Welcome back to QCK!
Today I want to share one of my favorite Treat Yo Self recipes, German Chocolate Brownies. I love this recipe because German Chocolate Cake is one of my absolute favorites but I don’t always feel like making a whole cake. Brownies are so much easier and you don’t have to worry about decorating.
So the very small twist on this recipe was actually just poor planning on my part, but it turned out to be really effing good. Traditionally, German Chocolate Frosting is made with pecans, which I did not have. Why didn’t I have pecans? Because I used all of them in a failed blondie recipe just two days before I made these brownies. Yes, I was very upset when I realized this. Anyways, I angrily scoured my snack cabinet. I found pine nuts, peanuts, almonds AND pistachios. All seemed wrong for this recipe. I don’t know why I have so many nuts in my cupboad. Doesn’t matter. The point is that allllll the way in the very, very deepest, darkest back corner of the cabinet where my “healthy” snacks that I totally eat live, I found unsalted, unroasted, cashews. Gross snack, perfect for baking. SO long story short I thought, screw it lets toast some cashews and put them in this frosting. Which I did. Guys, when I tell you this was one of my top ten culinary genius moments… I almost mean it.
Anyways, if you’re into it, try cashews, that’s what I’m going to list in the recipe. If you’re not, roll with the pecans. Classics are classics for a reason.
I love this recipe for quarantine because it’s so easy to cut in half if you just want a small batch but they’re also just a classic that pretty much everyone loves, so if you want to bake but don’t want too much sugar hanging out in your house, you can drop them off in your friends mailboxes, like I did. I also think these are a great quarantine birthday treat for anyone who’s not into making a cake.
Tips and Tricks
- In this recipe, I melt the butter with the cocoa powder and add sugar and eggs directly to the pan. It makes a nice fudgey, slightly chewy brownie, and I love that. If you like a more cakey brownie, just cream room temperature butter with the sugar, then add eggs and cocoa and make it all in one bowl.
- Make sure to watch the frosting closely while it cooks because there are egg yolks in it and it is on heat. If the pan gets to hot, you’ll end up with scrambled egg frosting.
- Cut the recipe in half for a 9×9 baking dish.
Recipe
| Prep: 20 Mins | Cook: 30 Mins | Difficulty: Easy | Yield: 12 Brownies |
Ingredients
For the brownies
- 1 C (2 sticks) Unsalted Butter
- 1/4 C Cocoa Powder
- 2 C Sugar
- 4 Large Eggs
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 1/2 C All Purpose Flour
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
For the Frosting
- 1/2 C (1 Stick) + 1 Tbsp Unsalted Butter
- 1 (14 oz) Can Sweetened Condensed Milk
- 1/3 C Brown Sugar
- 2 Large Egg Yolks
- 1 1/2 C Sweetened, Shredded Coconut
- 1 C Cashews, chopped and toasted
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/8 tsp Kosher or Sea Salt
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and grease a 9×13 baking pan.
- In a medium pot over medium-high heat, melt butter and cocoa powder together. Set aside to cool.
- Add sugar, eggs, and vanilla to the melted butter/cocoa and mix well.
- In a medium bowl, combine flour and salt.
- Gradually add butter/cocoa mixture to the flour and salt.
- Mix and fold until thouroughly combined.
- Pour into 9×13 pan. Bake 25-30 minutes.
- In the meantime, make the frosting. In a medium pot over low heat, combine butter, sweetened condensed milk, and brown sugar and mix until butter is melted and sugar is fully disolved, 3-5 minutes.
- Whisk in egg yolks and stir frequently until mixture begins to thicken, about 8-10 minutes.
- Transfer to a bowl to cool.
- Once the mixture is cooled to room temperature, add coconut, vanilla, cashews and salt. Mix well.
- Remove the brownies from the oven and allow them to cool to room temperature.
- Spread an even layer of frosting over the brownies and cut into 12 squares.
As always, I hope you enjoyed this recipe! If you tried it out let me know in the comments. For more recipes check out my homepage and follow along on Instagram. Don’t forget to like, follow, comment and share. Thanks for reading!
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