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Move over cake! This German Chocolate Pie is stealing the show! Inspired by a slice of pie I discovered in Amish country, it’s packed with rich chocolate, crunchy pecans, and sweet coconut. Every bite is pure melt-in-your-mouth decadence.
My Homemade German Chocolate Pie Story
While traveling through a small Amish town several years ago, we stopped at an authentic Amish restaurant that served German Chocolate Pie. It was so good, we ended up buying an entire pie to eat the next day. Ever since then, I have been dreaming about, drooling over, and seriously craving this pie.
After many attempts, I think I have finally perfected it! I knew I had it right when my family ate the entire pie out of the pan before it even had time to cool! If you are a fan of German Chocolate Cake, you will love this pie. Both have delicious flavors and texture of chocolate, pecans, and coconut.
Grab your pie plate and let’s get ready. These are all staple ingredients you probably already have in your pantry. For a full list of ingredients and amounts, see the recipe card below.
Unbaked pie crust: You can buy a frozen or refrigerated crust or make your own homemade pie crust. Just don’t use a graham cracker crust for this one, you want a nice pastry like baked pie shell. Don’t cook the pie crust, it will cook along with the German Chocolate filling.
Butter: Unsalted butter works best.
Chocolate Chips: Use semi-sweet for a rich chocolate base.
Flour: Helps thicken the pie.
Brown Sugar and Granulated Sugar: A mix of both adds depth and sweetness.
Eggs: Essential for binding the filling. One reader with an egg allergy used flaxseed as a substitute.
Vanilla Extract: Boosts flavor and balances the chocolate.
Pecans and Coconut: The classic German chocolate combo!
How to Make German Chocolate Pie
Set the oven to preheat to 350°F. Place a prepared pie crust in a pie tin (unbaked).
Melt butter in a microwaveable bowl, then stir in 1 cup of chocolate chips until they are melted and the mixture is smooth.
In another bowl, stir flour, sugar, and brown sugar together until well-blended.
Add the dry mixture with the melted chocolate/butter mixture until well combined. The mixture will be thick.
Stir the eggs in one at a time, then stir in the vanilla.
Fold in the pecans, coconut, and the remaining chocolate chips.
Pour the batter into the unbaked pie crust. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until the top of the pie is set. Don’t over bake.
A nice crust will form on top of the pie, similar to the top crust of a pan of brownies.
Substitutions and Variations
It’s not often I do this, but I really don’t recommend straying from this recipe as written. The only exception is for allergies.
Nut allergy – Omit the pecans.
Gluten allergy – Use a gluten-free pie crust and a gluten friendly flour substitute.
Egg allergy – Use flaxseed or another egg-substitute.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is it called German chocolate?
Back in 1852, a man named Samuel German developed a type of dark baking chocolate for the chocolate company. He was known to be one of the best bakers back then. In honor of him, the company used his name for the Baker’s German’s Sweet Chocolate.
Can I make German Chocolate Pie ahead of time?
Yes! This is a great make ahead dessert. Bake it a day or two ahead, cool completely, and refrigerate. Bring to room temperature before serving.
Can I freeze German Chocolate Pie?
Yes! After the pie has cooled to room temperature, cover it tightly with a layer of cellophane wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil. To thaw, place it on the counter for a 3-4 hours before serving.
Should I use sweetened or unsweetened coconut?
Definitely use sweetened coconut for the best texture and sweetness in German Chocolate Pie.
Can I make this recipe gluten-free?
Absolutely! Use a gluten-free pie crust and substitute the flour with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend. Double check labels for the other ingredients to ensure they are gluten-free.
Rave Review
“Well…I made this pie without the substitution and used the ingredients called for in the recipe and, OMG, this pie is totally awesome and had to come directly from a bakery off the golden streets in heaven…most likely the Pearly Gates bakery!! You are correct it is a very dense pie and so very rich. We could only eat a sliver at a time. We tried it room temp and straight from the fridge, but we found we like to microwave it for about 15 seconds, eat, or add a small scoop of ice cream or whipped cream. This will be a must have holiday pie from now on. I also plan to make some as gifts for the coming holidays. Thank you so much for sharing this, God Bless.”
