A Southern Grace: break out the lederhosen

August 14, 2011

break out the lederhosen

Yum

German is a fun language--from what I can tell, there's a lot of phlegm-rattling and that's always a good time. Plus, some of their words are ridiculously lengthy. Try saying whoppers like vergangenheitsbewältigung and schwangerschaftverhütungsmitte five times fast.


I like their food, too--I'll take all but the worst of the wursts, the warm potato salad, the spaetzle. Good stuff. I was all set to list German chocolate cake among those, and then I found that its conception wasn't German at all--it's named after an American man called Sam German. Oops!

Regardless of its origins, I love the flavors combined in German chocolate cake. The chocolate itself is subtle yet just rich enough, and the frosting, which consists of toasted coconut and pecans swathed in a custardy goo, is hard to resist simply eating with a spoon.


These cookies include all of those aspects (save the custardy goo), and they are an absolute pleasure. They're hearty and thick and full of crunchies and chewies and tasties. Be sure to toast both the pecans and the coconut--it changes the texture and flavor completely!

Das schmeckt gut!

German Chocolate Coconut-Pecan Cookies
from The All-American Cookie Book by Nancy Baggett

2 1/4 cups shredded or flaked sweetened coconut
1 1/2 cups chopped pecans
1 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup butter, softened
1 large egg
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
2 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon coconut extract
1 4-ounce bar German's sweet chocolate, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray cookie sheet with non-stick spray
Spread the coconut and pecans on a rimmed baking sheet and toast in the oven, stirring occasionally, for 7 to 9 minutes, or until lightly browned; be careful not to burn. Let stand until cool; set aside.
In a medium bowl, thoroughly stir together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside. In a large bowl, with a electric mixer on medium speed, beat together the brown sugar and butter until very well blended and light. Beat in the egg, corn syrup, vanilla, and coconut extract until well blended. Beat or stir in the flour mixture, then the pecans, coconut, and chocolate, until evenly incorporated.
Drop the dough onto the baking sheets by heaping measuring tablespoons, spacing about 3 inches apart. Using the tip of a table knife, spread out the cookies to about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.
Bake the cookies, one sheet at a time, in the upper third of the oven for 6 to 9 minutes, or until lightly browned all over and slightly darker at the edges. Transfer the sheet to a wire rack and let stand until the cookies firm up slightly, 1 to 2 minutes. Using a spatula, transfer cookies to wire racks. Let stand until completely cooled.

60 comments:

peachy said...

coconut and pecan! I love the sound of that!

Priyanka said...

Loved the nutty look of the cookie, definitely need to try it

Rosa's Yummy Yums said...

I love everything about Germany! Those cookies look amazing.

Cheers,

Rosa

TKW said...

Those cookies look delightful! Ja, ja!

My favorite German word: Staubsauber. It means vacuum. Doesn't the word sound like a dirt-sucking machine?

Y said...

Pst.. one of my favourite cakes is the black forest cake, partly because Schwarzwalderkirschtorte is an awesome word to say.

A Plum By Any Other Name said...

Agreed. Sold on hearty cookies, especially those that associate with pecans and coconut. Sad so see German cake leave the list. Poor Sam, he certainly got the short end of that stick (though at least he had cake to console.)

Alicia@ eco friendly homemaking said...

I love German Chocolate cake so these cookies sound awesome to me!! I think I will bake some of these soon and I put this recipe high on my list to make at the holidays!!

Kathy Walker said...

Your cookies look wonderful. German Chocolate Cake has been my favorite since I was a little girl.

Lisa-Marie said...

These look delicious!

Also. there IS a German chocolate cake -Sachertorte. It is delicious

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sachertorte

vanillasugarblog said...

wuuunderbar!

Alicia Foodycat said...

Hmmm - can you really do without custardy goo?

scrambledhenfruit said...

Since my kitchen's finally cooled off enough to bake, this recipe is on my short list. It looks too good to wait too long to make! :)

Latane Barton said...

Glad I don't have to say that in German.... I've fall all over my tongue and never get to order what i want.

Maria said...

Having a German in the family makes it all the more fun ;-) These cookies look herrlich!

kellypea said...

I'm a sauerkraut mit kartoffelsalat lover myself. :) But I'll take one of those cookies. It's lunch time and I still haven't had breakfast : /

MaryBeth said...

I love that you took all of the components of the cake and turned them into a wonderful and tasty cookie...great job Grace!

~~louise~~ said...

I adore German food! I have two German cookbooks which are in their native language that I have been trying to transcribe for years. At this moment though I can't think of one single word because I'm feasting my eyes on those irresistible cookies.

Thanks for sharing, Grace...

pam said...

I can not believe German Chocolate Cake is named after Sam German!!! Who knew??

Linda said...

