Who doesn’t love german chocolate cake? Now in muffin form! But wait! It gets even better when you combine german cake muffins with a coconut pecan streusel, topped off with a delicious chocolate glaze.
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It’s the ultimate indulgence – an irresistible combination of fudgy, moist german chocolate cake paired with the brightness of coconut and sweetness of chocolate. You won’t be able to turn away after one bite!

Mix it, Bake it, & Eat it!
Don’t expect these to be exactly like the german chocolate cake you’re used to. I’ve made the topping into a streusel crumble that’s crunchy and sweet. Bring it together with a chocolate glaze, which yes, I did forget to put on mine!
How To Enjoy German Muffins
Enjoy warmed with a nice cup of rich coffee
Add a few dashes to your oatmeal, or overnight oats.
Spice up your baked goods by adding Chai Spice in place of cinnamon.
Use it as a topping on your coffee, ice cream, and other treats.
Gathering Your Ingredients
- All-Purpose Flour – Best practice to avoid dry and dense desserts is to measure out the flour using a kitchen scale. If you don’t have one just simply fluff up your flour and with a spoon scoop it into a measuring cup and level with a butter knife. This should give you the most accurate measurement without a scale.
- Cocoa Powder
- Granulated Sugar
- Salt
- Instant Coffee or Espresso Powder
- Hot Water
- Butter – Room temperature
- Baking Powder
- Baking Soda
- Sour Cream
- Egg – Room temperature
- Vanilla Extract
- Milk
- Shredded Sweetened Coconut

For The Streusel Topping
- Chopped Pecans – unsalted
- Brown Sugar
- Shredded Sweetened Coconut

For The Glaze
- Powdered Sugar
- Milk
- Cocoa Powder

*see recipe card for detailed measurements
Kitchen Supplies I Use
How To Make German Muffins with Coconut Streusel Topping
Preheat your oven to 350 F and line your muffin pan with muffin liners.
Prepare the coconut streusel topping by adding chopped pecans, brown sugar, and shredded sweetened coconut in a small bowl and mix until combined.

First prepare the muffin batter, in a large bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt.
In a small bowl mix together the instant coffee and hot water. Set aside.
Add your room-temperature butter to your flour mixture and mix together with your hands until you end up with pea-sized flour and butter bits. Add 1 cup of this mixture to the streusel topping and stir.
To your flour add the instant coffee mixture, baking soda, baking powder, sour cream, egg, and vanilla extract. Mix to combine.
Add the shredded sweetened coconut and 1 1/2 cups of the streusel topping to the muffin batter.

Use a large cookie scoop to place the muffin batter into your prepared muffin tin lined with muffin liners.
Top with the streusel topping.
Bake your german muffins for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. These are very moist muffins, so they require a longer baking time than others.
Allow then to cool completely.
While your muffins are cooling prepare your chocolate glaze.
Add powdered sugar, milk, and cocoa powder to a bowl and stir with a small whisk until combined.
Drizzle on top of your muffins before serving. ** Don’t forget this step like I did! **

Expert Tips
Just a few tips for you!
- Use room temperature ingredients to make sure you get an even distribution of ingredients throughout your muffin batter without having to overmix.
- How finely you chop the pecans is totally up to you, I like a finer chop, while some like a larger chunk of pecan in their muffins.
- Use a muffin liner that reaches out of the pan so the muffin will rise and not touch the other muffins. To create a cleaner looking muffin after baking, line the pan with two liners in each cup.

Storage
Store leftover german cake muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They’ll keep for longer in the fridge, but you do run the risk of them drying out.
Can I freeze my muffins? Yes! If you need to make these ahead of time, or just want to keep them longer freezing is a good option. Make sure the muffins have cooled completely, wrap them individually in parchment paper, and pop them in a Ziploc freezer bag. They’ll keep for up to 3 months.
Try these other similar recipes!
- The Best Cinnamon Coffee Cake
- Mini Blueberry Muffins
- Bisquick Banana Muffins With Chocolate Chips
- Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips
- Tart Cherry Bread

German Muffins
- Total Time: 40 minute
- Yield: 10 muffins 1x
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup Cocoa Powder
1 tablespoon Instant Coffee or Espresso Powder
1 cup Granulated Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Salt
3 tablespoons Hot Water
8 tablespoons Butter, room temperature
1/4 teaspoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
2/3 cup Sour Cream
1 Egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1/4 cup Milk
1/2 cup Shredded Sweetened Coconut
For The Streusel Topping
1/2 cup Chopped Pecans
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/2 cup Shredded Sweetened Coconut
For The Glaze
1 cup Powdered Sugar
3 tablespoons Milk
1 tablespoon Cocoa Powder
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 350 F and line your muffin tip with muffin liners.
- Prepare the coconut streusel topping by adding chopped pecans, brown sugar, and shredded sweetened coconut in a small bowl and mix until combined.
- First prepare the muffin batter, in a medium bowl sift together flour, cocoa powder, sugar, and salt.
- In a small bowl mix together the instant coffee and hot water. Set aside.
- Add your room-temperature butter to your flour mixture and mix together with your hands until you end up with pea-sized flour and butter bits. Add 1 cup of this mixture to the streusel topping and stir.
- To your flour add the instant coffee mixture, baking soda, baking powder, sour cream, egg, and vanilla extract. Mix to combine.
- Add the shredded sweetened coconut and 1 1/2 cups of the streusel topping to the muffin batter.
- Use a large cookie scoop to place the muffin batter into your prepared muffin tin lined with muffin liners.
- Top with the streusel topping.
- Bake your german muffins for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Allow to cool completely.
- While your muffins are cooling prepare your glaze.
- Add powdered sugar, milk, and cocoa powder to a bowl and stir until combined.
- Drizzle on top of your muffins before serving.
Notes
Storage: Store leftover german cake muffins in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 5 days. They’ll keep for longer in the fridge, but you do run the risk of them drying out.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 30-40 minutes
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baked
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 muffin
- Calories: 449
- Sugar: 46.4 g
- Sodium: 232.3 mg
- Fat: 19.9 g
- Carbohydrates: 66.3 g
- Fiber: 2.9 g
- Protein: 5.8 g
- Cholesterol: 48.6 mg