– Scott
More Pie Recipes
We love to have a wide variety of pies for Thanksgiving and other special occasions. Try some more of our favorites!
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place uncooked pie crust in pie tin.
In small bowl, microwave butter until completely melted. Add 1 cup chocolate chips and stir until smooth.
In separate bowl, stir together flour and sugars.
Slowly add chocolate/butter mixture and stir until blended.
Add eggs, one at a time, and vanilla.
Fold in pecans, coconut, and ¼ cup chocolate chips.
Pour into unbaked pie crust. Bake 35-40 minutes or until top is set. DON'T OVER BAKE!
Allow to cool before serving.
Optional: top with some whipped topping, toasted coconut, and chocolate shavings or dust with a little cocoa powder.
Notes
Storing Leftovers
Wrap leftovers tightly in plastic wrap or store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
To freeze, wrap in plastic wrap then in foil to prevent freezer burn. Keep frozen for up to 3 months. When ready to serve, thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
You can serve cold, bring to room temperature, or warm slightly in the microwave.
I would like to make this for Christmas dinner dessert at a friend’s house but I have one question. What size pie plate do I use? 8″ or 9″?
Can’t wait to try this recipe….I love coconut and my friend is a chocoholic! 🙂 Thanks!
Good question, since I’ve never tried toasting them I can’t tell you for sure, but I think it would give the coconut more texture in the pie and the pecans more of a crunch. If you want a smoother texture, don’t toast. Thanks for asking!
Try this: 2.25 cup white sugar + .25 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Add: 1 cup evaporate milk, 3 eggs, half stick of real butter melted, 1.5 tsp vanilla, .25 tsp salt. Mix but don’t beat.
Stir in: .5 cup chopped pecans + .5 cup coconut
Pour into unbaked pie crust. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, cover with foil bake 15 min more. The middle will be jiggly but will firm when cooled.
I haven’t tried it that way, so I’m not sure. If I were trying it, I would start with the suggested 35-40 minutes and then just check it every 5-10 minutes after that until the top is set.
How anyone can make a negative comment about this recipe is beyond me! This pie is everything you would want in a pie…and its completely simple to make and it knocks everyone who tastes it off their feet!!
Made it for Father’s day. This pie was a hit! I eliminated the 1/2 C white sugar. Cooked it at 325F in conventional oven. After it cooled, I put it in the fridge. Got it out 1 hr before serving. My family loved it. Will definitely do it again.
I had to lower my stars because of the comments I received. I made this last night for a nursing home activity. I added homemade German Chocolate frosting so it would taste like German Chocolate. Here are the comments I received:
– Really good
– Less coconut
– Pretty good
– Tastes like fudge
The way the batter came out was kinda thick like you said, but I knew it looked like fudge instead of pie filling. Will not make again.
I wish I had everything on hand now because I would seriously make this right now. It looks so delicious and we even have ice cream to go with it, just not all of the pie ingredients. Perfect too because we have coconut ice cream in the freezer, I am sure they would pair well – guess who is probably running to the store haha!
I would probably refrigerate it but I am guessing it doesn’t NEED to be refrigerated. I can’t tell you for sure. If you want to play it safe I would say refrigerate it. Hope this helps!
This pie looks amazing! I am going to make it for a family Christmas party this weekend. However, the party is 3 hours away so I will need to make the pie ahead of time. I would like to serve it warm. What is the best way to reheat it? In the oven or the microwave?
I just made finished up making this pie. It was so fun and easy to make. I baked it a little less than 30 minutes and it came out great. I added homemade German Chocolate frosting on top once it cooled and then I’m going to drizzle a little chocolate on top. Wish I could send a picture.
