I’ve been making these brownies for as long as I can remember. And they are truly fabulous. Seriously yummy, fudgy and wet. The recipe has been written up many times – always titled Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies. Hard to believe, but I find the original recipe too sweet (I think because I add so many chocolate chips to the batter). When I bake these, I generally multiply the recipe by four. I fill a (parchment lined) half sheet pan with the batter and once cool, I wrap and freeze the whole sheet. I cut and serve as needed throughout the month. The recipe below is for one 8 inch square pan – but I’ve cooked them in 9 inch rounds as well. Just watch the baking time. You can also double the recipe for a thicker brownie as these come out fairly thin. And of course again, adjust the baking time.
favorite fudge brownies (adapted from Katherine Hepburn’s Brownie Recipe)
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
2 oz. unsweetened chocolate
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
chocolate chips to taste (I go heavy)
chopped walnuts to taste (optional)
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Line the pan with foil so that it comes up the sides of the pan. If you need two sheets, go for it.
Melt butter and chocolate in a medium-sized metal bowl over a pot with (about) an inch of simmering water. Remove bowl from heat when melted and add the sugar. Mix eggs with vanilla and add to the butter mixture. Mix well. Gently stir in the flour, salt and chocolate chips (and nuts if using) and mix until just incorporated. Do not over mix. Spread into pan and bake. I don’t have a set time here – the key is to bake these until they are just cooked. Set the time for 30 minutes, but then check every 5-7 minutes thereafter. They should take about 35-40 minutes, but it really can change each time. People often tell me that my desserts are good and I do think that half the battle is to not over bake.
Once cooked and cool – pull the foil (with brownies inside) out of the pan with two hands. Then you can easily cut and serve. Of course, you can just stick a spoon in there and start to eat when hot and warm out of the oven. (OK, sometimes I do this.)These are fudgy and rich – and although I do like them with ice cream, they are really great on their own.
