This German Chocolate Pie is a creamy rich chocolate pie with a sticky German chocolate coconut-pecan topping and fresh whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
German Chocolate Pie
I just couldn't let Thanksgiving 2020 go by without sneaking in one more pie recipe! If you love German Chocolate Cake, then this recipe is for you! I wanted to create a homemade German Chocolate Pie with all of the flavors of the famous cake but made into a pie.
When I was little, I was obsessed with coconuts. I would do my chores so quickly just so I could run down to the local grocery store and pick up the largest coconut I could get my hands on. Since I am such a coconut lover, I have requested a lot of German Chocolate birthday cakes in my days. This Coconut Pecan German Chocolate Pie has become so popular!
Chocolate and coconut are such a classic combination!
This German Chocolate Coconut Pecan Pie has a buttery pie crust, filled with rich, decadent chocolate custard, and topped with a homemade brown sugar coconut pecan filling, and then finished off with a homemade sweetened whipped cream and chocolate shavings. This is one heavenly pie!
German Chocolate Pie Ingredients:
Chocolate Custard Ingredients:
- Semi-Sweet Chocolate -- if you want a less sweet pie, you can use dark chocolate
- Butter
- Heavy Cream + Whole Milk
- Sugar -- granulated sugar works best in this recipe
- Vanilla
- Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- Egg Yolks
- Cornstarch
Coconut Pecan Filling Ingredients:
- Butter
- Brown Sugar
- Evaporated Milk - this can be found in a can and is different than sweetened condensed milk
- Egg Yolks
- Vanilla
- Sweetened Flaked Coconut - make sure it is fresh, moist, soft coconut
- Pecans
All-Butter Pie Crust Ingredients:
- Butter
- Flour
- Salt
- Buttermilk or Ice Cold Water
Whipped Cream (homemade whipped cream made with heavy cream and powdered sugar)
Chocolate Shavings
This German Chocolate Pie starts off with a homemade buttery, flaky pie crust. If you want to make things even easier, you can make a chocolate pie crust or even a graham cracker crust. If you read my all-butter pie crust recipe instructions, you find out that I definitely simplify my pie crust recipe by using a food processor. It takes less than 2 minutes to whip up! For this recipe, you need to pre-bake the pie crust so it is ready to be filled.
The Chocolate Cream filling is made with all-natural ingredients. It starts off with butter, chocolate, vanilla, sugar, cornstarch (to thicken), unsweetened cocoa powder, heavy cream, egg yolks, and whole milk.
You will want to eat the entire bowl of this chocolate custard!
The German Chocolate Coconut Pecan Filling is made with butter, brown sugar, evaporated milk, vanilla, egg yolks, coconut, and pecans. It takes less than 10 minutes to make on the stove and is so decadent.
Then it is all topped off with homemade, sweetened whipped cream made with heavy cream, powdered sugar, and a touch of vanilla. This Chocolate Coconut Pie is going to knock your socks off!
How to make the Best German Chocolate Pie:
- Start by making an all-butter pie crust. You can find my instructions HERE but it is easier than you think to make homemade pie crust. Bake the pie crust ahead of time and set it aside to cool.
- Make a homemade chocolate custard. Make sure to do this ahead of time to give it time to chill and set-up in the refrigerator. I use semi-sweet chocolate but you can use a darker chocolate or even milk chocolate for a sweeter pie.
- Make the coconut pecan sticky topping in a saucepan. You want to use evaporated milk in this recipe (not to be confused with sweetened condensed milk). Evaporated milk is unsweetened and perfect in this recipe.
- Whip up heavy cream and sweeten it with powdered sugar. To make sure your whipped cream is successful, make sure your heavy cream is chilled and cold.
- Let it chill! This is a pie that needs to be refrigerated so make sure to give it enough time to chill and set-up so it is easier to slice.
Check out these other popular PIE recipes on Modern Honey:
Lemon Cream Pie
Triple Berry Pie
Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie
Raspberry Almond Cream Cheese Pie
Coconut Cream Pie
Lemon Sour Cream Pie
Caramel Apple Pie
White Chocolate Macadamia Chocolate Ganache Pie
Double Chocolate Marble Pie
The BEST PUMPKIN Pie
Mini Pumpkin Pie Bites
Old-Fashioned Pecan Pie
Sweet Cherry Pie
Traditional Perfect Pumpkin Pie
Caramel Banana Cream Pie
German Chocolate Coconut Pecan Pie
Ingredients
1 Baked Pie Crust:
- https://www.modernhoney.com/butter-flaky-pie-crust/
Chocolate Custard Filling:
- 2 Tablespoons Butter
- 1 ½ cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- ¾ cup Sugar
- ¼ cup Cornstarch
- 3 Tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- ¼ teaspoon Salt
- 1 cup Heavy Cream
- 3 large Egg Yolks
- 2 cups Whole Milk
Coconut-Pecan Filling:
- ½ cup Salted Butter
- 1 cup Brown Sugar
- 1 cup Evaporated* Milk (8 ounces from a can)
- 3 large Egg Yolks
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
- 2 cups Sweetened Flaked Coconut
- 1 cup Chopped Pecans
Garnish:
- Fresh Whipped Cream
- Chocolate Shavings
Instructions
- Pre-bake pie crust and set aside to cool.