I made one tonight and used all the same ingredients like it said and mine over flowed and broke the crust. I don’t know if it makes any difference or not but I used a frozen traditional pie crust. I also wanted to know if there was a way of making a sugar free version so I could make one for my family members who are diabetes. Thanks
Cammie, did you use a 9″ pie crust? If it was an 8″ or 8 1/2″ it wouldn’t hold all of the filling. This is a tough one for sugar free, but it is possible. You can get sugar free chocolate chips like these on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2fWnFPj. You can also use sugar substitutes for the brown sugar and white sugar in the recipe. I like using “Swerve” sugar replacement because you use the exact measurement in recipes as you would use for sugar. Here is a link to see what it looks like: http://amzn.to/2gitPNM
This pie was extra rich & perfectly gooey like your photo. (Baked 30 min as per “until top is set”)
My major mistake was already having all the ingredients in the cupboard and jonesing on making it asap, horrors! we didn’t have any vanilla ice cream!!
I made this the other evening and served it last night at my Bunco group. It was really, really good! But like some of the other comments, I noticed that mine wasn’t really gooey either, and it was difficult to cut because it was so dense (it had been refrigerated) . I really think the problem is that it just over baked. I only baked it for 35 minutes but next time I think I’ll only bake it for 30 minutes and try it that way. Since all ovens are different, it’s hard to judge what works best for everyone. Other than that, it was a wonderful recipe! Thanks for sharing! I will definitely make it again.
Thank you for sharing and letting us know– it can be so tricky with ovens sometimes! Sorry it turned out so dense. Let us know how it turns out next time!
Tried this recipe. Went over well for a holiday treat. Wondering if it would be less dense if the eggs were beaten longer ( like meringue ). Any thoughts ? ( I’m not the most experienced baker ????)
I’m not sure how it would affect the consistency… It would affect the taste by having less sugar but we usually at the full amount so I can’t say for sure.
What are you thoughts on using white chocolate chips and also adding some dried cranberries in the mix. Would we need to use all white sugar..instead of half white half brown. I have a son who does not like chocolate..chocolate but will eat white chocolate. Certainly there is a white chocolate version of this pie somewhere??
I don’t know if it needs to be, but we usually do refrigerate it (that is, if we don’t polish it off before it needs to be refrigerated. Usually it is gone before we have to worry about storing).
I’ve been making a version of this pie for over 30 years and it’s always loved. I’ve always used Bakers German Chocolate, am looking forward to trying it with the semi-sweet chips.
Sometimes I add Kaluha instead of vanilla to the pie and to the homemade whipped cream. If you add it to the whipping cream then you probably won’t need much (if any) sugar since the pie is plenty sweet.
Can you substitute splenda white and brown sugar for the sugars in the recipe. I am asking because something sometimes the sugars helps the consistency!
Well…I made this pie without the substitution and used the ingredients called for in the recipe….and …OMG… this pie is totally awesome and had to come directly from a bakery off the golden streets in heaven…most likely the Pearly Gates bakery!! You are correct it is a very dense pie and so very rich….we could only eat a sliver at a time. We tried it room temp and straight from the fridge….but we found we like to microwave it for about 15 sec..eat …or at a small scoop of ice cream or whipped cream. This will be a must have holiday pie from now on,..I also plan to make some as gifts for the coming holidays. Thank you so much for sharing this,…God Bless
Found this on pinterest and made it today. To.Die.For. I baked it 35 minutes and 40 probably would have been better but still yummy. Chilled it in fridge and just had a slice with some vanilla ice cream! Thank you!
Hi!! I made this pie for thanksgiving and all though it was delicious, it was near impossible to cut, it was so thick and dense. I was really looking forward to something gooier like the picture. You say “DO NOT OVERBAKE” but how do I know if I did? And should I have refrigerated? I really want to try again for Christmas–any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
Tasted wonderful, but the pic shows it much more gooey and less fudge like. I want it more gooey. Should I add some milk or another egg. Just doesn’t seem like it’s wet enough.
ok, i made this last night and it was really amazing!! so much yummy chocolate.
it took me more than 40 minutes to bake mine though.
