German Chocolate Brownies

I made these brownies in my cooking class this last week along with a Brownie Triffle.  After eating the Brownie Triffle I couldn't even think of tasting the German Chocolate Brownies.  The next day I thought I need to try that and boy was it good!!  The brownie is so moist and chocolaty with the topping being what you would expect for a german chocolate cake.

I have made many different brownie recipes some with a pound and a half of chocolate others with coffee and tons of chocolate and I am going to be honest I keep going back to Pillsbury and Duncan Hines brownie mixes because they are so good and moist!  I am anti cake mixes most of the time but I do  use cake mixes for recipes like the Neiman Marcus Cake which you basically use the cake mix for the crust and then maybe 3 more recipes I use a cake mix for like the dump cake for but everything else is by scratch. 

I was in a bake study last year in Dallas, they had different businesses representing two were from a couple  bakeries, one from a diner another from a cafe and I was there for catering..  All of them said like me they use brownie mixes!!  I was so happy that I wasn't the only one!  We all said you can almost not make a brownie as good as those!  You can add so much to that mix and make it your own or just leave like it is because it has a well mixed combo of chocolate and moistness.

Until now that is did I like a brownie mix over a recipe!  This recipe is what I have been looking for!
I plan to make it without the coconut mixture next time even though I do like the coconut but for a basic brownie I think it might be the one to go to!

The recipe calls for 3 of the Baker’s® German’s® Sweet Chocolate  with the option of omitting the 3rd one.  I did omit the 3rd one and they were still very good!  I didnt' want to pay $7 to $8 for 3 bars so I went with two and it was still delicious!

* Also I only put the pecans in the icing and not the brownies.  You can do both if you would like.  I used 1 cup of pecans in the icing and it was plenty. 

Melt chocolate and butter in the microwave pour into mixing bowl then add sugar, eggs

and vanilla

add flour, baking powder and salt then fold in the pecans

Pour into a greased and floured pan

In a medium saucepan, stir together the evaporated milk , egg yolks, sugar, butter and vanilla  until well blended. Cook this mixture over medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbly.

add coconut and pecans

Pour over cooled cake

Delicious!!

German Chocolate Brownies

Makes a 9×13″ pan 

§  3 (4-ounce) bars of Baker’s® German’s® Sweet Chocolate (a total of 12 ounces; use 2 bars for melting and stirring into batter; coarsely chop the third bar to mix into the batter–or you can omit this chopped chocolate bar if you want)

§  3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter

§  1 1/2 cups sugar

§  4 eggs

§  2 teaspoons vanilla

§  1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (regular or unbleached)

§  2 teaspoons baking powder

§  1 teaspoon salt

§  1 cup chopped pecans (optional)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9×13″ baking pan, or line pan and sides with parchment paper (leave a little extra parchment paper sticking out so you can grab edges to lift brownies out of pan after they’re frosted and cooled; the brownies are really easy to cut when they’re out of the pan).
• Coarsely chop 1 of the 4-ounce bars of chocolate, if using, and also chop enough pecans to equal 1 cup; set these ingredients aside. Note: the chocolate bar will be easier to chop if it’s been chilled in the refrigerator.
• Microwave 2 of the 4-ounce chocolate bars and butter in a large microwaveable bowl for 1 to 2 minutes or until butter is melted. Remove from microwave and stir chocolate and butter together until chocolate is completely melted.  Add sugar to chocolate-butter mixture, blending well; then add eggs and vanilla, blending well. Add flour, baking powder, and salt, mixing until blended. Then fold in the chopped chocolate, if using, and pecans from Step #2. The batter will be fairly thick.
• Spread your batter evenly into the prepared 9×13″ pan and bake for 35-38 minutes, or until top middle of brownies is set and toothpick inserted in center comes out almost clean–it won’t come out completely clean because of the chopped chocolate in the batter. If you decide to omit the chopped chocolate in the batter, your baking time may be a little less, like 32-36 minutes. Cool brownies completely before adding the frosting…

COCONUT PECAN FROSTING

§  3 egg yolks

§  1 1/4 cups sugar

§  1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

§  1 teaspoon vanilla

§  1 (12-ounce) can evaporated milk

§  2 1/2 to 3 cups sweetened flaked coconut

§  1 1/2 cups chopped pecans

In a medium saucepan, stir together the egg yolks, sugar, butter, vanilla,  and evaporated milk until well blended. Cook this mixture over medium heat for about 15 minutes, stirring constantly, until thick and bubbly. Remove from heat and stir in the flaked coconut and chopped pecans, blending well. Let mixture cool for about 30 minutes, then give it a final stirring and spread evenly over the completely cooled brownies.