Katharine Hepburn's Brownies

From Joy of Baking: Katharine Hepburn Brownies are named after the famous actor. The story goes that gossip columnist Liz Smith got the recipe from the actress to publish in her column. That was about 25 years ago and  since then these brownies have only grown in popularity. This brownie recipe appears in countless cookbooks and with good reason. They are delicious. While the top crust is dry and cracked, underneath they are sweet, moist, and chewy, with a pleasing chocolate flavor. You can eat them warm, at room temperature, or even cold. 

When I saw the recipe I thought it would cool to make a famous actress's brownies. The recipe is very easy - you only use one bowl (not a lot of dirty dishes!!). I did however completely under bake them. It was weird because my toothpick I inserted came out clean... In the end it was not such a big deal, because I refrigerated them until they were easy to cut. They were still very good and extremely fudgy (under baking helps with that!). Nobody complained, I mean, an under baked brownie is still a brownie. 

Katharine Hepburn's Brownies Recipe:

2 ounces (60 grams) unsweetened chocolate, coarsely chopped

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 cup (200 grams) granulated white sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup (30 grams) all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup (100 grams) chopped walnuts or pecans (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) and place rack in center of oven. Butter and flour an 8 inch (20 cm) square baking pan. 

Melt the chocolate and butter in a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Next, stir in the vanilla extract and eggs. Finally, stir in the flour, salt and chopped nuts (if using).

Pour into the prepared pan and bake for about 30 - 35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack. Serve at room temperature or chilled. These freeze very well.

Makes 16 brownies.