(AND i was right, my mother in law loved it!)
Thanks!
Hi I’m loving your blog and the not overly intricate recipes. This recipe sounds like a chocolate lovers heaven. I am new to blogging and also feature good tasty family recipes at Fabfood4all.co.uk here in England.
Regular or deep dish pie crust, that’s pretty important.
Regular 🙂
My Husband & I both love it!
Glad you both liked it!
Can I use a nine inch cake pan?
You can. I don’t know if the crust will turn out the way you want. Have you made a pie recipe in a cake pan before?
You have listed the ingredients but no amounts
Keep scrolling down to the recipe card and you will find the amounts!
This looks fantastic! I can’t wait to try it. Do you use sweetened or unsweetened coconut?
Sweetened!
I would like to make this for Christmas dinner dessert at a friend’s house but I have one question. What size pie plate do I use? 8″ or 9″?
Can’t wait to try this recipe….I love coconut and my friend is a chocoholic! 🙂 Thanks!
Use a 9″! Happy Baking and Merry Christmas!
Thank you!! I can’t wait to try it! 🙂 Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Would toasting the coconut and pecans improve the taste, or would that be a waste of time, since they are folded into the pie?
Good question, since I’ve never tried toasting them I can’t tell you for sure, but I think it would give the coconut more texture in the pie and the pecans more of a crunch. If you want a smoother texture, don’t toast. Thanks for asking!
Try this: 2.25 cup white sugar + .25 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
Add: 1 cup evaporate milk, 3 eggs, half stick of real butter melted, 1.5 tsp vanilla, .25 tsp salt. Mix but don’t beat.
Stir in: .5 cup chopped pecans + .5 cup coconut
Pour into unbaked pie crust. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, cover with foil bake 15 min more. The middle will be jiggly but will firm when cooled.
In this recipe it calls for 1/2 cup flour is this flour plain or selfrusing
It is all-purpose flour!
Does the German chic pie need to be refrigerated?
We usually do refrigerate it.
If you double it for deep dish , what would be the cooking time ?
I haven’t tried it that way, so I’m not sure. If I were trying it, I would start with the suggested 35-40 minutes and then just check it every 5-10 minutes after that until the top is set.
I love a recipe with a backstory like this and this one doesn’t disappoint! Such a sweet delicious pie.
Well this is DELICOUS! I’m making it again for Thanksgiving. Love it!
What a fabulous recipe. I substituted flaxseed meal as an egg substitute for my diet and it still worked out beautifully. Thank you!
Easy but it wasn’t really pourable. More like spoon
Can you make this with a graham cracker crust?
We haven’t tried it that way before, but let us know how it turns out!
How anyone can make a negative comment about this recipe is beyond me! This pie is everything you would want in a pie…and its completely simple to make and it knocks everyone who tastes it off their feet!!
Thank you for sharing. I make it often!!
Pie is extremely sugary. Needs something to balance the sugar. It’s delicious though.
Made it for Father’s day. This pie was a hit! I eliminated the 1/2 C white sugar. Cooked it at 325F in conventional oven. After it cooled, I put it in the fridge. Got it out 1 hr before serving. My family loved it. Will definitely do it again.
I had to lower my stars because of the comments I received. I made this last night for a nursing home activity. I added homemade German Chocolate frosting so it would taste like German Chocolate. Here are the comments I received:
– Really good
– Less coconut
– Pretty good
– Tastes like fudge
The way the batter came out was kinda thick like you said, but I knew it looked like fudge instead of pie filling. Will not make again.
I wish I had everything on hand now because I would seriously make this right now. It looks so delicious and we even have ice cream to go with it, just not all of the pie ingredients. Perfect too because we have coconut ice cream in the freezer, I am sure they would pair well – guess who is probably running to the store haha!
