My immediate family now consists of 14 people: my parents, us four siblings, the three spouses, my four nieces and one nephew. Having so many of us now has led us to start combining birthday celebrations – like birthday month club. For the last couple years, we have been celebrating my oldest sister Stacy’s birthday along with my mom’s birthday. Stacy is very traditional in her birthday cake choice – a 9×13 yellow cake/chocolate frosting. It never fails. My mom normally says that is fine for her as well – she likes it and how much cake does one family really need. At the same time, I wanted to make Mom a special treat – A German Chocolate Brownie Pie!
My mom really likes German Chocolate cake, so I wanted to make a smaller alternative. I found this Deep Dish German Chocolate Cookie Pizza from Shaken Together; it is an easy two ingredient recipe with a triple chocolate cookie base. I wanted to stick a little closer to the taste of German Chocolate though – thus the German Chocolate Brownie Pie was born. It was very rich, so a small piece goes a long way. In order for the brownie to be German Chocolate, make sure you find German Chocolate bars; I found Bakers brand at my local grocery store.
- 8 oz German Sweet Chocolate I buy Baker's brand - 4 oz are for melting and 4 oz will be refrigerated and coarsely chopped
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter stick
- 3/4 c sugar
- 3/4 c flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 2 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 - 1 c chopped pecans
- Coconut Pecan Frosting I buy Betty Crocker
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease your pie pan.
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Microwave 4 oz of the chocolate along with the butter in large microwavable bowl. Start with 1-2 minutes; once the butter is melted, try stirring the mixture to see if any remaining chocolate will also melt.
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Add sugar to the chocolate/butter mixture.
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Stir in eggs and vanilla.
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Add flour, baking powder, and salt - make sure to mix well.
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Chop the 4 oz refrigerated chocolate bar and fold into the other mixture. The bar will chop up into smaller pieces more easily if it is cold.
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Add the pecans.
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Spread evenly into the pie pan. I wanted my dessert to have a little bit of a crust, so I let the edges sit up a little higher than the middle. This is not necessary. You can lay the batter evenly if you desire as well.
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Bake around 30 minutes, checking a few minutes before. With the chopped chocolate and therefore fudgy brownie, remember that doing the toothpick trick is a little bit harder. When you take it out of the oven, take a small knife and run along the outside edge of the pan to help ensure nothing is sticking.
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Once cooled, put the icing on top.
Shelby says
Maggie, my mom’s favorite cake is a German Chocolate – I’m betting she would LOVE these brownies too!
Maggie says
My mom’s birthday was the origin for this recipe! It was nice to have a smaller size than a full cake. Not everyone in the family eats the German Chocolate.
Jenn Kurkiewicz says
YUM! Pinned for later 🙂
lovenerdmaggie says
Thank you for stopping by, Jenn, and for pinning!
Kaitlin S. Welch says
This looks incredible! Pinned!
lovenerdmaggie says
Thanks for pinning, Kaitlin. I hope you will give it a try; it definitely won’t disappoint. 🙂
danita Carr says
We love German Chocolate anything! Can’t wait to try this. What’s not to love about brownies with extra yumminess on top?
lovenerdmaggie says
German Chocolate really is fabulous! I supposed the chopped chocolate isn’t necessary, but you can never have too much of a good thing! Right?! Thank you for stopping by, Danita! If you give it a try, let me know what you think.
Shauna Smart says
I bet this is so delicious! Pinned for later 🙂
Shauna
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Becky Bevan Blad says
I love this! It looks much simpler than German Cake but tastier! Pinned this!
lovenerdmaggie says
I agree! I have always found brownies easier to make than cake. Thank you for pinning!
Stephanie Pass says
Looks delicious! My husband would love this. I’m definitely pinning for later.
lovenerdmaggie says
Thank you for coming over, Stephanie! I hope you give it a try and let me know what you husband thinks. 🙂
Kim Osburn says
Maggie Maggie Maggie Mae, my dear sweet girl. You have made me a very happy girl. German Chocolate Cake is my Favorite. Definitely gonna have to try this wonderful looking treat. Thanks for sharing. <3 Kim
PS- I just noticed that you live in Chicago. I lived in the NW Suburbs (Mt. Prospect) for 5 years. I finally found my way back to Texas a year ago.
lovenerdmaggie says
I hope you will love it, Kim! It is very rich, so it can definitely go a long way in terms of serving people. And what a small world! I have grown up in the Chicago area for the majority of my life. My husband and I are living in Lincoln Park right now, but my hometown is Geneva.
Midwest_Avenger says
That looks delicious!