Thursday Chocolate Fix

I've had brownies on the brain a lot lately. Perhaps because one of my recent Saveur magazines feature several To Die For brownie recipes that are just begging to be tried. Here are the two I'm most likely to make. If you try them, let me know. Or if you have a tried and true brownie recipe, share!

Nick's 'Supernatural' Brownies

Fudgy and moist, these brownies (shown on the bottom) are made from a recipe that appears in Chocolate: From Simple Cookies to Extravagant Showstoppers by Nick Malgieri (HarperCollins, 1998). 16 tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for greasing 8 oz. bittersweet chocolate, cut into 1⁄4" pieces 4 eggs 1 cup sugar 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar 2 tsp. vanilla extract 1⁄2 tsp. fine salt 1 cup flour 1. Heat oven to 350°. Grease a 9" x 13" baking pan with butter and line with parchment paper; grease paper. Set pan aside. 2. Pour enough water into a 4-quart saucepan that it reaches a depth of 1". Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low. Combine butter and chocolate in a medium bowl; set bowl over saucepan. Cook, stirring, until melted and smooth, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat; set aside. 3. Whisk together eggs in a large bowl. Add sugar, brown sugar, vanilla, and salt; whisk to combine. Stir in chocolate mixture; fold in flour. Pour batter into prepared pan; spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 30–35 minutes. Let cool on a rack. Cut and serve.

Katharine Hepburn’s Brownies

A version of this recipe accompanied an interview with the actress Katharine Hepburn in the August 1975 issue of The Ladies' Home Journal. This brownie recipe (shown in the middle), which calls for the smallest amount of flour, produces incredibly chewy bars with a full but mellow chocolate flavor. 8 tbsp. unsalted butter, plus more for greasing 2 oz. unsweetened chocolate 1 cup sugar 2 eggs, beaten 1⁄2 tsp. vanilla extract 1 cup roughly chopped walnuts 1⁄4 cup flour 1⁄4 tsp. fine salt 1. Heat oven to 325°. Grease an 8" x 8" baking pan with butter. Line the pan with parchment paper; grease the paper. Set the pan aside. 2. Melt the butter and the chocolate together in a 2-quart saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Remove the pan from heat and stir in the sugar. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir to make a smooth batter. Add the walnuts, flour, and salt; stir until incorporated. Pour the batter into the baking pan and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 40–45 minutes. Let cool on a rack. Cut and serve.