A short history of brownies, and blondies, too

The exact history of brownies is muddled. Several online articles point to an array of possible origins in the 1890s and 1900s. The Penguin Companion to Food dates the first published recipe to the 1897 Sears, Roebuck catalog. The Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets pushes the date back to 1893 and the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago. Some early recipes called ‘brownies’, such as the one published in the 1896 Boston Cooking School Cook Book, contain no chocolate at all and are brown in color due to molasses.

One thing is certain, the Sears catalog had wide distribution throughout the US. Recipes for brownies spread quickly around the country at the turn of the century and entered the home cook’s repertoire. Versions can be found in community cookbooks from 1899 and 1900. The Macchias Cook Book was published in 1899 in Maine and contained a layered chocolate called a brownie.

The Ossoli Club in Highland Park, Illinois published their cookbook in 1900. It contained two brownie recipes. One was baked in pan and cut into pieces after baking. The other directed the cook to spoon the batter into very small muffin pans. This recipe produces rich, fudgy brownies that are really delicious.

 

I adapted the instructions of the muffin pan version for 21st century cooks. One thing to keep in mind in working with old recipes is the difference in the size of heritage eggs and the large eggs most common today. You need to either use modern eggs or use one whole egg with one egg yolk.

Beat together 1/4 cup softened butter and 2 ounces melted dark chocolate. Add

1 cup sugar and 1 tsp vanilla and mix well. Add 2 well-beaten medium eggs (or 1 whole egg and 1 yolk). Mix in 1/2 cup flour, 1/8 tsp salt, and 1/2 cup walnuts

Divide equally into six oiled muffin cups. Bake for 25 minutes at 350° F.

The Walter M. Lowney Company, purveyors of chocolate and cocoa, included a brownie recipe in their 1907 cookbook which is delicious just as written. Remember to melt the chocolate and cool slightly before adding to the butter. I used the full 3/4 cup of flour and baked at 350° for 25 minutes.

Lowney's Cook Book p. 273

Bangor brownies

1/4 cup butter softened
1 cup brown sugar
1 egg
3 squares chocolate
1/2 to 3/4 cup flour
1 cup nut meats
1/4 teaspoon salt

Put all ingredients in bowl and beat until well mixed. Spread evenly in buttered baking pan. Bake and cut in strips.

Recipes for blondies, a butterscotch version of brownies began appearing in American cookbooks in the 1960s. Standard blondies call for 1/4-1/2 cup butter, 1 cup brown sugar, 1 egg, 1/2 to 1 cup flour, and 1/2 to 1 cup nuts. Glancing through pre-World War II 20th century cookbooks I found a number of recipes butterscotch squares, walnut squares, or nut squares that contained those proportions of ingredients. They were blondies but without the name one of my favorites comes from the 1924 edition of the Modern Priscilla Cookbook

Modern Priscilla Cookbook, 1924, p. 80
BUTTERSCOTCH SQUARES
1/4 cup butter       
1 cup brown sugar       
1 egg               

3/4 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup pecan meats

Cook butter and sugar together until smooth and well blended. Cool to lukewarm. Add egg unbeaten, and beat well. Add flour sifted with baking powder, then vanilla and nuts. Spread in pan lined with paraffin paper. Bake in a moderate oven. Turn out of pan and cut in squares. Time in oven, 30 minutes. Temperature, 300°. Servings, 16.