GOURMET GERMAN CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

Gourmet German Chocolate Brownies

If you love German Chocolate Cake, you are going to LOVE Gourmet German Chocolate Brownies!  Rich, ultra-fudgy, topped with the best coconut and pecan frosting and drizzled with dark chocolate, these are sinfully delicious and unapologetically decadent and indulgent!

Gourmet German Chocolate Brownies

RECIPE TIPS & TRICKS FOR THE BEST BROWNIES:

• If I can only share one baking secret with you, always use a DIGITAL KITCHEN SCALE.  You can use measuring cups and spoons for most recipes, but using a digital scale makes for the more consistent and efficient baking.  Take this from someone that bakes A LOT!
• For a rich and robust chocolate flavor, I recommend using only high-quality chocolate for this recipe.  Since there are only a few ingredients, each one really shines through!  I prefer Ghirardelli or Lindt dark chocolate bars with at least 70% chocolate for the melted chocolate, and Ghirardelli chocolate chips. 
• If your brownie recipe calls for it, don’t skip the espresso powder! It helps enhance the flavor of chocolate without adding an intense coffee flavor. Whisking cocoa powder and espresso powder into boiling water until smooth allows the chocolate flavor to bloom - don't skip this step if called for in your recipe!
• Don't overbeat your brownie batter!  Mix your dry ingredients in with a spatula just until blended for a perfectly shiny, crispy, and crackly top - the way a brownie should be!
• Baking brownies low and slow is the way to go!  325 degrees is the perfect temp for baking the best brownies.
• Be sure you don’t overbake the brownies!  They should not be liquidy when you pull them out of the oven, but should have a little jiggle in the middle. The brownies will firm up as they cool. Over-baked brownies will not be chewy or fudgy.

• After removing from the oven, I suggest you place the brownies on a wire rack and cool completely before frosting and slicing. They usually come to room temperature within a few hours - and although waiting for this may be the hardest part, they are worth the wait!
• Don’t use glass baking dishes for brownies or blondies – the baking times and results will vary wildly, and the heat retention of glass can lead to overbaking and dryness.

• For entertaining, I love to serve individual brownie squares.  I recommend and use a Pampered Chef Brownie Pan, which makes 12 individual brownie squares. I line each cavity with a non-stick cupcake parchment liner (PaperChef Culinary Parchment Large Baking Cups are my favorite).  I package each brownie individually in a self-adhesive cellophane bag (Pack It Chic 4x4” Clear Resealable Bags work perfectly).  Perfect for those times that you want to prepare brownies ahead of time and freeze!

FOR PERFECT BROWNIES, USE THE RIGHT CHOCOLATE:

• For gourmet brownies, only the best ingredients will give you the texture, richness and depth of flavor we all crave. Trust me on this! 
• For a rich and robust chocolate flavor, I recommend using only high-quality chocolate.  Since there are only a few ingredients, each one really shines through! 
  • Extra Dark & Bittersweet Chocolate:  Guittard 63% Extra Dark Chocolate Baking Chips and Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips are my favorite.
  • Unsweetened Chocolate:  Guittard and Ghirardelli 100% Unsweetened Chocolate Chips, or if you don’t mind chopping chocolate, Ghirardelli or Baker’s Unsweetened Baking Bars
  • Semi-Sweet Chocolate:  Guittard and Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
  • German Chocolate:  Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate Bars
  • Milk Chocolate:  Guittard and Ghirardelli Milk Chocolate Chips
  • White Chocolate:  Guittard Mystic White Cholate Baking Wafers (true white chocolate flavor and melt perfectly) or Lindt Classic White Chocolate Bars or Ghirardelli White Chocolate Premium Baking Bar, Ghirardelli Classic White Premium Baking Chips
  • Cocoa Powder:  Always use Dutch-processed premium unsweetened cocoa for brownies!  Valrhona Pure Cocoa Powder, Rodelle Gourmet Baking Cocoa, Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa or Ghirardelli 100% unsweetened Ground  Cocoa
  • Black Cocoa Powder:  King Arthur Black Cocoa will give you an intense, dark colored and unsweetened chocolate flavor – use sparingly for the darkest chocolate cake, cookies and brownies (think “Oreo” dark)

