German Chocolate Cookies

German Chocolate Cookies

I like to be a prepared baker so first, before I bake anything, I always like to get all of my ingredients out and ready. An organized kitchen is a happy kitchen! I think someone famous said something along those lines, but I'm not sure who, so don't sue me! 

Next up, baking these beauties off! A lot of bloggers will show you the stages of adding ingredients to the bowl, but I've gotta say, I think that's a tad boring to look at - so here, my family and friends are some images of the finished product!

 

Adapted from Catherine Newmans recipe whose original can be found at the following link

German Chocolate Cookies

Chewy, decadent and delicious - I think these are a terrific substitute for those times when you're craving the gooey yumminess of a honest to goodness German Chocolate Cake but you don't have the time to make everything that goes along with it!

 

Working: 20 Minutes

Total: 45 Minutes

Yield: About 3 dozen cookies depending upon how big you scoop

 

2 cups sweetened, shredded coconut

1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

1 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup light brown sugar (packed)

1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter - room temp. 

1 large egg

2 tablespoons light corn syrup

2 1/2 teaspoons good quality vanilla extract

3/4 cup of mini chocolate chips or chopped semi-sweet chocolate

 

Directions:

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and cover 2 baking sheets (or jelly roll pans) with parchment paper.

Evenly spread the coconut and pecans on one of the cookie sheets (lined with parchment paper) and place in the preheated oven, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes, or until they are lightly browned. Set them aside for cooling.

In a bowl, sift, then whisk together flour, baking power and salt - set aside.

In the bowl of a standing mixture on medium to medium-high speed, cream together the light brown sugar and butter until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes), then beat in the egg, corn syrup and vanilla extracts. Beat in the flour mixture. As with any other baked good, do not over-mix the flour into the batter.

Remove the bowl from the base of the standing mixture and use a spatula to gently mix in the coconut, pecans and chocolate. 

Using a tablespoon size cookie scoop or a miniature ice cream scoop (as I like to call it), scoop the dough onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them a couple of inches apart. Before placing in the oven, flatten the cookies a little bit using the palm of your CLEAN hand. You could also achieve this flattening by using a spatula - the kind you would use to flip pancakes!

Bake the cookies off, one sheet at a time in the upper third of the oven for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly browned at the edges and golden all over. (cooking time may vary by your oven)

Once cookies are done, pull them out of the oven and let them cool for a few minutes. After they've cooled slightly remove the cookies from the pan and place them on a wire rack to finish cooling.

 

If you felt like kicking this up a notch you could melt down some of your remaining miniature chocolate chips in a double boiler and use a fork or spoon to drizzle extra chocolate onto the cookies for a more dressed up effect!

 

I personally made these for Father's Day for my Dad as he always compliments my baked goods and what better of a gift than something that I made? I'm planning to give these to him on Sunday so let's hope he doesn't check in on my blog before then! I sure hope he likes these! 

Here is the finished gift bag a plate of cookies to show you how they look once cooled and yummy! I have to say, they taste pretty darn good and they are Granit approved, but, perhaps next time I make them I may increase the chocolate a tad bit more.