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Vegan German chocolate cookies are like mini German chocolate cakes: a soft, chewy chocolate oatmeal cookie with a rich caramel-coconut-pecan filling in the middle! Trust me, these won’t last long on the cookie plate. This post was originally published on dec 31, 2020
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These German chocolate cake cookies have become a delicious household staple in no time. They have all the flavor of German chocolate cake but are gone in two bites!
I love all things pecan and chocolate! Especially around the holiday season! Have you tried my pecan chocolate pie? SO good! These German chocolate cookies would make a perfect snack year-round, but with that festive nut and chocolate combo, they are an especially great gift or treat during the holidays!
If you love German chocolate cake these little chocolate cookies are the perfect treat to add to your baking list! They have that classic winning combination of chocolate, coconut, and pecan all piled up on top of soft, rich, and chocolatey oatmeal cookies with no added oil!
Why You’ll Love German Chocolate Cookies
- perfectly soft chocolate oatmeal cookies with rich, nutty, caramel-coconut filling
- perfect for snacking and for holiday cookie exchanges
- soy-free and oil-free with easy gluten-free option
More Vegan Holiday Desserts
You often see German chocolate cookies that are frosted or topped with a caramel filling after baking. These are slightly different from your regular German Chocolate Cake Thumbprint cookies, as these are baked with the caramel coconut-pecan filling already in the cookies. I find these are way easier to store and less messy to eat that way.
Vegan German Chocolate Cookies
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/3 cup almond butter, use natural smooth drippy almond butter or use cashew butter
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons non-dairy milk
Dry Ingredients
- 1/4 cup oats, quick cooking or old fashioned
- 2 tablespoons shredded coconut
- 1/2 cup flour, (all purpose, or use gluten-free all purpose)
- 3 tablespoons cocoa powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
Filling:
- 1/3 cup Shredded coconut
- 1/4 cup chopped pecans
- 3 to 4 tablespoons maple syrup or sugar
- 2 tablespoons nondairy milk
- 2 teaspoons cornstarch
Instructions
Make the cookie dough.
- Mix all wet ingredients for the cookie. In a separate, large bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients into the dry. If you want a sweeter cookie, add a tablespoon of sugar or maple syrup. Mix well. (You can add a tablespoon of oil into the cookie to keep it more moist. Or fold in a quarter of the coconut pecan filling into the dough.))
- Press and mix so that the mixture is homogenous, and you get a dough. Chill the dough for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make the filling and preheat the oven to 350° F (177 ℃).
Make the filling and bake the cookies.
- Add the pecans to a skillet and toast for 2 minutes, then add the coconut and continue to toast until the coconut is golden.
- Add in the maple syrup, then mix the cornstarch and non-dairy milk really well, and add it to the pan. Continue to cook the mixture until it thickens a bit. Set aside.
- Scoop out around 2 tablespoons of the cookie dough mixture at a time, rolling them into balls. Press the balls to flatten a bit on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Use a deep 1 teaspoon measure to make dips in centers of cookies. Add the filling to the dips. You want to add enough filling and pile it on, because the filling tastes really good, and make the cookie moist. Repeat for all the dough, You can probably get 11 to 12 cookies total. (You can also shape the dough and filling as sandwich cookies or cinnamon roll form for variation. Or mix the filling in the dough lightly, scoop flatten and bake)
- Bake for 11 to 14 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies. Then, take the sheet out of the oven, let it sit for a few minutes, then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.
- Optionally, drizzle the cookies with some melted chocolate after cooling.Store on the counter in a covered container for upto 2 days, refrigerate for upto 2 weeks. Freeze for longer.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Ingredients
- The base for the cookies is an oatmeal cookie – so we use flour, oats and cocoa powder as a base with some baking soda added for a bit of a rise.
- These are sweetened with maple syrup only so refined sugar-free.
- For some extra chewiness and flavor, I add some shredded coconut.
- Almond butter and non-dairy milk add enough fat and moisture to these to make them chewy in the middle while being a bit crispy on the outside. Use cashew butter or peanut butter(this will add peanut flavor).
