 cups coconut toasted
- 1 cup pecans toasted chopped
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- Melted chocolate melting wafers for garnish, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a 9x13 baking dish with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray, set aside.
- Place the cut butter into a large pot or dutch oven, and begin to melt the butter over medium-low heat.
- Break up the chocolate bar into squares and add them to the pot, stirring occasionally, melt the chocolate with the butter until smooth.
- Take off the heat and whisk in the sugar until smooth. Add the eggs one at a time and whisk them in fully before adding the next.
- Whisk in the vanilla and salt. Add the flour and stir it in until fully combined with no dry patches.
- Pour into the prepared baking dish. Bake for 35-38 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean.
- Place on a wire rack to cool completely.
- Once the brownies are cool, make the topping. Place the sugar, evaporated milk, butter, and egg yolks into a medium-sized saucepot.
- Place over medium-low heat and stir together. Stir occasionally until the butter has melted.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer while still stirring occasionally so nothing sticks to the bottom. Once it hits a simmer and thickens slightly take it off the heat, for about 12 minutes.
- Add the coconut, pecans, and vanilla. Stir it in to combine. Continue to stir until it becomes thickened and spreadable, about 5 minutes.
- Pour the frosting on top of the brownies and smooth it out. Let it cool completely.
- Cut into bars and drizzle with melted chocolate if using, serve immediately.
Notes
If you can’t find or don’t have German baking chocolate you can use semi-sweet or unsweetened baking bars. However, the brownies will not be “German” chocolate any longer.
I like to use toasted coconut and toasted pecans to give the frosting a deeper flavor than using untoasted. This step is completely optional and up to you!
The brownies themselves are moist and fudgy. German chocolate is a lighter chocolate flavor than semi-sweet or other chocolates and you can definitely tell with these brownies. They are not over-the-top chocolate flavored but on the lighter side. I think this works perfectly with the frosting as not one flavor overpowers the others.
I like to add a drizzle of melted chocolate. I use melted dark chocolate wafers from Ghirardelli because they melt very smooth and harden fast. But, using your favorite melted chocolate for the topping, semi-sweet, dark, milk, or even white chocolate would be good. Or, leave that step off completely!
Sometimes when purchasing pre-chopped bagged pecans, the pecans pieces are still on the big side so I always chop them a little more by hand. I find this easier to cut the brownies since I don’t have to slice through large pecan pieces.
The topping does not harden but stays nice and gooey. These brownies are best served at room temp because of this, they are some of the best brownies we have ever tasted.
Keep at room temp for up to 3 days. Refrigerate for up to a week. Freeze for up to 3 months. If freezing, I would freeze the bars individually and then place them in an air-tight container between layers of wax paper so they don’t stick to themselves.