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Tribute-to-Katherine-Hepburn Brownies Recipe

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These brownies are gooey, fudgy, and extremely chocolate-y. I am going to pretend I am posting a step by step brownie recipe as my first recipe this year not because I am out of anything else to post, but because its auspicious to start with sweet stuff. You play along, ok?
I am going to be honest with you and admit these brownies are not going to cooperate if you have weight loss resolutions. What they will do is transport you to chocolate heaven and back with each bite, this I promise.
Here’s a sneak preview of the final product.
Now, let’s get started with 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder. I use Cadbury’s which I brought from India. I am weird that way. I take back Hershey’s for my relatives and bring back Cadbury’s cocoa powder.


I can’t find the picture of the butter I took so imagine 1/2 cup butter here. At room temperature please.

Now, to get what you see below, bring a pan of water to boil, place another heat proof bowl in it and add the butter. When it melts, add the cocoa powder and 1 tsp instant coffee powder. Don’t worry, your brownies won’t taste like coffee, its just to enhance the chocolate flavour.
Set aside to cool.


This recipe is very chocolate-y and uses very little flour. All we need is 1/4 cup all purpose flour or maida. Yep, that’s it.
Add 1/2 tsp salt to this and mix well in a bowl. You can add a pinch of powdered cinnamon to this if you wish (I didn’t).

Once the chocolate-butter mixture has slightly cooled, add 2 eggs, mixing well for a minute after each addition.


Now its time for the sugah. Throw in one cup after you are done with the eggs but please don’t be like me – use white sugar. Add add 1 tsp vanilla extract to this.


Mix mix mix until well incorporated. Be gentle, don’t over do it.

Now add the flour and fold in until just blended.

Now come the good stuff (not that anything we added so far is not good, but still).
We need 1/2 cup (4oz) bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces and 1/2 cup walnuts. I am not a huge fan of walnuts so I added lesser than what the recipe calls for. You can add up to 1 cup.
Add these to the batter and fold in.

There we go, that’s our super chocolate-heavy batter. Lick a little. Go ahead.

Pour in a buttered, floured brownie tray (or any tray you have).

Use the spatula to just level the top of the batter before you stick it in the oven.
Bake in a preheated 325F/approx 160C oven for 30-35 mins.


Cut into squares before serving. I think my walnut pieces were too big so I didn’t get perfect squares but I couldn’t care less. If was dense and yummy. If you have a nicer oven, you will get a crust like you see in professional brownies. My oven doesn’t do that, unfortunately, but it was still awesome.

The recipe is from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking from My Home to Yours, all in one place.
Tribute-To-Katherine-Hepburn Brownies
What I Used:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 teaspoons finely ground instant coffee
2 large eggs, preferably at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup broken or chopped walnuts or pecans
4 ounces / 1/2 cup bittersweet chocolate, coarsely chopped
How I Made It:
1. Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
2. Butter an 8-inch square baking pan and grease with butter. Add some flour, tap on all sides and tap out the excess.
3. Whisk the flour, cinnamon, if you’re using it, and salt together.
4. Put the butter in a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan and place the pan over low heat. When the butter starts to melt, sift the cocoa over it and add the instant coffee. Continue to cook, stirring, until the butter is melted and the cocoa and coffee are blended into it. Remove from the heat and cool for about 3 minutes.
5. Using a whisk or a rubber spatula, beat the eggs into the saucepan one at a time. Next, stir in the sugar and vanilla (don’t beat anything too vigorously — you don’t want to add air to the batter), followed by the dry ingredients, nuts and chopped chocolate. Scrape the batter into the pan.
6. Bake for 30 minutes, at which point the brownies will still be gooey but the top will have a dry papery crust. Transfer the pan to a rack and let the brownies cool for at least 30 minutes. (You can wait longer, if you’d like.) Turn the brownies out onto a rack and invert onto a cutting board. Cool completely before cutting into 16 squares, each roughly 2 inches on a side.
Enjoy and here’s wishing you all a wonderful 2010, again.
This recipe goes to Mahimaa’s Cakes and Cookies Roundup.
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  1. Hi! This brownie recipe looks great! However when I tried it, I had a problem. Aft I added 1 egg, the mixture looked curdled. The mixture also had some water. Can you pls tell me where I had gone wrong?

