German Chocolate Cookies - delicious cookies loaded with chocolate, caramel, pecans, and coconut flavor just like your favorite cake - but a million times easier!
German chocolate cookies are like mini bites of German Chocolate Cake - but take a tiny fraction of the time to cook and prepare, plus they are easy to give and share.
These cookies are a fun spin off my German Chocolate Cake Batter Fudge recipe - just in cookie form!
Be sure to check out our cookies recipe index and desserts archive page for even more easy and delicious recipes your whole family will love!
Grab a cup of RumChata cocoa, an Israeli Coffee, or The Best Mulled Cider Ever to cozy up with these cookies when you need a sweet treat!
These German Chocolate Cookies are great in winter, but tasty all year round - anytime you’re craving the flavor of a German Chocolate Cake, but with a lot less work.
I hope you love these delicious chocolate, pecan, and coconut cookies as much as I do!
We have a lot of readers on Sweet C’s who hav e asked us for more information in their recipes - and plenty who’d like to get straight to the cooking.
To better serve both audiences, we’ve loaded this post with information to make our loyal readers feel confident in the kitchen - while also adding a “skip to recipe” button in the top left corner, and a clickable table of contents below - so you can get straight to the information you need.
Table of contents
German Chocolate Cake Mix Cookies
This recipe is designed to be an easy shortcut to German Chocolate Cookies - by using a German Chocolate Cake Mix box as our cookie’s base.
This shortcut makes these cookies an easy, fast treat - perfect for giving Christmas cookies to friends and family, or for parties!
We recommend the following German Chocolate Cake Mixes:
- Duncan Hines German Chocolate Cake Mix
- Pillsbury Moist Supreme German Chocolate Cake Mix
- King Arthur Flour Gluten Free German Chocolate Cake Mix
To Make These Cookies You'll Need
Since we’re using German Chocolate Cake mix as a great shortcut to these cookies, there are less ingredients to worry about tracking down - making this cookie recipe even easier!
For the Cookies:
- 1 box German Chocolate Cake Mix
- 1/4 cup butter (softened)
- 2 large eggs
For the Icing:
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cups sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 1/4 cup pecans, chopped
- 1/4 cup chocolate candy wafers
Is German Chocolate Cake Actually German?
German Chocolate Cake is about as famous as Black Forest Cake in the US for being German - but German Chocolate cake isn’t actually from Germany!
German Chocolate Cake was actually named after a man named Sam German - who was actually British or English (a lot of sources say different things) - but has nothing to do with Germany as an origin.
We travel to Germany often - it’s one of our favorite places to visit (thanks to my brother in law and sister in law, who live outside of Frankfurt) - and I can attest that while you can find some coconut and pecan chocolate cakes and cookies, this recipe isn’t some old Bavarian secret.
It still is totally delicious, though!
How To Make German Chocolate Cookies
First we’ll make the cookies - the easiest part of the recipe!
Once cookies are mixed and baked, they need to cool completely. If you go to ice the cookies quickly, the topping will melt off and become a complete mess.
Likewise, after icing the cookies, it is best to let the coconut and pecan topping set - you’ll also want to let the drizzled chocolate candy set, or you’ll have a face-full of chocolate.
Other Easy Desserts You'll Love
If you love these easy cookies, be sure to check out some of our other favorite easy and delicious desserts!
You can find our complete Easy Dessert Recipe Index page here.
- The Best Easy Chewy Sugar Cookies Ever Recipe
- Cherry Danish Cheesecake Bars Recipe
- Easy Buttercreams Candy Recipe
- Candy Cane Cake Batter Microwave Fudge
- Easy Apple Sopapilla Cheesecake Recipe
- Easy Blueberry Peach Cobbler Recipe
- Easy Lemon Jello Poke Cake Recipe
- Easy Slow Cooker Pumpkin Bread Pudding Recipe
- Peppermint Buttercreams Candy
And to find more of our recipes that are perfect to give as a Christmas gift, please visit our Christmas cookies archive page here.
Recipe FAQ'S
Cooking the icing can be a bit tricky to tell when it’s done - but after about 10 minutes, your egg white, condensed milk, and butter mixture will have visibly thickened - which means it’s done!
These cookies last in an airtight container or plastic bag in the refrigerator for up to five days - but are best if consumed within two days.
Cookies can be frozen in a plastic bag or airtight container for up to four months. Let thaw naturally on the counter until soft and enjoy!
German Chocolate Cookies Recipe
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Easy German Chocolate Cookies Recipe
Ingredients
- For the Cookies:
- 1 box Pillsbury Purely Simple Chocolate Cake Mix
- 1/4 cup butter (softened)
- 2 large eggs
- For the Icing:
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 1 cup sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 1/2 cup butter
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/3 cups sweetened shredded coconut
- 1 1/4 cup pecans, chopped
- 1/4 cup chocolate candy wafers
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix cake mix, butter, and eggs well - until a thick cookie dough forms. Make sure there aren’t giant clumps, but do not overmix.
- Roll dough into 23 balls - about 1 1/2” or a little bit bigger than a golf ball.
- Place cookies on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
- Bake 8 minutes, until sides brown.
- Let cool and move to cooling rack to cool completely before icing, about 15 minutes.
- To make caramel pecan icing, add milk, sugar, eggs, butter, and vanilla to a pan and heat over medium heat, stirring often to mix well, until thickened.
- Remove from heat and stir in coconut and pecans.
- Spread out a heaping spoonful over each cookie.
- After cookies are iced, melt chocolate candy in microwave, stirring every 30 seconds to melt.
- Using the back of a spoon or a candy squeeze bottle, drizzle melted chocolate candy over cookies.
- Let set additional 15 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition Information
Yield
23Serving Size
1Amount Per Serving Calories 197Total Fat 14gSaturated Fat 7gTrans Fat 0gUnsaturated Fat 7gCholesterol 60mgSodium 97mgCarbohydrates 16gFiber 1gSugar 14gProtein 3g
Nutrition is automatically calculated by Nutritionix - please verify all nutrition information independently and consult with a doctor or nutritionist for any and all medical and diet advice.
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