Oh, yeah, this is my kind of cookie! None of these fancy-frosted cut-outs for me...give me the kind my Granny used to bake. Now there's a YUM for you! :)

Lisa | Authentic Suburban Gourmet said...

This is my kind of cookie!!! I love german chocolate cake and in a cookie = perfect! Saving this recipe!!!!

Half Baked said...

JaJa wunderbar cookies!! Lived in Germany for a while and learned to appreciate the food!

Mel said...

I took German in high school eons ago and now I'm wondering why my German teacher never brought us any wonder cookies like these? I feel cheated. But at least now I can make them myself (even if the German Cake flavors aren't necessarily authentic).

Sweet Treats 'n Good Eats said...

These look absolutely splendid!

Lora said...

What creative cookies. Sehr lekker!

The Blonde Duck said...

My in-laws are going to love me forever!

shaz said...

I've been itching to bake a cookie recently and this is it! Made German chocolate cake for the first time a few months ago and you are so right, I couldn't stop eating the filling with a spoon :)

Anonymous said...

Great idea to make the cookies with the flavors of German chocolate cake, scrumptious!

Faith said...

Mmm, German chocolate cake is one of my favorites and I love how you made it in cookie form! Really brilliant, Grace! I had no idea that the origin of German chocolate cake wasn't German -- you learn something new every day! :)

Anonymous said...

What's not to love about this recipe?? German Chocolate Cake....you've seriously met your match.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I should know better visiting your blog before I have had my morning coffee or even breakfast.Now I am so hungry!

Amanda said...

Would love to try these... they sound wonderful!

kat said...

What a great idea turning them into cookies!

foodhoe said...

interesting to know the origin of german chocolate cake. These sound delicious, I love toasty nuts!

bonnie at sweet life said...

thanks for sahring the history, loving these,I bet a could eat a ton!!

cookies and cups said...

The cookies look great...I can't even imagine saying "vergangenheitsbewältigung" one time!

Lorraine @ Not Quite Nigella said...

LOL isn't German a really interesting language? And I had no idea that the German chocolate cake was named after a man called Sam German! I thought it was from Germany!

lisa is cooking said...

A German chocolate cake in cookie form is just genius. That's one of my favorite cakes, but it usually requires a special occasion. Love that I could bake these cookies instead any time!

Hungry Dog said...

German chocolate cake isn't German? What the...

These look like a delight of textures and flavors. My huz would love them with the coconut.

Chef Fresco said...

These cookies look very similar to a Trader Joe's kind I just finished enjoying, but much better, of course. =) I think German is fun too. Unfortunately I studied spanish in school though, so I only know things like guten tag. =)

Jacqueline Meldrum said...

Oh! Yes please!

Erica said...

Wow!!!!!!Those cookies look delicious!!I could eat a dozen of those.

marla {family fresh cooking} said...

A heck of a lot of love & dang good ingredients went into these cookies. blissful.

Pam said...

These cookies would make my mouth sing with joy... beautiful!

Cookie baker Lynn said...

Those cookies must be from Wonderland because they definitely say, "Eat Me!"

Nic said...

The cookies are fabulous, utterly moreish!

Juliana said...

Grace, these cookies look great...coconut, chocolate and pecan...cannot go wrong!
Hope you are having a great week :-)

RChristopher said...

Great recipe. Ich bin ein german chocolate cake cookie fan!

Erica said...

Now I am so hungry! The cookies are fabulous!

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Joanne said...

Wait, German chocolate cake ISN'T GERMAN?!?!? You just blew my mind. Either way, the flavors are awesome and so are these cookies!

Catherine said...

Meine Güte, sieht das göttlich!

They look the perfect amount of gooey, Grace!

blackbookkitchendiaries said...

this sounds fantastic:) can you please send some my way?:)

Cara said...

I don't know what's more dangerous - German Chocolate Cake or German Chocolate Cookie (dough!)

Carolyn Jung said...

I haven't always been a fan of German Chocolate Cake (too sweet). But these cookies look good enough to convince me otherwise. ;)

Lucie said...

Your cookies look a) delicious and b) huge, which pretty much makes them perfect in my book!

Kerstin said...

What a fun cookie! German chocolate cake is one of my Dad's favorites so I should make these for him :)

CC11 said...

Hahah I love me a ridiculously long German word...

And I am ashamed to admit that I used to always ignore the instruction to toast nuts or coconut, but after actually doing it once it really does change the flavour completely. These sound super delicious.

Abby said...

I've got some German blood in my heritage, but beyond German Chocolate Cake I've never really explored it! I think I'd rather have these cookies than cake, though.

Lori said...

The cookies look so good.

My favorite German food- although there are a few, like the ones you listed- but my all time favorite is the German Potato Salad.

pressurized said...

The cookies look so good

Anonymous said...

Great Cookies! The only change I made was to refrigerate the dough overnight before baking. I will make these again!