I would probably refrigerate it but I am guessing it doesn’t NEED to be refrigerated. I can’t tell you for sure. If you want to play it safe I would say refrigerate it. Hope this helps!
This was excellent! The whole family enjoyed it. I will certainly make it again.
So glad you and your family enjoyed it! Thanks for the nice comment!
This pie looks amazing! I am going to make it for a family Christmas party this weekend. However, the party is 3 hours away so I will need to make the pie ahead of time. I would like to serve it warm. What is the best way to reheat it? In the oven or the microwave?
Our recipe is best served cooled, so I haven’t tried reheating it. I would be nervous that it would end up over-baking the pie. Hope this helps!
The flour in this recipe is it self rising or all purpose? Can’t wait to make it for Thanksgiving!
Hi Tammy, We use all-purpose flour in this recipe. You are going to LOVE this pie!
I love coconut but my family does not. Can this be made without coconut and if so, should I adjust some of the other ingredients?
Hi Cathe, No problem! You can leave the coconut out. You don’t need to adjust any other ingredients unless you want to add more pecans.
I just made finished up making this pie. It was so fun and easy to make. I baked it a little less than 30 minutes and it came out great. I added homemade German Chocolate frosting on top once it cooled and then I’m going to drizzle a little chocolate on top. Wish I could send a picture.
I made one tonight and used all the same ingredients like it said and mine over flowed and broke the crust. I don’t know if it makes any difference or not but I used a frozen traditional pie crust. I also wanted to know if there was a way of making a sugar free version so I could make one for my family members who are diabetes. Thanks
Cammie, did you use a 9″ pie crust? If it was an 8″ or 8 1/2″ it wouldn’t hold all of the filling. This is a tough one for sugar free, but it is possible. You can get sugar free chocolate chips like these on Amazon: http://amzn.to/2fWnFPj. You can also use sugar substitutes for the brown sugar and white sugar in the recipe. I like using “Swerve” sugar replacement because you use the exact measurement in recipes as you would use for sugar. Here is a link to see what it looks like: http://amzn.to/2gitPNM
I hope this helps!
Is there a way to make one sugar free for diabetes. If so I would love to know so I can make one for my grandparents.
Just substitute sugar with stevia. Stevia is awesome
This pie was extra rich & perfectly gooey like your photo. (Baked 30 min as per “until top is set”)
My major mistake was already having all the ingredients in the cupboard and jonesing on making it asap, horrors! we didn’t have any vanilla ice cream!!
So glad you liked it.. but no vanilla ice cream?! NoooOOOoooo! haha well it gives you an excuse to make again, right? 😉
I made this the other evening and served it last night at my Bunco group. It was really, really good! But like some of the other comments, I noticed that mine wasn’t really gooey either, and it was difficult to cut because it was so dense (it had been refrigerated) . I really think the problem is that it just over baked. I only baked it for 35 minutes but next time I think I’ll only bake it for 30 minutes and try it that way. Since all ovens are different, it’s hard to judge what works best for everyone. Other than that, it was a wonderful recipe! Thanks for sharing! I will definitely make it again.
Thank you for sharing and letting us know– it can be so tricky with ovens sometimes! Sorry it turned out so dense. Let us know how it turns out next time!
Tried this recipe. Went over well for a holiday treat. Wondering if it would be less dense if the eggs were beaten longer ( like meringue ). Any thoughts ? ( I’m not the most experienced baker ????)
You could definitely try it! We haven’t done it that way before so if you do it, let us know how it turns out!
Looks absolutely delish! Question: Would the consistency of the pie change if I used less sugar? Say 1/4 cup brown and 1/4 cup white?
I’m not sure how it would affect the consistency… It would affect the taste by having less sugar but we usually at the full amount so I can’t say for sure.
