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.
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.
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.
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.
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!
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
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!
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
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
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?
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
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
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.