German Chocolate Whoopie Pies with Pecan Coconut Frosting

I normally do a links post at the end of every week, but since Wednesday was a holiday and I was MIA I'm deciding to do a recipe post.  That and I was super anxious/excited to share these amazing whoopie pies.

In recent years I've developed a slight love affair with German chocolate cake that's only gotten worse as time has passed.  For the longest time I kind of wanted to gag at the thought of coconut in frosting, but once I tried it there simply was no looking back.  I've never actually made a German chocolate cake myself, but have enjoyed more than my fair share of cake and cupcakes from bake shops.

And to be honest I've always been a little scared of trying to make this type of cake because it always looks like the frosting is so gooey that it might just slide right down the side of the cake.  Yikes!

But these whoopie pies solve that whole issue.  Just sandwich that frosting between two soft cake mix cookies ~ problem solved.  And my favorite thing is that these cookies are built around a boxed mix.  The cookies are quick and easy, which means I don't mind spending the extra bit of time on the frosting.

*Tip:  Pull the cookies out of the oven when they seem a little underdone...they will set up perfectly by the time they cool!

PS Make sure you use all the frosting for the whoopie pies....if you have any left over I can promise you it will somehow make its way from the spoon to your tummy.  Swear.



German Chocolate Cake Cookies slightly adapted from Easybaked
Printable Version
1 box German Chocolate cake mix (I used Duncan Hines)
1/3 C butter, softened
4 oz cream cheese
1/3 C semi-sweet chocolate chips, melted
1 egg

Preheat oven to 350.  Cream together butter and cream cheese til smooth.  Stir in egg.

Blend in melted chocolate.  Stir in cake mix and use hands to knead into dough.

*The original calls for the slight flattening of the balls of dough when scooped onto the pan because they aren't supposed to spread on their own.  Mine spread like crazy so I placed the dough in the fridge for 30 minutes to let it firm up and had much better results.  The firmer my dough was (and I didn't flatten them), the better the cookies held their shape.  I suggest testing one scoop of dough out to see how yours bake and how much they spread.

Use small cookie scoop (mine holds 2 tsp) and place scoops of dough on prepared pan.  Bake 12-14 minutes.

I may or may not have eaten a few of

these scoops....

Remove from oven and allow to cool on pan for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.

Coconut Pecan Frosting adapted from MyRecipes
Printable Version
*This recipe makes more frosting than you will need...feel free to make half
2 C chopped pecans
12 oz can evaporated milk
1 1/2 C sugar
3/4 C butter
6 egg yolks slightly beaten
2 C sweetened flaked coconut
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Cook evaporated milk, sugar, butter, and yolks in large saucepan over medium heat, stirring continuously until butter is melted and sugar dissolves ~4 minutes.  Continue cooking 12-14 minutes to thicken mixture (it should get near pudding consistency).  Stir continuously throughout this process.

Remove from heat.  Stir in pecans, vanilla and coconut.  Transfer to separate bowl and allow to cool completely, approximately 40 minutes, stirring a few times throughout.  Frosting will thicken as it cools.

To assemble the cookies simply place a generous dollop of frosting between two cookies.  

I didn't mind having to take a bite out of this little

guy all for the sake of getting a creative shot.