German Chocolate Cookies Recipe (2024)

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ACF

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!

josee

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.

apyati

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.

Terry

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.

Michelle

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)

Scratchy

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.

Doug

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.

Nini VIcchio

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!

Melissa

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!!

Izzie

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

Lisa

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.

The Gourmet Foodie

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

RosebudTX

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!

Jacob

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.

dee

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

Naz

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.

meg

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.

Mish

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

GolfTan

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!

FM

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

Nancy Matt

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

Erina C.

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.

Used Puff Pastry

Made it exactly as per instructions - perfect cookie!

bunnie

These cookies are delicious but they don’t make 24. I used a 2 tbsp cookie scoop and weighed each scoop as well and it made 14 cookies. I used unsweetened coconut and I can’t imagine how sweet they would be otherwise. Definitely a fun interpretation of a delicious cake.

Bruno B.

Awful. All these wonderful ingredients did not come together well. Throwing the whole batch away.

Lori

I used dark and light brown sugar and here in the UK, 80% dark chocolate finely chopped. I then decorated them with edible gold powder, for Christmas gifts.Very tasty

Kathy

I just made these as written -- and did not find them too sweet (and I've been educated a bit in that department by my European partner!) I'm wondering if all realize that it's bittersweet --not semi-sweet-- chocolate that's called for. Really nice cookie!

CanuckCook

I was worried about the dryness others had noted, so I reduced the cocoa to 35 grams. It was still dry and difficult to work with, so I added 2 tbsp milk as per a King Arthur Flour chocolate cookies recipe with mix-ins. The results were fantastic!

CanuckCook

I also used unsweetened toasted coconut, so these were sweet but not cloying.

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German Chocolate Cookies Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the name of the German cookie? ›

Lebkuchen. This traditional German cookie is one of the most popular around Christmastime because it has those classic gingerbread flavors. The soft, chewy, and lightly glazed treats are a must-have for your cookie plate. Get the Lebkuchen recipe at A Beautiful Plate.

What is the secret to making cookies soft and chewy? ›

Cornstarch helps product soft and thick cookies. Using more brown sugar than white sugar results in a moister, softer cookie. An extra egg yolk increases chewiness. Rolling the cookie dough balls to be tall and lumpy instead of wide and smooth gives the cookies a bakery-style textured thickness.

What is a cookie called in Italy? ›

This is the proper name for the biscuit we know as biscotti, which in Italian just means “cookies.” Twice-baked and sliced, these ultra-crunchy, not-too-sweet biscuits are usually studded with nuts and simply beg to be dipped in coffee, tea, or a glass of vin santo.

Why are chocolate chip cookies hard? ›

Hard cookies: you are over mixing, baking too long, baking at too high a temperature, or some combination of these. Cakey cookies: not enough brown sugar, too much or too little egg, too much flour, maybe you used baking powder instead of baking soda?

What cookies do Germans eat? ›

Let's take you on a tour of the yummiest, most scrumptious cookies from the various regions of Germany.
  • Lebkuchen. ...
  • Pfeffernüsse (pepper nuts) ...
  • Bethmännchen. ...
  • Heidesand (heather sand) ...
  • Zimtsterne (cinnamon stars)
Apr 10, 2018

What is a heart cookie in Germany? ›

However, there's another special treat you will see being sold in the Bavarian Markets during the festival: Lebkuchenherzen. Lebkuchen refers to German gingerbread, while herzen means heart! These hearts are adorned with names or sweet sayings similar to Valentine's cookies, and given to loved ones.

Should I use baking soda or baking powder in cookies? ›

Baking soda is typically used for chewy cookies, while baking powder is generally used for light and airy cookies. Since baking powder is comprised of a number of ingredients (baking soda, cream of tartar, cornstarch, etc.), using it instead of pure baking soda will affect the taste of your cookies.

What does adding cornstarch to cookies do? ›

As Levy Beranbaum writes in The Baking Bible, replacing a little bit of the flour in the dough with cornstarch results in “a more delicate cookie that is also easier to pipe or push through a cookie press.” Adding cornstarch helps tenderize tough gluten, contributing to a softer cookie dough with a finer crumb after ...

What are nun cookies? ›

Just like their name suggests, they are sweet cookies and cakes made by nuns who are. cloistered. , meaning they stay within their convent and have little or no interaction with the outside world.

What do the French call cookies? ›

The French usually consider themselves very different from the English, but when it comes to the word for cookie, both say biscuit. Like a cookie itself, the word can be broken into two parts: bis,a way to say “two” or “twice”, and cuit – “cooked”.

What is a Lisbon cookie? ›

Lisbon. Snuck into the Chocolate Collection is the alluring Lisbon, a round, hard cookie dipped in chocolate with chocolate flecks baked in. It's one of the best chocolate cookies Pepperidge Farm has to offer. Buttery cookie.

What not to do when baking chocolate chip cookies? ›

15 Common Cookie Baking Mistakes You Might Be Making
  1. Your cookies aren't baking evenly. ...
  2. You use eggs straight from the fridge. ...
  3. You use the wrong kind of flour. ...
  4. You measure flour the wrong way. ...
  5. You soften butter too much — or not enough. ...
  6. You use stale baking powder or baking soda. ...
  7. You overwork the dough.
Nov 4, 2020

Should you flatten chocolate chip cookies before baking? ›

The cookies are not supposed to flatten out completely during baking, but remain slightly mounded. This gives the cookies their soft centres. In the method it says to put mounds of the cookie dough on the baking sheet and not to flatten the mounds (step 5).

How do bakeries keep their cookies soft? ›

Corn Syrup (Light)

Light corn syrup is sometimes used in specialist cakes and confectioneries to help keep baked products soft and doughy for longer.

What is the most popular cookie in Germany? ›

We've come to the most popular German biscuit – Lebkuchen or known as gingerbread (“Lebkuchen” in English is “gingerbread”).

What are the Oktoberfest cookies called? ›

Then there's the wildly popular Lebkuchenhertz which are sold at Oktoberfest, Christmas markets and at some bakeries around Germany. Lebkuchenhertz is Gingerbread heart cookies in South Africa we call them biscuits.

Why are they called Pfeffernusse? ›

The name literally means 'peppernuts', and does not mean it contains nuts. The cookies are roughly the size of nuts and can be eaten by the handful, which may account for the name. They are named for the pinch of pepper added to the dough before baking.

What are the famous Nuremberg cookies? ›

Nuremberg-style lebkuchen, known as Nürnberger Lebkuchen or Elisenlebkuchen in Germany, is the crème de la crème of lebkuchen, having the highest nut content -- typically comprised of almonds and hazelnuts, but also walnuts and cashews -- of all types of lebkuchen.

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