German Chocolate Cookies

Updated June 26, 2024

German Chocolate Cookies
Aubrie Pick for The New York Times
Total Time
45 minutes
Rating
5(2,492)
Notes
Read community notes

While a big slice of German chocolate cake may appeal to many, baking one from scratch may not. That’s where these cookies come in. They satisfy the craving for deep, dark pools of warm chocolate, sweet pecans and fragrant coconut with only a fraction of the work. To toast the coconut, spread it out on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 5 to 10 minutes. Take it out of the oven when the edges and some of the coconut in the center are deep golden brown. It’s fine if some of the coconut is still pale.

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Ingredients

Yield:2 dozen
  • 1cup/128 grams all-purpose flour
  • ½cup/47 grams natural cocoa powder
  • ½teaspoon baking soda
  • ½teaspoon kosher salt
  • 8tablespoons/113 grams unsalted butter (1 stick), at room temperature
  • ½cup/101 grams granulated sugar
  • ½cup/110 grams packed dark brown sugar
  • 1large egg
  • 1teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • cups/128 grams lightly toasted, sweetened shredded coconut
  • 1cup/170 grams chopped bittersweet chocolate
  • 1cup/119 grams chopped pecans
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (24 servings)

190 calories; 12 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 22 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 15 grams sugars; 2 grams protein; 86 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking soda and salt. In a large bowl, beat butter, granulated sugar and brown sugar together with an electric mixer on medium speed until fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla until smooth.

  2. Step 2

    Reduce the speed to low and beat in the flour mixture. Add coconut, chocolate and pecans and mix to just combine.

  3. Step 3

    Portion the dough in 2 tablespoon scoops and roll them into balls. Place them on parchment-lined baking sheets, at least 2 inches apart. Bake the cookies until dry on top but still soft in the center, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and immediately tap the sheets against a work surface to deflate them slightly. Let the cookies sit on the sheets for 3 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely.

Ratings

5 out of 5
2,492 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Delicious - all the decadence of German chocolate cake in cookie form. I don’t care for the cloying quality of sweetened shredded coconut so I used unsweetened coconut instead and then used a 50/50 mix of chopped bittersweet and semisweet chocolate to make up for some of the lost sweetness. The first batch of cookies did not flatten as much as I would have liked so I flattened the dough before baking the next batch and they came out perfectly. This is going to become a staple in my house!

I just finished baking this exactly as instructed except I toasted the pecans as well as the coconut. This might make it to my top 3 favorite cookie recipes along with the ricotta cookies and Mexican wedding cookies. Heaven in every bite. The flavors and the texture are perfect.

Very easy and very good. Should never again make them with just two of us in the house.

Delicious, but I would say that they need to be flattened before baking to resemble the cookies in the photo. I thought they would spread in the oven, but they didn’t. Regardless, tasty flavor combo. And I, also, used unsweetened coconut, and they came out delicious.

This is one of the best cookies we've ever made (and we've made a lot of cookies). Followed the instructions exactly except toasted the pecans as well as the coconut. Will make again with no modifications. In case anyone is interested, if you weigh your cookie dough to about 38 grams each, you'll have exactly the right number of cookies.

HOLY SMOKES! These cookies are so good! Some notes: 1. I roll them into a ball and then press down on them with the back of a wooden spoon and I like that shape much better. 2. When adding the vanilla extract, I also add 1 t. of coffee extract. Coffee brings out the flavors in chocolate so well. 3. A great variation: skip the nuts, don't toast the coconut, and when adding the vanilla, add 2 t.s of orange extract and the zest of one orange. Chocolate orange cookies! (Skip coffee in this one)

Scrumptious, but don't over-bake!! I am not a trusting person; this transfers to my baking. With these cookies, trust that they are still ok even if they come out of the oven gooey-ish. Otherwise you won't achieve that marvelous cake-like texture after cooling. Yes to ACF's comment about using unsweetened coconut (or 50/50). I'd also add less chocolate chips. I like sweet, but 170g of bittersweet chips was overkill in this already chocolatey cookie, IMO.

Used unsweetened coconut. Try to find larger shreds for better texture. Used 6 oz Ghiradelli 60% chocolate chopped 1/3 to 1/4”. #40 scoop gave 32 cookies. Very dark chocolate and oh so delicious soft cookies. Tops on my list of favorites. Baking on silicone silpat sheets saves wasting parchment. I use them for all my cookies and I bake a lot.

I am a German Chocolate Cake lover and found these delicious. I am allergic to gluten so I used Bob’s Red Mill 1 to 1 flour with an extra egg yolk for moisture. I did NOT toast the coconut for extra chew but DID toast the pecans for enhanced flavor. I also melted 14 caramels with 1 1/2 TBS. of water to drizzle over the top of the cookies once they were cooled. Thanks to everyone before me for wonderful tips!

