German Chocolate Cookies

Caramel and chocolate. Doesn't just reading that make you want to run to the nearest Ghiradelli shop and grab a few squares? Make it dark chocolate and you've got something really special.

German chocolate cake has been on my wish list for a while, but lately I've grown to appreciate the benefits of a cookie over a cake. (1) Easy to grab and snack on (2) Smaller size (3) Doesn't matter if it tips over! No ugly frosting! (4) Supports my inevitable laziness that hits post-baking - sometimes frosting takes more energy than I've got. Not to mention, creating cookie versions of traditional cake recipes can be a fun challenge. See Red Velvet Cookies.

This one all started with a birthday, as many good things do. An out of town counterpart celebrated his birthday and indicated he'd be down in a few weeks. I promised some goodies, since I openly discuss my baking obsession with anyone who will listen.

I'd hit a bit of a roadblock recently, though, so the arrival of an idea felt somewhat invigorating. It might be time for me to get creative again, at last. The spark between myself and my Kitchenaid began to light once more.

I've made enough varieties of items now that often I can take one of my recipes and adjust it to suit another purpose. So where I had taken one of my prior chocolate cookie recipes and altered it for the purposes of the red velvet cookies, I now took the red velvet recipe and changed it to this. Where it will it go next? Who knows.

The process was that of a basic cookie. Blended the butter and sugars together and beat them for 2-3 minutes. I cut back on the white sugar recently; I knew the sweetened coconut, caramel, and chocolate chips would compensate for that easily.

I toasted the coconut in the oven for a few minutes, until the flakes were lightly browned. Once I had my chocolate cookie dough made, I mixed in half a bag of chocolate chips, some finely chopped caramel squares, and some of the toasted coconut. I then scooped the dough onto some lined baking sheets and popped 'em in the oven.

I was careful to only bake these about 10 minutes, because I really wanted a nice, soft inside to the cookie.

While they baked, I took about half the bag of caramels and melted them down on medium heat on the stove with a little bit of water.

As soon as the cookies cooled enough to harden, I crammed all of the cookies onto one cookie sheet as close together as I could. My big plan was to tar and feather these bad boys with caramel and coconut, making a "frosted" cookie.

My word, this turned into a beautiful, caramel delight. They were like little brownies! I turned in my submission to the birthday fella and he shared them with his team. And as fate would have it, I got some "thank you's" for the brownies. Call 'em what you want, I'm just glad they were a success.

It's funny, because when I gave them away I was asked if they were good. I'm clearly biased, so I said that I thought so, but feedback is welcome. He was surprised that I'd want to know either way, but seriously, how do you improve (or get new ideas!) without constructive crticism?

As I was topping these, I had a flashback to Samoa Cookies (true caramel delights), which I made last year. Mmm...

Making this gave me a very autumn appropriate idea, though. As I was pouring caramel on these cookies, I thought...what if these were apple cookies?!

German Chocolate Cookies Recipe

Ingredients:

For the cookies:
1 cup butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon almond extract
2 cups flour
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup caramel squares, finely chopped
1/3 cup toasted coconut
1/2 package semi sweet chocolate chips (about 3/4 cup)

For the topping:
1/2 package caramel squares (about 12-15 squares)
1 tablespoon water
1/3 cup toasted coconut

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Beat butter and sugar together for 2-3 minutes in a stand mixing bowl, until creamy. Stir in vanilla, then add eggs, one at a time. Gradually add dry ingredients, stirring slowly. Stir in caramels, coconut, and chocolate chips. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

While cookies are baking, heat the caramel squares and water over medium-low heat in a small saucepan until melted, stirring frequently.

Remove pans from oven and allow cookies to cool slightly. Use a spatula to move all cookies to one cookie sheet, setting cookies as close together as possible. Spoon caramel over the top of each cookie, then sprinkle with coconut (working quickly so caramel does not harden). Allow to cool, then serve.