German Chocolate Cake Cookies

This cookie flavor combo has been my nemesis.
I've tried different twists and turns with a variety of recipes...
...still it just wasn't what I wanted it to be.
But I'm picky.
It's my mom's fault.
Sorry mom, but it's true.
She introduced me to the finest German Chocolate Cake in Portland,
if not the entire West Coast, or the world!
JaCiva's.

Once you've eaten something that is so delicious, everything else seems sub par.
With the bar set so high,
each time I would try to make a German Chocolate Cake Cookie,
it just wasn't right.
The most difficult part was that I didn't know exactly how to fix the problem.
Until now.
After Christmas I found the Two Peas and Their Pod Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookie
 and made them for a Valentine's Day treat. 
They had just the solution to my cookie problem.
So I made some adjustments, crossed my fingers, and went for it.
The result?
Delicious, even for a picky cake eater like me.

German Chocolate Cake Cookies
Cake Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod Red Velvet Cheesecake Cookie
and Frosting Center from Hannah Swensen Mysteries by Joanne Fluke

Ingredients:

For the cookie/cake dough:
1 box German Chocolate Cake mix
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1/2 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

 

Frosting Center:

½ cup firmly packed brown sugar

¾ tightly packed coconut

½ cup chopped pecans

¼ cup chilled butter (1/2 stick)

1 egg yolk beaten

Dough Directions:

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix together cake mix, flour, eggs, oil and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap. The dough will be oily. Refrigerate for at least two hours.

 

Frosting Directions:

1. Combine the sugar and coconut in a food processor.  Mix with the steel blade until the coconut is in small pieces.

2. Add the chopped pecans.(optional for allergies)  Cut the butter into four chunks and add them.  Then, process the mixture with the steel blade until the butter is in small bits.

3. Separate the yolk, place in a glass, and whip up with a fork.  Add them to your bowl and process until thoroughly incorporated.  (If you don’t have a food processor, you can make the frosting by hand using softened butter.)

4. Refrigerate until the cookie/cake dough to be ready.

 

Cookie Assembly:
(I learned a couple tricks from the last time.)
Preheat the oven to 350 degree F.
 

1. Divide dough into thirds. Cut two pieces of wax paper, large enough to cover the dough when flattened.

2. Roll out the dough in between the wax paper.  This will help in keeping the dough together...it's not that sturdy.

3. Slice the dough into square-ish shapes.  I use a cookie cutter and it works like a charm!
4. Take each square in your hand and place a drop of frosting in the middle.  Then wrap the edges of the dough around the frosting.  Make sure that seal all of the edges so that the frosting doesn't drip out!













5. Place them spread out on a cookie sheet.  I only put 8 on a parchment-lined cookie sheet....these cookies spread out.

6. Bake for 11-13 minutes or until the tops of the cookies begin to crackle.  Remove the tray from the oven and then let them stay on the cookie sheet for at least a minute before transferring them onto a cooling rack.
 

7. Once they are cool, wrap them up and share them with people that you love!

 

 

 

Enjoy this sweet little treat!

I think you'll adore 'em too!

Hugs,

Lori