I have a deep and abiding love for Katharine Hepburn. I’ve long been a fan of her no-nonsense style and absolute sense of self. So when my friend Vince told me he had a perfect brownie recipe that originated from the grande dame herself, I was more than a little intrigued. Katharine Hepburn made brownies?
Well, yes. Of course she did. And apparently, she was very opinionated about them, too. When a neighbor brought her brownies while she was recovering from a car accident, she tasted them and declared, “Too much flour! And don’t over bake them. They should be moist, not cakey.” Then she rattled off her own recipe to the stunned neighbor, and they became a local legend.
I love good brownies, but have never found quite the right recipe for my taste. This may be the one. The recipe is so easy, you can memorize it, and the brownies are chewy gooey delicious. Chalk up another plus for Kate!
Ingredients
- ½ cup cocoa*
- ½ cup butter (1 stick)
- 2 eggs, at room temperature
- 1 cup sugar
- ¼ cup all purpose flour
- 1 cup chopped pecans**
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Pinch of salt
Method
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease an 8-inch square baking pan and line with parchment paper. The parchment should hang over the sides a bit. Grease the parchment and set the pan aside.
Fill a small saucepan with about 2 cups of water and set on low heat until the water simmers. Place the butter in a medium glass bowl and set on top of the pan of water. When the butter has melted a bit, add the cocoa powder. Warm the chocolate and butter, stirring constantly, until completely melted and smooth. Remove from heat. Allow to cool for a few minutes.
Whisk in the sugar, then whisk in the eggs and vanilla extract. Using a rubber spatula, fold in the flour, salt and chopped nuts.
Pour the batter into the prepared baking pan, smoothing it into an even layer. Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached. They may need a few minutes more, depending on how accurate your oven is, but be careful not to overbake. Place the pan on a wire rack and allow to cool completely before cutting into squares. Store leftovers in an airtight container at room temperature. Makes about 9 large brownies or 16 smaller ones.
Notes
*I tried this recipe using three different kinds of chocolate, and found the cocoa powder to be best and easiest overall. You can substitute 2oz of unsweetened chocolate in place of the cocoa powder. DO NOT use semi-sweet chocolate – the resulting brownies are way too sweet.
*Nuts are a personal taste thing. You can use walnuts in place of pecans, or go nuts (yeah, I know), and use anything you want. I used 2/3 cup of pecans and 1/3 cup chocolate chips. These brownies are better with the nuts, since they give the batter a little heft.
The original recipe says to add the eggs one at a time, which is totally fine, but I found that if I slightly beat the eggs and added at once, the brownies got a little lift without sacrificing chewiness.
