Good morning, welcome to our series sharing Food Holidays: January 21st, 2022. Today is National Blonde Brownie Day and as much as I love Chocolate Brownies I’ve never had a Blonde Brownie and I don’t plan on having one anytime soon. Have you had a Blonde Brownie and did you like it or not?
National Blonde Brownie Day
Brownies are considered by some to be one of the most popular desserts, made with a mixture of flour, sugar, baking powder, butter, eggs and, obviously, some form of either powdered cocoa or melted chocolate. However, blonde brownies have their own unique flavor and while perhaps they are not quite as well known, they certainly are just as delicious.
For those who are curious about what National Blonde Brownie Day is all about, then read more to learn about the history of the brownie and how it can be best celebrated.
History of National Blonde Brownie Day
There are many stories relating to the origin of the Brownie, with some of the stories going back to as early as 1893. One story states that the Chocolatey Brownie Bar was created by Chefs at Chicago’s Palmer House Hotel in 1893 as a treat for those visiting the World’s Columbian Exposition.
Another story states that the recipe for Brownies first appeared in a Boston Cookbook in 1896. The cookbook was published by Fannie Farmer. But this recipe contained no Chocolate–thus, making it what we now know to be a Blondie not a Brownie.
While the majority of the cookbooks and recipes for Brownies are vague, the Brownie started to rapidly appear at the turn of the Twentieth Century. An updated version of Fannie’s Boston Cookbook, published in 1906, contains a recipe for Blonde Brownies, which is actually what this whole Holiday is all about!
Some Historians attest that the Blondie probably came into being at least a decade prior to the Brownie, making it the true original Cookie Bar.
The difference between regular Brownies and Blonde Brownies which are sometimes called “Blondies”? While the basic ingredients and the baking process are mostly the same, Blondies use quite a bit more Flour, and substitute Brown Sugar instead of Cocoa, which gives these bars more of a Butterscotch flavor. This kind of Brownies started to become popular in the 1940’s and 1950’s, when it became an alternative to the Chocolate version.
In addition to being delicious when served plain, these Blonde Brownies can have more options when it comes to featuring a certain flavor, such as Vanilla, Butterscotch, Coconut, Nuts, Toffee, or any other kind of tasty flavor that will help to enhance the flavor of Brown Sugar. In fact, these treats are super adaptable, probably even more so than their Chocolate Brownies.
In any case, this day acts as an unofficial Holiday dedicated to this underappreciated, but delicious, Blonde Brownie.
Five facts about Southern Food:
- The most notable influences on Southern cooking come from English, Scottish, Irish, German, French, Native American, and African American cuisines.
- Many food products such as Squash, Tomatoes, Corn (and its derivatives, including Grits), as well as the practice of deep pit barbecuing were inherited from the Southeastern American Indian tribes such as the Caddo, Choctaw, and Seminole.
- The South’s love for a full breakfast as opposed to a Continental one with a simple Bread item and drink is derived from the English fry up, although it was altered substantially.
- A traditional Southern meal is Pan-fried Chicken, Field Peas or Black-Eyed Peas, Greens including Collard Greens or Mustard, Mashed Potatoes, Cornbread or Corn Pone, Sweet Tea, and a Dessert that is usually a Pie which may be Sweet Potato, Chess, Shoofly, Pecan, or Peach are traditional Southern Pies. or a Cobbler which might be Peach, Blackberry, or Mixed Berr.
- There is at least a dozen Soups which have their origins in the American South.
Thank you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
