{"id":8257,"date":"2026-10-19T15:17:55","date_gmt":"2026-10-19T06:17:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/?post_type=sweetlore&p=8257"},"modified":"2026-10-31T18:49:16","modified_gmt":"2026-10-31T09:49:16","slug":"brownie","status":"publish","type":"sweetlore","link":"https:\/\/parade.kyoto\/en\/sweetlore\/brownie\/","title":{"rendered":"Brownie"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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 \u201cbrownie,\u201d a formula using chocolate, and the form of a cut bar were not yet necessarily linked.<\/p>\n

\n\"Mixing\n
A photo published as a step in making brownies (October 10, 2012; location unknown). Dry ingredients are being added to the batter in a bowl and mixed in with a spatula. Photo: Roozitaa \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 3.0<\/a>. Downscaled version obtained from Commons. We made no alterations to the content and no cropping.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Combining Flour, Fat, Sugar, and Moisture<\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\n\"A\n
A slice published as a chocolate brownie (October 27, 2022; location unknown). An example of a batter that retains air bubbles in the center. Photo: JefferySAC \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Original-size image obtained. We made no alterations to the content and no cropping.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

The Thin Surface Film and Doneness at the Center<\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\n\"Brownies\n
Brownies with granular decorations scattered over the top (September 3, 2020; location unknown). They have been cut into triangles. The ingredients of the decorations cannot be identified from the photo alone. Photo: Phadke09 \/ Wikimedia Commons<\/a> \/ CC BY-SA 4.0<\/a>. Downscaled version obtained from Commons. We made no alterations to the content and no cropping.<\/figcaption>\n<\/figure>\n

Cooling Before Cutting, and an Apricot Glaze<\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

The Palmer House\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Early Names and the Emergence of the Chocolate Bar Cookie<\/h2>\n

The name \u201cbrownie\u201d 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 \u201cBrownie Banquets\u201d 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 \u201cBrownies.\u201d They contained no chocolate. An 1898 confectioner\u2019s advertisement lists a product called \u201cChocolate Brownies,\u201d but its shape is not known.<\/p>\n

The 1899 Machias Cook Book from Maine includes Marie Kelly\u2019s \u201cBrownie\u2019s Food.\u201d 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\u2019s square bar.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s Lowney\u2019s Cook Book, Lowney\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

The Tale of a Confection Made to Carry at the Exposition<\/h2>\n

At the Palmer House in Chicago, a story is told that Bertha Palmer, co-owner of the hotel and head of the exposition\u2019s women\u2019s division, asked the kitchen for a small confection that women visiting the 1893 World\u2019s Fair could carry with them. It is the hotel\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

Served with Ice Cream, or Sandwiching It<\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

How It Differs from Blondies, Which Highlight Brown Sugar<\/h2>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Glossary<\/h2>\n

Glaze<\/strong>: A coating brushed onto the surface of a confection, made with sugar, fruit, or other ingredients.<\/p>

Pecan<\/strong>: A nut from a tree of the walnut family native to North America. It was also used in early molasses brownies.<\/p>

Molasses<\/strong>: A thick syrup left over after sugar is crystallized from the syrup of sugarcane or other plants. It gives early recipes their color and flavor.<\/p>

Palmer Cox<\/strong>: An artist and author who drew the little sprites called \u201cBrownies\u201d in late-19th-century America.<\/p>

Bertha Palmer<\/strong>: Co-owner of the Palmer House who led the women\u2019s division of the 1893 Chicago exposition. She is the person who made the request in the hotel\u2019s tale of the confection\u2019s creation.<\/p>

Fannie Farmer<\/strong>: An American culinary educator and cookbook author whose works record brownie recipes from the late 19th and early 20th centuries.<\/p>

Maria Willett Howard<\/strong>: An American culinary educator. She compiled the Lowney company\u2019s cookbook, which included brownies with differing formulas.<\/p>

Marie Kelly<\/strong>: A cook who contributed \u201cBrownie\u2019s Food\u201d to an 1899 regional cookbook. She recorded a layered cake that differs from the modern square brownie.<\/p>

