A frosted layered cake is something for a special occasion. You don’t make one on your average Tuesday — no, you wait for a birthday or an anniversary or maybe company visiting. But a brownie, a brownie, is something you can make any average day you please. And German Chocolate Brownies mean that you get to have your favorite cake whenever you feel like it… it’s just in brownie form! You still get that delicious, incredibly rich coconut-pecan frosting but here it tops a fudgy brownie instead.
This is a treat where you might already have everything you need in your pantry, which means that you can make them at a moment’s notice! The ingredients list is basically things like butter, salt, flour, eggs, sugar, and the like. And it uses cocoa powder, so you don’t need to melt any chocolate.
While you could use a boxed brownie mix if you wished, these are a quick one-bowl cocoa powder brownie, so they’re really no trouble at all. Just stir brown and white sugar into some melted butter and then add eggs, flour, cocoa powder, and salt before you fold in some chocolate chips. You don’t even need a mixer — you can do that all by hand.
You make the frosting while the brownies bake so this really isn’t even a recipe that will take longer than your basic brownie. Isn’t that great news?
You just stir together evaporated milk, brown sugar, egg yolks, and some butter on the stovetop until the sugar dissolves and then you stir in some vanilla, pecans, and coconut. If you haven’t had homemade German chocolate frosting, you’re in for a treat — it’s leagues above the canned stuff.
Let the brownies cool a bit before you spread them with frosting, and likewise, let the frosting set up a bit before you slice things up. And then get ready for the richest, tastiest, most decadent brownie bite of your life.
German Chocolate Brownies
Watch How It's Made
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
For the topping:
- 2/3 cup evaporated milk
- 2/3 cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 large egg yolks
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2/3 cup pecans, finely chopped
- 1 2/3 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
Preparation
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease a 9x9-inch baking dish with butter or nonstick spray. Line with parchment paper, leaving an overhang over the sides and grease once more. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, stir together the melted butter, 3/4 cup granulated sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. Add flour, cocoa powder, and salt and stir until combined but don't over mix. Fold in chocolate chips.
- Pour batter into prepared pan and smooth out the top with a rubber spatula. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out mostly clean, 18-20 minutes.
- Place on a wire rack to cool while you work on the topping:
- In a saucepan over medium-low heat, combine the evaporated milk, brown sugar, egg yolks, chopped butter, and salt. Gently bring to a low simmer while whisking constantly. Let simmer gently for 3-4 minutes, whisking often, until sugar has dissolved and mixture has slightly thickened.
- Remove from heat and stir in pecans, vanilla, and coconut.
- Once brownies have cooled, spread the topping over them in an even layer. Allow to sit and firm up before slicing and serving. Enjoy!
Recipe adapted from Celebrating Sweets.