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.

Recipe Snapshot

  • Prep time: 20 minutes
  • Cook time: 30 minutes
  • Total time: 50 minutes
  • Yield: 12
  • Category: Dessert, Snack
  • Cuisine: American

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

Method

Make the cookie dough.

  1. 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.))
  2. 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.

  1. Add the pecans to a skillet and toast for 2 minutes, then add the coconut and continue to toast until the coconut is golden.
  2. 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.
  3. 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)
  4. 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.
  5. 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.

Kiyaan Singh’s Kitchen Note

Keep this recipe as a working base: cook once as written, then adjust spice, texture, and serving style for your own table.