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  • February 8, 2023

German-Chocolate-Cake Brownies

February 20, 2012 By Betsy Cohen

Cleaning Out The Pantry

German-Chocolate-Cake BrowniesSunday I had a craving for something, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what I wanted. Weather in sunny South Florida was freezing (I know—50’s is all in the eyes of the beholder; I was freezing), so I needed to work with the ingredients I had in the pantry. The thought of bundling up like Nanook of the North was not appealing to me.

Shoshana and Samuel were pushing for muffins, but I wanted something sweeter. I had several bags of sweetened coconut, so I suggested coconut cupcakes. They nixed that idea.

Once I reached brain freeze, I went to Plan B, the Internet. I found a recipe that had tweaking potential, and gave me hope for using up my ingredients and satisfying my hunger.

Recently, I had a German Chocolate Cake from The Sugar Monkey, an uber bakery in West Palm Beach. This is not one of my usual go-to desserts, but something about the memory of this cake stayed with me and I immediately knew what I wanted to make.

A traditional German Chocolate Cake is a chocolate cake with a very sweet coconut-pecan frosting. I had always taken for granted that a German Chocolate Cake originated in Germany. Boy, was I wrong. An American named Sam German developed a sweet, dark chocolate for Baker’s Chocolates back in 1852; someone then used for this chocolate for a cake and thus the name was born.

German-Chocolate-Cake Brownies have a brownie layer that is moist and chocolatey; but it is the top layer that makes the brownies unique. By combining brown sugar and butter with coconut, pecans, chocolate chips and a hint of salt, you end up with a nice, toasty crust.

Fortunately, German-Chocolate-Cake Brownies are not overly sweet, but rather they are the perfect combination of sweet and satisfying. I can’t think of a more tasteful way to clean out the pantry.

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German-Chocolatish-Cake Brownies
5.0 from 2 reviews
Print
Recipe Type: Dessert
Author: adapted from Gourmet Magazine
Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 40 mins
Total time: 1 hour
Serves: 16-20
Ingredients
  • Topping:
  • ¾ cup sweetened flaked coconut
  • ¾ cup pecans, chopped
  • ¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • ⅛ teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • Brownie:
  • ⅔ cup all purpose flour
  • ⅓ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 10 tablespoons (1 stick plus 2 tablespoons) unsalted butter
  • 2 ounces unsweetened chocolate
  • 1-1/3 cup sugar
  • 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Preheat the oven to 350º. Grease and flour an 8” x 8” baking pan and set aside.
  2. For the topping:
  3. Combine the coconut, pecans, chocolate chips and salt together in a small bowl. Mix in brown sugar and then the melted butter. Set aside.
  4. For the brownie:
  5. Whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt in a small bowl. Set aside.
  6. Microwave the butter and unsweetened chocolate together in a medium bowl. Stir until smooth. Using a wooden spoon, blend in the sugar.
  7. Beat in the eggs and vanilla extract.
  8. Stir in the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula for the final mixing, scraping the bowl down as needed.
  9. Pour the brownie layer into the prepared pan. Spoon the topping over and gently press down.
  10. Bake in 350º for 35-40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. After the initial 20 minutes, rotate the pan and tent with aluminum foil to prevent the topping from burning.
  11. Cool completely on a cooling rack. Once the brownies are cool, cut into 16-20 brownies.
  12. Betsy's tidbits:
  13. I use Pan Grease to grease my baking pan. Butter and flour work, too.
  14. If your cake tester does not come out clean at 40 minutes, remove the brownies anyway or else they will be overdone.
2.1.7

 

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Filed Under: Brownies Tagged With: chocolate, coconut, pecans

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About Betsy

Happylicious By Betsy December 2015 lo res I have loved desserts for as long as I can remember. Growing up I loved the smell of freshly baked challah in my maternal great-grandmother’s kitchen, the incredible butter cookies from my paternal grandmother and the perfect pies my mother used to bake when company came over. More about me.
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