Best Kates Best Brownies Recipes

KATE'S BEST BROWNIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°.
• Spray bottom of an 8-inch square baking pan with Baker's Joy.
• Melt together butter and chocolate in small pan over low heat; remove from heat.
• Beat eggs, sugar, salt and vanilla in small mixer bowl at medium speed until very light (about 5 minutes).
• Beat in chocolate mixture.
• Blend in flour.
• Fold in walnuts.
• Spread in prepared pan.
• Bake for 30 to 35 minutes.
• Top will have a shiny crust.
• Cool in pan on wire rack.
• Cut into squares.

RICK KATZ'S BROWNIES FOR JULIA CHILD

Steps:

• Getting ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Put a 9-inch square baking pan (Pyrex is good for this) on a baking sheet.
• Whisk the flour and salt together.
• Set a heatproof bowl over a saucepan of gently simmering water, put the butter in the bowl and top with the chopped chocolate. Stir frequently until the ingredients are just melted - you don't want them to get so hot that the butter separates. Add 1 cup of the sugar and whisk gently just to incorporate it, then remove the bowl from the pan of water. Stir in the vanilla and transfer the warm chocolate to a large bowl.
• Put the remaining 1 cup sugar into the bowl of a stand mixer or a medium bowl and, using a whisk, stir in the eggs. Switch to a rubber spatula and, little by little, add one half of the sugar-egg mixture to the warm chocolate, stirring very gently but without stopping - you don't want the heat of the chocolate to cook the eggs.
• With the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer, beat the remaining sugar and eggs on medium-high speed for about 3 minutes, or until they double in volume. Using the spatula and a light touch, fold the whipped eggs into the chocolate mixture, stopping just short of blending them in completely. Sprinkle the dry ingredients over the batter and delicately fold them in, working only until they disappear. Scrape the batter into the pan and smooth the top with the spatula.
• Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, or until the top looks dry. Poke a thin knife into the center and take a peek: the brownies should be only just set and still pretty gooey. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool to room temperature.
• The brownies are fragile and best cut in the pan. Cut eighteen 1 1/2-x-3-inch bars.

KATHARINE HEPBURN'S BROWNIES

Steps:

• 1. Melt together 1 stick butter and 2 squares unsweetened chocolate and take the saucepan off the heat.
• 2. Stir in 1 cup sugar, add 2 eggs and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, and beat the mixture well.
• 3. Stir in 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and 1/4 teaspoon salt. (In the original recipe, 1 cup chopped walnuts is added here as well.)
• 4. Bake the brownies in a buttered and floured 8-inch-square pan at 325°F for about 40 minutes.
• You can cut these brownies into squares, once they have cooled, and eat them out of the pan, but it is so much nicer to pile them on a fancy plate, from which people are going to eat them with their hands anyway. If you want to smarten up your act you can put a square of brownie on a plate with a little blob of créme fraîche and a scattering of shaved chocolate.

KATHARINE HEPBURN'S BROWNIES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 325 degrees.
• Melt butter in saucepan with cocoa and stir until smooth. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes, then transfer to a large bowl. Whisk in eggs, one at a time. Stir in vanilla.
• In a separate bowl, combine sugar, flour, nuts and salt. Add to the cocoa-butter mixture. Stir until just combined.
• Pour into a greased 8 x 8-inch-square pan. Bake 30 to 35 minutes. Do not overbake; the brownies should be gooey. Let cool, then cut into bars.