    Thanks in advance!

    Reply

  2. I am going to try the condensed milk pound cake next…cant wait to see the golden crust on top….but only after a week's gap…else no point going to the gym :p

    Reply

    • haha that's great. so glad you liked the brownies. yes the pound cake is great too but if you want to try the lighter version, try my eggless butterless sponge cake recipe!

      Reply

  3. The smell was divine…the taste was awesome but how much ever i cooled it…it was still gooey…we ate off half of it and i put the rest in the freezer last nyt and had a bite this morning and it felt SO good. tried it with chocolate coated brazil nuts…the pictures dun look great but the taste was perfect

    Reply

  4. I have a question…for a newbie at baking in the oven….what do u mean by peal away the paper? and I blindly followed the recipe and later realized I did not sift the flour…however i still went on and the batter is getting baked…waiting for the output…btw great great recipe….thanks for all the effort u put it

    Reply

    • peeling away paper is if you are using parchment or grease paper to line the tray which i didn't. that line is from the book, i should delete it 🙂 how did the brownies turn out?

      Reply

    • The smell was divine…the taste was awesome but how much ever i cooled it…it was still gooey…we ate off half of it and i put the rest in the freezer last nyt and had a bite this morning and it felt SO good. tried it with chocolate coated brazil nuts…the pictures dun look great but the taste was perfect

      Reply

  5. I have a question…for a newbie at baking in the oven….what do u mean by peal away the paper? and I blindly followed the recipe and later realized I did not sift the flour…however i still went on and the batter is getting baked…waiting for the output…btw great great recipe….thanks for all the effort u put it

    Reply

  6. Susan, I think that's a question better suited for Dorie Greenspan. she is the one who came up with these brownies as a tribute to katherine hepburn. i think the idea was that katherine hepburn likes her brownies with very little flour and that's what she has tried to do here.

    Reply

  7. Katherine Hepburn's original brownie recipe calls for melting squares of chocolate with the butter, doesn't use instant coffee or cinnamon and is delicious as is. I have been making them for years and years and everyone loves them, and always asks for the recipe. It doesn't even look the same.

    SUSAN

    Reply

  8. yummmmm i love brownies! i am a bit lazy though and never add any nuts or anything but chocolate and more chocolate

    I agree they aren't the best recipe if you are counting calories. but you know what – sometimes it is just worth it 🙂

    I just wrote about a brownie recipe on my blog too (they are a jamie oliver recipe) if you want to check it out

    http://operationjamjar.blogspot.com/

    Reply

  11. I just pushed this recipe into the oven…n now that i re-read it …just realized that i missed out the vanilla extract…i hope it wont hurt the taste or texture???

    Reply

  12. You could melt chocolate and butter together initially. But the chocolate bits along with the walnuts are added as chunks, no need to melt. Hope you like these brownies. Let me know if you try them 🙂

    Reply

  17. Ooooh over the top indulgent Nags. Take a look at these…very very YUM!!Wonderful way to begin new year huh? I love such sweet beginnings. Have a great 2010!!
    BTW, have you tried Nilgiris cocoa? I love how dark & full the flavour is, and try to get some from Bangalore whenever any kind soul goes there.

    Reply

  18. Ooooh over the top indulgent Nags. Take a look at these…very very YUM!!Wonderful way to begin new year huh? I love such sweet beginnings. Have a great 2010!!
    BTW, have you tried Nilgiris cocoa? I love how dark & full the flavour is, and try to get some from Bangalore whenever any kind soul goes there.

    Reply

  20. As every year my new year starts with the thought od loosing few kilos, but i never seems to achieve them. How ever even if i am on a strict diet i don't think i can resist this super delicious looking brownie.
    Happy Newyear.

