Katharine Hepburn's Brownies

These Brownies Are A Family Staple

Growing up, about once a month, my dad would make brownies. He would reach into our kitchen cabinet and pull out a Ladies’ Home Journal magazine from 1993 which featured a special spread on Katharine Hepburn. He would then proceed to flip to the page that contained the recipe for Katharine Hepburn’s famous brownies. That page in the magazine is now crinkled and stained with brownie batter.

These brownies are the first things I learned to bake from scratch. For a while, I made them so frequently I had the recipe memorized. I hope these brownies become a staple in your household like they are in mine.

The Story Behind the Brownies

The magazine spread contained the story behind the brownies. However, since I couldn’t remember the specific details, I decided to look it up. It turns out there are two very different variants to the story. One of them is indeed the story I remember reading. The other is so eccentric, I thought I would share it anyways.

Story #1 (The One From the Article)

As the story goes, an older Hepburn lived in the same town as a man whose daughter was attending Hepburn’s alma mater, Bryn Mawr. Well, the daughter was contemplating dropping out of college and moving to Scotland to write screenplays. The father, frantic, wrote Hepburn a letter, asking her to intercede on his behalf, as his daughter was a great admirer of hers.

At 7:30 the next morning, the young woman woke up to her telephone ringing. When she answered, Hepburn’s voice came over the line saying: “Is this the young woman who wants to quit Bryn Mawr? What a damn stupid thing to do!” She then proceeded to tell the woman to stay in college and then invited her and her father to tea. At the tea, she presented them with some of her famous brownies and told the young woman about her own miserable experience at Bryn Mawr, but that the education was worth it in the long run.

Some time later, the father heard that Hepburn had gotten into a terrible car accident and decided to surprise her with a get well note and a package of home-made brownies. When he went to drop the items off, Hepburn invited him upstairs to her boudoir where she greeted him in her nightgown. She proceeded to sample one of the brownies and promptly declared, “Too much flour!” She then wrote her own recipe down on a piece of paper, handed it to him and said, “And don’t overbake them! They should be moist, not cakey!”

Story #2 (Urban Legend)

Story number two is a little bit more eccentric than the first one, as if that could be possible. This story begins with a woman named Sydne Newberry. Newberry was a nutritionist who had gone to baking school and Hepburn’s brownie recipe was her go-to recipe for years. Well, in the 80’s, Newberry and her husband were living in Germany and had become acquainted with another woman. The lady was described as “a gorgeous Italian woman who was very proud of her cooking and was also a real food snob”. The woman asked Newberry for Hepburn’s brownie recipe, but after multiple attempts at making it, just could not seem to get the recipe quite right. She accused Newberry of purposefully omitting an ingredient.

Then, for some reason, Newberry decided to extend an invitation to the woman to come visit her in America. While visiting Newberry in the States, the woman had an affair with Newberry’s husband, resulting in Newberry and her husband’s divorce. The woman then promptly married Newberry’s ex-husband. Thus, Hepburn’s brownies are known in urban legend as the brownies that broke up a marriage.

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The Recipe

This recipe is pretty straight forward. Just don’t accidentally put in four teaspoons of salt like I once did haha. I guess I wasn’t paying attention and didn’t see the “1” in the 1/4. Really, I should’ve been more observant. 4 teaspoons of salt? Come on now. You’ll find these brownies are not as thick as some others out there, but they’re really fudgy and a cinch to make. Plus, they require minimal ingredients which is an added bonus.

My hope is that you will preheat your oven, turn on “Philadelphia Story”, and watch this classic Katharine Hepburn movie all while making her brownies which are just as classic as the woman herself.

Blessings on your home and table.

~Natalie