One legend about the creation of brownies is that of Bertha Palmer, a prominent Chicago socialite whose husband owned the Palmer House Hotel. In 1893, Palmer asked a pastry chef for a dessert suitable for ladies attending the Chicago World's Columbian Exposition. She requested a dessert that would be smaller than a piece of cake, and easily eaten from boxed lunches. The result was the Palmer House Brownie, made of chocolate with walnuts and an apricot glaze. The Palmer House in Chicago still serves this dessert to patrons made from the same recipe. The name was given to the dessert some time after 1893, but was not used by cookbooks or journals at the time.
The first-known printed use of the word brownie to describe a dessert appeared in the 1896 version of the Boston Cooking-School Cook Book by Fannie Farmer, in reference to molasses cakes baked individually in tin molds. However, Farmer's brownies did not contain chocolate.
n 1899, the first-known recipe was published in Machias Cookbook. They were called "Brownie's Food". The recipe appears on page 23 in the cake section of the book. Marie Kelley from Whitewater, Wisconsin, created the recipe.
The earliest-known published recipes for a modern-style chocolate brownie appeared in Home Cookery (1904, Laconia, New Hampshire), the Service Club Cook Book (1904, Chicago, Illinois), The Boston Globe (April 2, 1905 p. 34), and the 1906 edition of Fannie Farmer's cookbook. These recipes produced a relatively mild and cake-like brownie.
The first recipe for blondies was published in 1896 by Fannie Farmer, a pioneer of modern American cookery. Notably, they were called brownies when the recipe was first published. However, her recipe contained vanilla and molasses instead of cocoa, which gave the blondies their golden color. Blondies are the predecessors of the brownie; some food writers argue that they are the original brownie because the first recipe for today's chocolate brownies was published almost a decade later in 1906 by Fannie Farmer. A common misconception is that brownies are named after their brown color; in fact, they were named after the "Brownies", elfin characters that were popular in books and folk stories, chosen due to their brown color. It was not until the mid-1970s or early 1980s that the terms blondie and butterscotch brownies seemed to appear.
A blondie bar typically has a golden or light brown color, attributed to the use of brown sugar and vanilla instead of cocoa. They are usually square or rectangular, cut from a larger pan of baked dough. Depending on the recipe, the surface can have a slight crackle, or it may be smooth and shiny. Additional ingredients like chocolate chips or nuts might be visible on the surface or when biting into the bar.
Blondies can be customized with a variety of ingredients to create unique flavors. Some popular variations include: Chocolate chip blondies: These blondies are loaded with chocolate chips for a rich, chocolatey flavor. Nutty blondies: Nuts like walnuts or pecans can be added to the blondie mix for a crunchy texture and nutty flavor. Butterscotch blondies: Butterscotch chips are added to the mix to give these blondies a sweet, buttery flavor. Coconut blondies: Shredded coconut is mixed into the batter for a tropical twist. Caramel blondies: A layer of caramel is added to the middle of these blondies for a gooey, sweet surprise. Caramelized white chocolate pistachio blondies: Featuring the rich, caramel-like flavor of caramelized white chocolate and the nutty crunch of pistachios.