German Chocolate Cookie Bars have a chewy chocolate cookie layer topped with gooey homemade German chocolate coconut frosting.
These German chocolate cookie bars are perfectly chewy with a crunchy, yet gooey coconut frosting topping. They are heavenly! And SO EASY to make! I have probably made these German Chocolate Cookie Bars at least 5 times since the beginning of the year. I love them! I got this recipe from our friends over at Six Sisters Stuff who adapted the recipe from Paula Deen.
*UPDATE: As you will see in the recipe below you can use either a German Chocolate Cake Mix or a Devil’s Food Cake Mix. Originally we started off ALWAYS making it with German chocolate cake mix but when I was craving these and found all I had in the pantry was a Devil’s Food Cake mix I made it with that and haven’t gone back since. They were way more moist and I liked the taste better. Since I made this discovery months after we posted the first time, it was too late to change the name.. so we still call them German Chocolate Cookie bars but really we like them best when they are “Devil’s Food Cake bars with coconut topping”. Both ways are delicious so if you want to keep with the German theme, feel free to stick with it. You really can’t lose.
These would be a great treat for Easter– just shake up some green food coloring with the coconut before adding it to the recipe and add little mini eggs to the top. You can’t go wrong with these bars. They are a new favorite at our house! They are so gooey and delicious! Oh and did I mention they are super EASY? I almost always have all the ingredients on hand so I make these whenever I have a sweet tooth and I don’t want to make a trip to the store!
- 1 box devil's good cake mix not the kind with pudding added* (see comments above
- 1/2 cup 1 stick unsalted butter, melted
- 1 large egg
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Grease a 9x13 inch baking pan (I used non-stick cooking spray).
- In a medium bowl, mix together the cake mix, butter and egg, and press into the bottom of the prepared pan.
- The crust should not come up the sides.
- Bake for 7 minutes and remove from the oven. The crust will not look done.
- While the crust is baking, mix together the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla, egg, pecans and coconut.
- Pour evenly over the warm crust.
- Sprinkle evenly with the chocolate chips.
- Bake for 24-30 minutes, until the top is a light golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and cool completely before cutting into squares.
You can’t go wrong with these delicious German Chocolate Cookie Bars but if you are looking for MORE delicious treats like this one, give some (or all) of these a try:
- Caribbean Coconut Fudge Bars: These tasty bars come straight from St. John’s in the Caribbean. Chocolate and coconut is ALWAYS a winning combination! You will love all the delicious layers of these bars!
- Coconut Lime Cheesecake Bars: Craving a taste of the islands but looking for something more on the fruity side? You have GOT to try these coconut lime cheesecake bars. One of the most popular recipes on our site!
- Coconut Pecan Cookie Bars: These cookie bars are SO easy to whip up. No cake mix needed! Only a few easy ingredients and you’ve got yourself dessert in about 30 minutes!
- We have MANY MANY more cookie and bar recipes… check them ALL out HERE!
More from Favorite Family Recipes:
I’ve made something very similar to these before and they’re super good! Thanks for reminding me of this great recipe!
Mmmmm these look so good, so obsessed with chocolate :/ oh and I still can’t believe I won your iPad mini giveaway, thank you so much.
It’s on it’s way!!!
Wow! These look so good. I love to make cookie bars. They are so easy!
um yes please!
Just came across this image and recipe (taken FROM you) on a Facebook page with no link or mention of where it was taken from.
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=535216393195543&set=a.529893487061167.1073741826.529892423727940&type=1
I am not a cook or a baker. I wish the directions stated that the crust needed to be cooled before putting the condensed milk mixture on it. What I thought was going to be a easy delicious desert just landed in the trash. Total disaster.
You are supposed to put it over the warm crust… it should be slightly undercooked. You don’t cut the bars until they are cooled or they will be too gooey.
How long do you usually wait until it’s completely cool?
Usually 30-60 minutes. Sometimes I will put them outside on a cold day and they will cool quicker. Thanks for asking!
I am so excited to make these but realized I bought the Devils Food with the pudding mix added. Will it ruin the recipe?
No, that is totally fine. It will still be great! 🙂
Hey I am planning to make these soon, they look absolutely amazing! I have one question when I mix the cake mix with butter and eggs, do I use a mixer, or do I use a spoon
You can use either…. but a mixer would be much easier!
I made these today for my daughter to take to school for a party in her German class. I omitted the nuts due to obvious reasons (never knowing if their is a nut allergy in the bunch). Went together really quick and are baking now.
may I substitute German chocolate mix for Devils food? Tx.
Yes, you can use either one and it will turn out great!
do these bars need to be stored in refrigerator or room temperature ?
They don’t need to be stored in the refrigerator unless you prefer to serve them cold. I think they taste best at room temperature. Thanks for asking!
I am making these at 10:00 pm. They smell so good right now. Thanks for the recipe. Mine are taking a bit longer to cook as I used homemade sweetened condensed milk which was a bit thinner.
After reading all comments, I am going try this. Making cookies, fudge, etc for Christmas gifts. This will be a good addition
Where is the German chocolate? Why call them German Chocolate Bars when there isn’t any German chocolate?
I used German Chocolate pudding cake and it turn out a little more than golden brown and a little burnt around the edges, otherwise it was still very good. Very easy to make.
I forgot to buy stick butter can I use crock butter?
If it is “real” butter, than sure, crock butter should be ok!
They are delicious!! I will be making them again.
I made these yesterday with a German chocolate cake mix and an entire 12 oz. package of milk chocolate chips on top. WOWZA! They are GREAT. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
So glad you liked them! 😀
Is it supposed to look under baked when you take it out after the 30 min bake time?
You may want to keep it in a little longer and keep checking every few minutes
This is not GERMAN Chocolate Bars this is Deviled Food Bars. German Chocolate cake is a type of chocolate named for a man whose last name is German. So you would need to use a GERMAN Chocolate cake mix for this to fall under that category!
German chocolate is a fairly common colloquialism for desserts that have chocolate, coconut and nuts. If it makes you feel better, just buy the cake mix that says German chocolate on the label. Amazing what people find to grouse about these days . . .
Seriously? SMH.
My kind of baking! I used to love scratch baking when I was younger, but not so much these days. Thanks and pinned.
Has anyone tried making these using gluten free cake mix?