What are you thoughts on using white chocolate chips and also adding some dried cranberries in the mix. Would we need to use all white sugar..instead of half white half brown. I have a son who does not like chocolate..chocolate but will eat white chocolate. Certainly there is a white chocolate version of this pie somewhere??
We haven’t tried it that way before but it sounds delicious! Let us know how it goes if you do try it!
Does this pie have to be kept in the fridge???
I don’t know if it needs to be, but we usually do refrigerate it (that is, if we don’t polish it off before it needs to be refrigerated. Usually it is gone before we have to worry about storing).
I’ve been making a version of this pie for over 30 years and it’s always loved. I’ve always used Bakers German Chocolate, am looking forward to trying it with the semi-sweet chips.
Sometimes I add Kaluha instead of vanilla to the pie and to the homemade whipped cream. If you add it to the whipping cream then you probably won’t need much (if any) sugar since the pie is plenty sweet.
Thank you for your comment and for the suggestions! 😀
Delicious! Even better with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Everything is better with a scoop of ice cream!
Can you substitute splenda white and brown sugar for the sugars in the recipe. I am asking because something sometimes the sugars helps the consistency!
We haven’t tried it that way, so I can’t definitively say how it would affect the recipe. Let me know how it turns out if you do try it!
Well…I made this pie without the substitution and used the ingredients called for in the recipe….and …OMG… this pie is totally awesome and had to come directly from a bakery off the golden streets in heaven…most likely the Pearly Gates bakery!! You are correct it is a very dense pie and so very rich….we could only eat a sliver at a time. We tried it room temp and straight from the fridge….but we found we like to microwave it for about 15 sec..eat …or at a small scoop of ice cream or whipped cream. This will be a must have holiday pie from now on,..I also plan to make some as gifts for the coming holidays. Thank you so much for sharing this,…God Bless
Found this on pinterest and made it today. To.Die.For. I baked it 35 minutes and 40 probably would have been better but still yummy. Chilled it in fridge and just had a slice with some vanilla ice cream! Thank you!
So glad you liked it!
Hi!! I made this pie for thanksgiving and all though it was delicious, it was near impossible to cut, it was so thick and dense. I was really looking forward to something gooier like the picture. You say “DO NOT OVERBAKE” but how do I know if I did? And should I have refrigerated? I really want to try again for Christmas–any help would be greatly appreciated!!!
How long did you bake it for the first time? It sounds like it may have been overbaked… it should have the consistency of a thick, gooey brownie.
Sounds like it would be delicious with vanilla ice cream!
Hey Perryn, I wonder if you could use a bar of German chocolate instead of cc drops? It looks yummy!
Tried this pie last night and it turned out very thick (had to spread in pan). Then after it baked it was like fudge. Is this normal?
Yes, it is pretty thick and fudge-y (why we love it so much)!
Tasted wonderful, but the pic shows it much more gooey and less fudge like. I want it more gooey. Should I add some milk or another egg. Just doesn’t seem like it’s wet enough.
Any chance you could post some step by step pictures, so I know I’m doing it right?
You cooked it too long just a thought 🙂
Y’all had one recipe on one of your Baker’s German chocolate baking bars, can I use that chocolate instead of chocolate chips.
I’m not sure what you are referring to, but you can email us and we can try to help you find the answer!
Does this taste like German Chocolate Cake at all? I haven’t made it yet.
Yes, the pie is rich and delicious with all the flavors of a German Chocolate Cake.
do you need to use a deep dish pie crust or a regular one thanks!
Just a regular crust
My Dad LOVE’s this pie we made it for him on his B-Day
ok, i made this last night and it was really amazing!! so much yummy chocolate.
it took me more than 40 minutes to bake mine though.
(AND i was right, my mother in law loved it!)
Thanks!
My mother in law is going to love this! Thanks!
Hi I’m loving your blog and the not overly intricate recipes. This recipe sounds like a chocolate lovers heaven. I am new to blogging and also feature good tasty family recipes at Fabfood4all.co.uk here in England.