Brownie

Beneath a thin baked surface lies a moist chocolate crumb. The brownie is a confection that developed in the United States, baked in a shallow pan and cut into squares or bars. Some are dense and chewy while others are light and close to cake, so even under the same name, the texture is not uniform. In late-19th-century records, the name “brownie,” a formula using chocolate, and the form of a cut bar were not yet necessarily linked.

Combining Flour, Fat, Sugar, and Moisture

A batter with relatively little flour and plenty of fat and sugar tends to bake up close-textured and moist. Increasing the proportions of flour, eggs, liquid, and leavening brings it closer to a cake with fine air bubbles. The internal crumb and texture also differ between versions made with melted butter or oil and those made by creaming butter and sugar.

Cocoa powder and solid chocolate are not ingredients that can be swapped by equal weight. Chocolate contains fat and sugar in addition to cocoa solids, while cocoa powder absorbs moisture. Rather than simply reducing the flour, bakers adjust the whole formula for the amounts of moisture, fat, and sugar in each ingredient and for the amounts of flour and eggs that help the baked batter hold its shape.

The Thin Surface Film and Doneness at the Center

Some brownies develop a thin, glossy film on top. Steps such as warming the sugar with butter to partially dissolve it contribute to this surface. Not all brownies form the same film; depending on the mixing method and ingredients, some do not develop a glossy film on the surface.

In a shallow pan, heat reaches the edges first, and the center tends to stay moist. A dense formula may be done when a skewer inserted in the center comes out with sticky batter clinging to it. Baking until the skewer comes out completely dry, as with lighter types, can cost it the intended softness. Bakers watch how the edges are browning and the state of the center according to the texture they want and the formula.

Cooling Before Cutting, and an Apricot Glaze

If brownies are cut right after baking, the soft crumb sticks to the knife and the cut edges crumble. Cooling them lets the fat and crumb set, so the pieces hold their shape more easily even when cut thin.

At the Palmer House in Chicago, walnuts are scattered over the top and lightly pressed in, and an apricot jam glaze is brushed over the baked surface. The version presented as an old recipe (ingredient proportions and method) recommends freezing after glazing and before cutting. The fruit glaze, toasty nuts, and chocolate batter each form a distinct layer.

The Palmer House’s old recipe and its current recipe differ in their proportions of eggs, flour, chocolate, and leavening. A piece from the hotel, brushed with a thin apricot glaze, has a fruity sheen over its dense crumb. In brownies made at home without a topping, the baked surface itself provides the first bite.

Early Names and the Emergence of the Chocolate Bar Cookie

The name “brownie” had a different vogue before it belonged to a chocolate confection. In late-19th-century America, the name spread from dinner tables featuring an array of brown dishes to “Brownie Banquets” for children, and illustrations of little sprites by the artist Palmer Cox were also used as decorations. At the time, sweets called by this name included small molasses cakes. In 1896, Fannie Farmer named small cakes baked in molds with molasses and pecans “Brownies.” They contained no chocolate. An 1898 confectioner’s advertisement lists a product called “Chocolate Brownies,” but its shape is not known.

The 1899 Machias Cook Book from Maine includes Marie Kelly’s “Brownie’s Food.” It was a cake made with chocolate, milk, and baking soda but no eggs, baked in layers and finished with a cream topping. Although it had both the name and chocolate, it was still different from today’s square bar.

In 1904, regional cookbooks from New Hampshire and Chicago featured recipes in which chocolate, eggs, fat, a little flour, and nuts were baked in a shallow layer and cut. In the 1908 revised edition of Howard’s Lowney’s Cook Book, Lowney’s Brownies, made with white sugar and two eggs, appeared alongside Bangor Brownies, made with brown sugar and one egg. Across advertisements, home cookbooks, and commercial confectionery, the name, the form, and the ingredients gradually came to overlap.

The Tale of a Confection Made to Carry at the Exposition

At the Palmer House in Chicago, a story is told that Bertha Palmer, co-owner of the hotel and head of the exposition’s women’s division, asked the kitchen for a small confection that women visiting the 1893 World’s Fair could carry with them. It is the hotel’s own method, carried on with chocolate, walnuts, and an apricot glaze. However, it has not been established whether it was called a brownie at the time or whether it was the same as the formula published today. In this tale, the confection was required to be something that could be cut and carried.

Served with Ice Cream, or Sandwiching It

Today, the brownie can be a plated dessert served with ice cream, or a treat in which two pieces sandwich ice cream. These add different ways of enjoying it: the contrast between the chocolate crumb and cold dairy, and the chewiness after freezing.

How It Differs from Blondies, Which Highlight Brown Sugar

The blondie is a similar confection, also baked in a shallow pan and cut into squares. It brings forward the flavor of butter and sugar, especially brown sugar, and is distinguished from the brownie, in which chocolate is the main flavor of the whole batter. Some blondies have chocolate pieces scattered through them as mix-ins, so even a confection that contains chocolate is called a blondie if sugar and butter are its main flavors. The two share the pan and the way they are cut, but differ in their dominant flavor.

Glossary