    Reply

  22. Nags,
    What lovely brownies, once I made the brownies with some ready to cook mixes. They turned out pretty well though my mom-dad complained those were too sweet :). Yours look so tempting, I could have had the whole brownie mixture.:P

    Reply

  23. Made these on Saturday and they were fabulous…gooey on the inside and a nice crust on the outside…Thanks for the lovely recipe 🙂

    Reply

  24. Made these on Saturday and they were fabulous…gooey on the inside and a nice crust on the outside…Thanks for the lovely recipe 🙂

    Reply

  26. Your brownies look very tempting.I am a choc-holic! and I would never ever have weight loss related resolutions!(cant imagine life without chocolate!!) :D. I'll surely try this out for the weekend 🙂
    – mridhu

    Reply

  28. Nags,
    What lovely brownies, once I made the brownies with some ready to cook mixes. They turned out pretty well though my mom-dad complained those were too sweet :). Yours look so tempting, I could have had the whole brownie mixture.:P

    Reply

  30. This is one of Katherine Hepburn's quotes: "Never quit. Be yourself. And don't put too much flour in your brownies." So Dorie picked on this and created a brownie with very little flour. That's pretty much the only connection I am aware of 🙂

    Reply

  34. Happy Twenty Ten Nags! Hmm, I was wondering what the connection to Brownies was to Katherine Hepburn. KH seemed to be such a stern person. And Brownies are for happy people…=)
    Ciao,
    Ann

    Reply

  35. That's amazing!!!, and lot of sugar in it!!, that's my daughter's comment seeing your brownies, she and her father doesn't like much of my baking and think that i don't add lot of sugar in them and they are sweet!!, I tell them that i add sugar as the recipes require !!, well, I love to say it looks gorgeous, and of course no question about the pics, absolutely good

    Reply

  39. Swathi, that's hilarious 😀

    Indhu – I can only tell differences in texture, like crumbly, dense, light, moist, etc. This one is sinfully dense and moist, especially if refrigerated and served the next day.

    Reply

  43. Happy New Year.. I have been meaning to make the Katharine hepburn brownies for a long time now… btw, can you actually taste the difference between different brownies? for me, everything tastes the same… yummy.. but same 🙂

    Reply

  44. This is first time in your blog. You have lot of good recipes Last Year I made a brownies end result it can be used as Football .we can give it to National Football Championship.Your brownies looks amazing and soft. I will try this.

    Reply

  45. Happy New year..gr8 way to start the new year wid these sweet treats..and I have taken some weight reduction resolution this year…but seriously these brownies look irresistable..

    Reply

  49. As every year my new year starts with the thought od loosing few kilos, but i never seems to achieve them. How ever even if i am on a strict diet i don't think i can resist this super delicious looking brownie.
    Happy Newyear.

    Reply

  55. Ooooh over the top indulgent Nags. Take a look at these…very very YUM!!Wonderful way to begin new year huh? I love such sweet beginnings. Have a great 2010!!
    BTW, have you tried Nilgiris cocoa? I love how dark & full the flavour is, and try to get some from Bangalore whenever any kind soul goes there.

    Reply

  56. Ooooh over the top indulgent Nags. Take a look at these…very very YUM!!Wonderful way to begin new year huh? I love such sweet beginnings. Have a great 2010!!
    BTW, have you tried Nilgiris cocoa? I love how dark & full the flavour is, and try to get some from Bangalore whenever any kind soul goes there.

    Reply

  57. Ooooh over the top indulgent Nags. Take a look at these…very very YUM!!Wonderful way to begin new year huh? I love such sweet beginnings. Have a great 2010!!
    BTW, have you tried Nilgiris cocoa? I love how dark & full the flavour is, and try to get some from Bangalore whenever any kind soul goes there.

    Reply

  58. Ooooh over the top indulgent Nags. Take a look at these…very very YUM!!Wonderful way to begin new year huh? I love such sweet beginnings. Have a great 2010!!
    BTW, have you tried Nilgiris cocoa? I love how dark & full the flavour is, and try to get some from Bangalore whenever any kind soul goes there.

    Reply