German Chocolate...Cookies!

Ever been craving chocolate cake, but don't have hours to devote to making it?  Unless it's a special occasion, who has time to prepare a cake mix, bake a cake for an hour, and then allow the cake to cool for a couple more hours before icing it?  I have a huge sweet tooth and run into this problem quite often.  In particular, I dream of German chocolate cake since my husband loves it as well and will whole-heartedly encourage my cravings.  During one particularly strong craving fueled by pregnancy, I developed a recipe to settle both our appetites: German chocolate cookies!  The cookies taste just like German chocolate cake, and they take a fraction of the time to prepare.

Warning:  This recipe is somewhat dangerous, as it can completely destroy a diet or healthy eating lifestyle.  Proceed with caution.

The recipes for the German chocolate cookies themselves and homemade topping are shown below.  My husband and I go crazy over the chunks of caramelized coconut and pecans in the homemade topping.  Every time I make it, we struggle to stop ourselves from devouring it straight from the pot.  It's worth an extra ten minutes in the kitchen to me, but if you don't want to spend the extra time making the topping, you can always buy it from the grocery store.  It's always right next to the German chocolate cake mix.  I won't tell!

Ingredients

German Chocolate Cookies

• 1 boxed German chocolate cake mix
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup flour

Coconut Pecan Topping

• 2 egg yolks
• 8 oz (2/3 can) evaporated milk
• 1 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 7 oz (1/2 bag) sweetened shredded coconut
• 1 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions

German Chocolate Cookies
 
1.  Mix cake mix, egg, water, and flour until combined.  Note that the amount of each ingredient required to make cookies, which is shown above, differs from the amount of each ingredient to make cake, which is shown on the back of the cake mix box.

2.  Drop 2 Tbsp of dough at a time onto a cookie sheet to form cookies.

3.  Bake at 350 degF for 8 min.

4.  Allow to cookies cool.

Coconut Pecan Topping

1.  Combine yolks, milk, sugar, and butter in a saucepan on medium heat.

2.  Bring to a boil.  Simmer for 10 minutes, stirring continuously, to allow the mixture to thicken and darken.

3.  Remove from heat.  Stir in coconut, pecans, and vanilla.

Then, just top each cookie with about a Tablespoon of coconut pecan topping, and you are finished.

You'll be surprised how much these cookies taste like German chocolate cake; they'll be gone almost as quickly as you made them!  Enjoy!