- It would not be a German chocolate cookie without that signature caramel filling made from shredded coconut and pecans. We toast the nuts in a pan for more flavor.
- To get that caramel feel to the German chocolate cake filling, we add some maple syrup and non-dairy milk as well as some cornstarch for thickening the filling.
💡 Tips
- If you don’t like pecans or are allergic, you can use walnuts instead.
- You can make the oatmeal cookie dough a day ahead of time and store it in the fridge.
- These cookies can tend to easily be drier because of no oil and cocoa powder. Underbake them and use a good amount of the filling. You can also add in some oil, or fold some filling into the dough for ensuring a moist cookie.
How to make German Chocolate Cookies
Mix all wet ingredients for the cookie. In a separate, large bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients into the dry. If you want a sweeter cookie, add another tablespoon of sugar or maple syrup. Mix well. (You can add a tablespoon of oil into the cookie to keep it more moist. Or fold in a quarter of the coconut pecan filling into the dough.)
Press and mix so that the mixture is homogenous, and you get a dough. Chill the dough for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, make the filling and preheat the oven to 350° F (177 ℃).
Add the pecans to a skillet and toast for 2 minutes, then add the coconut and continue to toast until the coconut is golden.
Add in the maple syrup, then mix the cornstarch and non-dairy milk really well, and add it to the pan. Continue to cook the mixture until it thickens a bit. Set aside.
Scoop out around 2 tablespoons of the cookie dough mixture at a time, rolling them into balls. Press the balls to flatten a bit on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Use a deep 1 teaspoon measure to make dips in centers of cookies.
Add the filling to the dips. You want to add enough filling and pile it on, because the filling tastes really good, and make the cookie moist. Repeat for all the dough, You can probably get 11 to 12 cookies total. (You can also shape the dough and filling as sandwich cookies or cinnamon roll form for variation. Or mix the filling in the dough lightly, scoop flatten and bake)
Bake for 11 to 14 minutes, depending on the size of the cookies. Then, take the sheet out of the oven, let it sit for a few minutes, then transfer the cookies to a cooling rack.
Storage Directions
Keep the cookies on the counter for up to 2 days, and refrigerate for up to a week.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe is naturally soy-free with an easy gluten-free option. It would be very hard to make nut-free, but if you’re only allergic to pecans, you can use walnuts instead.
If you want to add oil, how much?
2 tablespoons
I made these gluten free wthe oat flour and potato starch, added the optional oil. Added the extra maple syrup for sweeter as well. I used tapioca starch instead of cornstarch. Put a few chocolate chips on top of each cookie before baking because I didn’t want to melt chocolate chips and drizzle.
They came out really well and I will make again and again.
So happy to hear! Thanks for sharing.
I made two batches of these to add to my cookie trays to give at Christmas. They are the best cookies I’ve EVER had! So good that I ended up not putting a single one in any of my cookie tray gifts lol I kept them all for myself and I don’t even eat many sweets. The praline filling is like heaven. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️ I give it 10 hearts!
So happy to hear!!
Absolutely delicious, followed the exact recipe- yum 😋 yum 😋 yum 😋
Awesome! Thanks for sharing.
Next time I’ll double the recipe, these are very yum and gone very fast!
Yay
This looks lovely! Going to try it soon 🙂
thank you- let me know how it turns out for you
Actually I saw a lot of your recipes but all the recipes are unique.
The chocolate recipe shown in this blog is the wonderful recipe and I will make a try and seeing this recipe, it is about me that I will make it 2-3 times a week and freeze it all.
Thank you Richa for sharing this chocolate recipe.
wow! thanks
In the filling part you have coconut. Is that raw, more shredded or something else? I want to make these tonight 🙂
It’s dried shredded
Could you make these with cashew butter instead of almond butter?
Yes!
These look so delicioius! Can I use a gluten-free flour? If so, what would you recommend? And is there anything I can use in place of the corn starch? Can’t wait to try them!! Thanks for sharing! : )
thanks – sure, Notes
Glutenfree: use a gf blend or 1/3 cup oat flour +2 tbsp starch (the starch is essential) there are many types.
I made these three types before seeing your comment – I used oat flour (without any additional starch) and they turned out fantastic.