Chocolate Custard Filling:
- Place the chopped chocolate, butter, and vanilla extract in a mixing bowl and set aside. In a medium saucepan, whisk together the sugar, cornstarch, cocoa, and salt. Whisk in ½ cup of cold heavy cream until the mixture is smooth. Repeat with another ½ cup of the cream.
- Whisk in the egg yolks. Place the saucepan over medium heat, and gradually whisk in the whole milk. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly. Let boil for 1-2 minutes or until it begins to thicken.
- Remove the pan from the heat and pour the mixture over the chocolate and butter. Whisk until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is silky smooth. Place plastic wrap on the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming, and chill for 3-4 hours. The chilling is important as it allows it to thicken.
Coconut-Pecan Filling:
- In a medium saucepan, heat butter, brown sugar, evaporated milk, and egg yolks over medium heat. Whisk the mixture together and watch for it to boil. Once it begins to boil, let it boil for 5-6 minutes, whisking constantly. The mixture should begin to thicken. Remove from heat.
- Add vanilla, coconut, and pecans and fold together. Set aside to cool to room temperature or place in the refrigerator to cool.
Whipped Cream:
- Beat 1-2 cups of heavy cream (depending on how much whipped cream you desire) and add ¼ cup of powdered sugar and beat until soft peaks form. Fold in vanilla. Top each slice with whipped cream.
To assemble pie:
- Fill the baked pie crust with chocolate custard filling. Spread evenly into the crust. Top with coconut pecan filling and carefully spread over chocolate custard. Place in the refrigerator and let chill until ready to serve, at least 30 minutes. I prefer to make sure the pie is very firm. Serve with fresh whipped cream and chocolate shavings.
Allyson Scott
HI! I saw your post on Instagram and am making this pie right now! I am so excited to have it for Thanksgiving dessert tomorrow!
Modern Honey
Yay! I am so happy to hear it. I am making it for my own Thanksgiving too because it has been such a hit! I hope you love it. 🙂
Jennifer
Can I make this a day ahead of time? Or get all of the different parts prepared, then assemble the day of? This looks delicious! I had all the ingredients for another German chocolate pie recipe, but then saw yours and decided to try it instead. Can't wait to see how it turns out!
Modern Honey
You bet! I am making it right now and making the chocolate custard first, then the coconut pecan topping and just refrigerating them until tomorrow. Also, I bake my crusts the night before and assemble everything in the morning. Good luck! 🙂
jk
Can I use half and half in place of the milk?
I never have milk, but always have half and half and heavy cream.
Thank you, jk
Melody
This was so yummy and such a hit! I made everything the night before, assembled it by 10 am and let it harden in the fridge until 4 pm, but it still totally fell apart when we ate it. Nobody cared because it was just so yummy, but I'm wondering if you have any suggestions on how to make it come out in perfect slices like your pictures?
Barbara
I made this pie for thanksgiving 2020. It was the only pie out of 6 that was totally gone.Everone loved it, will make again this thanksgiving
Bonnie
My favorite recipe, so fantastic
Lexi
This pie was the first devoured at the birthday party I brought it to! Everyone was raving about the recipe, such a good one!
jk
Hello Melissa, back in December 2020 I asked you a question concerning if I could use half-and-half instead of milk in chocolate filling.
I guess you must've missed my comment because I never got an answer.
I still need that I answered be I want to make this pie for this Thanksgiving 2022. In addition to my question about the milk, can I make the pie Wednesday afternoon put it all together and refrigerate it so that I can make sure that it sets up completely? I'm hoping I can do that and it won't make the crust soggy. Please advise. Thank you.
Modern Honey
Hi! I am so sorry I missed your comment. You can absolutely use half-n-half instead of whole milk -- it will just make a richer pie. There are a few options for making this german chocolate pie ahead of time. You can assemble it on Wednesday and place it in the refrigerator to chill. I would suggest piping the whipped cream if at all possible on Thursday so it is fresher. The pie crust should be just fine! 🙂 I hope you love it!
jk
Thank you for responding Melissa. I am trying to print this from IPad to my wireless printer and the "print" button doesn't seem to be responding. Any suggestions?
jk
Melissa just got recipe to finally print! Looking forward to making this as it has been on my radar for well over a year.
jk
Melissa, while making my grocery list for Thanksgiving, I was wondering instead of semi-sweet chocolate, have you ever used the German chocolate bar by bakers for this pie? Thank you.