I would recommend the following things: 1. Doubling the recipe, you could easily make a full batch with minimal effort. 2. Put the nuts and the coconut in the toaster oven immediately, then they'll be ready when you get the rest of the ingredients in the recipe going and it's not as much of an extra step. 3. Decrease the amount of coconut and pecans slightly, my cookies could hardly hold together. Overall they were delicious and as easy as making chocolate chips cookies!!

Josee, May I have your ricotta cookie recipe? Thanks!

My first batch of these came out rather dry, more like biscotti than the chewy cookies I was expecting. For the next batch -- "You make it first, then you make it right," says a chef I know -- I doubled the eggs and chopped the chocolate and pecans a little more finely which made the cookies moist and delicious. Like some others, I also used unsweetened coconut which was still plenty sweet.

Ridiculously easy and oh, so delicious! Run, don't walk to make these! Yummo!

Do not squish the dough before you put it in the oven! Put it in in balls as indicated, don’t overcook (I did 9-1/2 min) and then, as instructed, take them out of the oven and hit the cookie sheet on a work surface a couple/few times. They will immediately flatten, get a nice fissured top and look just like the photo. It was pretty cool how it worked! The inside will still be slightly gooey, but once cooled completely they will be soft inside, not melty. Even better the next day!

OMG these are GOOD. As others have noted, if you want the cookies to look like the ones in the picture, you need to flatten the balls a bit before putting them in the oven. I pressed them to look like burger patties and they came out with a bakery quality look. I’ve made once with cashews in place of the pecans and once without nuts altogether; both batches were equally delicious.

Two shortcuts: Instead of rolling dough into balls, use a small scoop, 1 tablespoon size (like one used for sorbets) and fill it so it’s just overfilled. You will get consistent sized cookies in half the time. My yield was 30 cookies, using two eggs rather than one. I did press them slightly before or after baking with equal results. Whole Foods sells 12 oz bag of dark chocolate baking chunks, the right size for this cookie.

Just made them, very tasty. I didn’t have natural cocoa, so I used Dutch processed and omitted the baking soda and added a teaspoon of baking powder. I also just flattened them with the fork after scooping and used mini chips from the coop . Excellent results !

Doubled the recipe. I noticed the dough did seem dry so on the suggestion from another I added an extra egg (3 large for a doubled recipe). I'm glad I did. This is a very stiff dough and because of all the nuts it will not flatten if you tightly pack your scoop. I did notice that cookies that were less tightly packed did get the top fissure when the sheet was smacked after baking. Time and temp are perfect for baking. I would *not* over bake these.

Too bitter for my taste. I was so looking forward to these.

can this cookie be made in advance and then baked a day or days later?

Although my friends who tasted these called them "a 10 out of 10," I would say they were more like an 8. In fact, I was wondering if I had misread the recipe (I hadn't), because it was impossible to incorporate all the chocolate, coconut, and pecans into the dry, stiff batter. I'm all about a messy, gooey, overly filled cookie, but I had more than a cup of extras left over at the bottom of the bowl. Also, I got about 13 2-tablespoon cookies, not the 24 the recipe suggests.

OMG… amazing Used 50/50 unsweetened to sweetened coconut Used slightly less chocolate chips (and cut them up) Roasted the pecans with the coconuts (see notes).

Amazing cookies and you can't just eat one so watch out! Made as instructed, toasted the coconut (used half unsweetened). Make sure to bang the cookie sheet when you take them out of the oven as the cookies come out perfectly as shown in photo. Also makes a perfect 2 dozen.

I’m in the minority here but I thought these were just an okay cookie. The cookie is fine, not great. The bigger problem to me is they’re nothing like you’d expect when calling them a German Chocolate Cookie. Yes there is chocolate, pecans, and coconut but the outcome is nothing like a German chocolate cake inspired flavor. The chocolate is very strong, the coconut is almost imperceptible, and you don’t get much nuttiness from the pecans.

Try baking powder next time. Really good but they didn’t puff or spread well

I weighed all ingredients and used a 2T scoop and it made 24 perfectly shaped cookies. Even with soft butter it is a stiff batter but fine with my mixer. This recipe is definitely a keeper for friends and family!

Very chocolatey. I made some with nuts and some without. The chocolate/coconut only ones were also delicious.

Wow, yummy! I used unsweetened coconut, and didn’t bother toasting because i was in a hurry. Still delicious!

I've made these twice. They were good the first time when I followed the recipe, but great the second time! Improvements: I didn't toast the coconut ahead of time, and used only 85g of coconut because that's all I had. They spread better and were much softer and chewier. I used Trader Joe's sipping chocolate mix both times because that's what I had instead of cocoa powder and it worked great! I did pre-flatten them a bit with a spatula per other comments' recommendations.

Made it exactly as per instructions - perfect cookie!

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