Gourmet German Chocolate Brownies

PERFECT INGREDIENTS = PERFECT BROWNIES:

• Premium Ingredients:  Make sure to use fresh ingredients for the best results!  I’ve made so many cakes, cookies and brownies through the years, and these are my recommendations:
  • Butter:  Land O Lakes Unsalted Butter.  Avoid generic/bargain brands of butter, which often contain water, which will strip your brownies of a perfect shiny sheen on top – and we LOVE a brownie with the perfect sheen!
  • Flour:  King Arthur All Purpose Unbleached Flour is my favorite (it contains more gluten than other brands).  Pillsbury All Purpose is my back-up, but weighs differently – make sure to adjust as necessary.  (For reference, King Arthur is 120g per cup, Pillsbury is 129g per cup.)
  • Granulated Sugar:  Domino Pure Cane Sugar
  • Baking Powder:  Make sure that you use “aluminum-free” baking powder to avoid a tinny flavor. Rumford is one of the oldest and trusted brands. 
  • Salt: To avoid a tinny flavor, never use iodized salt in brownies.  Morten Non-Iodized Table Salt is my preferred brand for cooking and baking.  For sea salt flakes, I use Maldon Sea Salt Flakes. 
  • Vanilla:  Rodelle is my preferred brand for Pure Vanilla Extract, Vanilla Bean Paste are made with the highest-quality Bourbon vanilla beans from Madagascar. 
  • Espresso Powder:  King Arthur Espresso Powder is my favorite!
  • Other Extracts & Flavorings:  Rodelle (rodellevanilla.com), Cooks (cooksvanilla.com) and Amoretti (amoretti.com) brands make my favorite extracts and emulsions.  Keep in mind that extracts and emulsions have different strengths, so watch your measurements and use recommended amounts.

Gourmet German Chocolate Brownies

GOURMET GERMAN CHOCOLATE BROWNIES

If you love German Chocolate Cake, you are going to LOVE German Chocolate Brownies!   Rich, ultra-fudgy, topped with the best coconut and pecan frosting and drizzled with dark chocolate, these are sinfully delicious and unapologetically decadent and indulgent!

Gourmet German Chocolate Brownies

INGREDIENTS:
GERMAN CHOCOLATE BROWNIES:
4 large eggs (room temperature)
1 cup (8 ounces or 2 sticks) unsalted butter
2 ounces unsweetened chocolate (Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips)
6 ounces Baker’s German Sweet Chocolate
1 cup (200g) granulated sugar
½ cup (100g) brown sugar
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup (120g) King Arthur All-Purpose Flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I use Ghirardelli)
 
COCONUT PECAN FROSTING:
1-1/2 cups (187g) pecans, chopped  
1-1/2 cups (48g) sweetened flaked coconut
1 cup (8 ounces) evaporated milk (regular - not low fat)
1 cup (200g) brown sugar
3 large egg yolks
½ cup (4 ounces or 1 stick) unsalted butter
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
 
CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE:
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate (melted)
        (I use Ghirardelli Premium Semi-Sweet Chocolate Bars)
 
HOW I MAKE THESE:

