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.
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
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/
thanks for the recipe ! I tried it and it got over in a jiffy! too good to be true! posted a link in my blog:)
So glad you liked the Katherine Hepburn brownies by Dorie 🙂
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???
do we have to melt the chocolate pieces before we put in the mix ? Thanks for a nice sweet recipe!
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 🙂
Looks to me more like a chocolate….so tempting they look.Am sure to try this after my experiments with my new oven 🙂
Ohh heaven. Walnut brownies are the only thing I eat which has chocolate in it. I'm so gonna try this! Thanks! 🙂
yummy yummy…