References<\/h2>\n
  1. \n

    King Arthur Baking \u201cThe one brownie recipe you need\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The present-day practice of serving brownies with ice cream.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  2. \n

    Betty Crocker \u201cBrownie Ice Cream Sandwiches\u201d<\/a> \u2014 A style in which two cooled, cut pieces sandwich vanilla ice cream and are refrozen.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  3. \n

    King Arthur Baking \/ Auzerais Bellamy \u201cI\u2019m a pro baker, and I think blondies are better than brownies\u201d<\/a> \u2014 A blondie-specialist pastry baker\u2019s distinction between a brown sugar and butter batter and chocolate pieces.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  4. \n

    Stella Parks, BraveTart: Iconic American Desserts (2017), \u201cBrownies and Blondies\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The brown dinner table of 1888, the Brownie Banquets of the 1890s, Palmer Cox\u2019s illustrations, and the divergence of molasses confections and the chocolate type. The chapter text and footnotes 1\u20137, as published by a third party, were read. The original 1888\/1889\/1897 magazine pages it cites have not been checked, and no direct naming relationship between the sprites and the confection is asserted.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  5. \n

    Palmer House Hilton \u201cThe Palmer House Brownie\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The tale of Bertha Palmer\u2019s request, as told by the hotel itself. Order records and original formula documents from the time of the exposition have not been checked. The company\u2019s statement that the current formula is the same as the original is not adopted, as it does not match the Chicago History Museum\u2019s comparison of two versions.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  6. \n

    Chicago History Museum \u201cThe Palmer House Brownie Recipe\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Differences in formula between the old and modern versions, walnuts and apricot, the dense center, cooling and cutting.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  7. \n

    King Arthur Baking \u201cTypes of brownies\u201d<\/a> \u2014 Ingredients, ratios, and texture; the surface film; the crumb structure of each type of formula.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  8. \n

    Mary Gage \u201cHistory of Brownies\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The cookbooks from 1896 and from 1904 onward that the author compared herself, and the differences in names and formulas. Pages one through seven of the text were read closely.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  9. \n

    Maria Willett Howard, Lowney\u2019s Cook Book, 1908 revised edition, Project Gutenberg transcription<\/a> \u2014 Direct comparison of the title page, the preface to the revision, and the ingredients and steps of Bangor Brownies \/ Lowney\u2019s Brownies.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  10. \n

    King Arthur Baking \u201cAmerican baking down the decades, 1900\u20131909\u201d<\/a> \u2014 A re-creation of Farmer\u2019s 1906 recipe and period differences in ingredients. The claim that it was the first recipe containing chocolate is not adopted, because other early records exist.<\/p>\n<\/li>

  11. \n

    Cupcake Project \u201cThe First Chocolate Brownies (1899)\u201d<\/a> \u2014 The author\u2019s commentary comparing the 1898 advertisement and the ingredients and layer structure of Marie Kelly\u2019s 1899 recipe with the original. The link to images of the original could not be accessed.<\/p>\n<\/li><\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The brownie is an American confection made by baking a chocolate batter in a flat pan and cutting it into squares. Even a small piece shows many different characteristics, such as a thin surface, a dense center, and bits of nuts or chocolate.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":6476,"menu_order":12,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_parade_sweetlore_meta":{"en":"Brownie","subtitle":"An American chocolate confection cut from a sheet pan","topics":"Sheet-pan sweets \/ Fudgy and cakey textures \/ Old recipes","country":"United States","show_toc":true,"ingredients":["chocolate","fruit","nuts","egg"],"texture":["chewy"],"occasion":[],"method":["baked"],"season":[]},"footnotes":""},"sweetlore_category":[151],"class_list":["post-8257","sweetlore","type-sweetlore","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"acf":{"sweetlore_related_products":null,"sweetlore_related_faqs":null,"sweetlore_related_voices":null,"sweetlore_related_mode":"manual","sweetlore_related_articles":[8256,8328,8248,8249,8250,8251,8254,8255]},"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t