1. Remove eggs from refrigerator and allow to come to room temperature.
2. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Line a 9x13-inch baking pan with foil or parchment paper, leaving about a one-inch overhang on all sides. Lightly grease the foil in the pan, or spray with nonstick cooking spray. (Alternative: line 12-cavity brownie pan with individual parchment liners.) 
3. PREPARE BROWNIES:  In a small heavy saucepan, cut the butter into pieces and melt over low heat.  While the butter is melting, chop the sweet German chocolate into ¼-inch pieces.  Add the unsweetened bittersweet chocolate chips and German chocolate to the melted butter, whisking together until melted and smooth.  Remove pan from stove and set aside.
4. In a large mixing bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. 
5. Place the granulated sugar and brown sugar in a separate small bowl, then whisk into the eggs just until blended.
6. Briefly stir the melted chocolate mixture, then gradually drizzle into the egg mixture, whisking constantly just until combined. 
7. Whisk in the vanilla extract.
8. In a small mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder.  Sift through a fine mesh strainer directly into the batter.  Stir with a silicone spatula just until blended.
9. Stir in semi-sweet chocolate chips, just until blended.
10. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and spread evenly with a small offset spatula (or for individual brownie pan, fill each parchment liner ½ full).
11. Bake for 24 minutes (16-18 minutes for individual brownie pan) or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. 
12. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature. 
13. PREPARE COCONUT PECAN FROSTING:  Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Chop the pecans and spread evenly on a baking pan.  Toast for 5 minutes; remove from oven.
14. In a medium heavy saucepan or saucier, stir together the butter, evaporated milk, brown sugar and egg yolks.  Cook over low heat until the butter has melted, then increase to medium heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture is bubbling and starting to thicken. 
15. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla, coconut and pecans.  Frosting will continue to thicken as it cools.  Cool completely. 
16. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract, salt, toasted pecans and coconut. 
17. Dollop the frosting over the top of the brownie slab and spread evenly with a small offset spatula.  (For individual brownie bites, add 1 medium cookie scoop of frosting to top of each brownie, spreading the top of each evenly with a small offset spatula.)
18. Allow frosted brownies to cool to room temperature.
19. PREPARE CHOCOLATE DRIZZLE:  In a microwave-safe bowl, melt the chocolate in 30 second increments at 50% power, stirring between each, until chocolate is just melted. 
20. Drizzle melted chocolate on top of the German Chocolate Frosting.  For easiest drizzling, I use a piping bag.
21. Refrigerate brownie slab for at least 8 hours before slicing and serving.  (Refrigerate individual brownies in an airtight container until ready to serve.)
22. Brownies will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days, in the fridge for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 6 months. 

YIELD:  12 large squares or 24 smaller bars, or 12 individual brownies.
 
RECIPE TIPS & TRICKS FOR THE BEST BROWNIES:

• If I can only share one baking secret with you, always use a DIGITAL KITCHEN SCALE.  You can use measuring cups and spoons for most recipes, but using a digital scale makes for the more consistent and efficient baking.  Take this from someone that bakes A LOT!
• For a rich and robust chocolate flavor, I recommend using only high-quality chocolate for this recipe.  Since there are only a few ingredients, each one really shines through!  I prefer Ghirardelli or Lindt dark chocolate bars with at least 70% chocolate for the melted chocolate, and Ghirardelli chocolate chips. 
• If your brownie recipe calls for it, don’t skip the espresso powder! It helps enhance the flavor of chocolate without adding an intense coffee flavor. Whisking cocoa powder and espresso powder into boiling water until smooth allows the chocolate flavor to bloom - don't skip this step if called for in your recipe!
• Don't overbeat your brownie batter!  Mix your dry ingredients in with a spatula just until blended for a perfectly shiny, crispy, and crackly top - the way a brownie should be!
• Baking brownies low and slow is the way to go!  325 degrees is the perfect temp for baking the best brownies.
• Be sure you don’t overbake the brownies!  They should not be liquidy when you pull them out of the oven, but should have a little jiggle in the middle. The brownies will firm up as they cool. Over-baked brownies will not be chewy or fudgy.

• After removing from the oven, I suggest you place the brownies on a wire rack and cool completely before frosting and slicing. They usually come to room temperature within a few hours - and although waiting for this may be the hardest part, they are worth the wait!
• Don’t use glass baking dishes for brownies or blondies – the baking times and results will vary wildly, and the heat retention of glass can lead to overbaking and dryness.

• For entertaining, I love to serve individual brownie squares.  I recommend and use a Pampered Chef Brownie Pan, which makes 12 individual brownie squares. I line each cavity with a non-stick cupcake parchment liner (PaperChef Culinary Parchment Large Baking Cups are my favorite).  I package each brownie individually in a self-adhesive cellophane bag (Pack It Chic 4x4” Clear Resealable Bags work perfectly).  Perfect for those times that you want to prepare brownies ahead of time and freeze!

Originally posted February 2014; revised and reposted March 2022.
 
© SnowflakesandCoffeecakes.  All images, attachments & content are copyright protected. All rights reserved. Please do not use my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or link back to www.snowflakesandcoffeecakes.com for the recipe

NEVER MISS A NEW RECIPE!  FOLLOW ME ON
​FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM & PINTEREST!

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE...

Triple Chocolate Brownies with Buttercream Frosting

Valentine Brownie Board by Snowflakes & Coffeecakes

Carrot Brownies