National Blonde Brownie Day
Today celebrates a variation of the brownie, the blonde brownie, which uses vanilla and brown sugar as ingredients in place of the chocolate or cocoa of traditional chocolate brownies. Another name for blonde brownies are blondies. Sometimes the brownies have white or dark chocolate chips, or butterscotch chips. Coconut, nuts, toffee, or chunky candy pieces are often mixed in them, and the brownies are usually not frosted as they already are very sweet from the brown sugar. Sometimes they are served in sundaes and topped with caramel sauce. A variation is the congo bar, which usually has chocolate chips and walnuts or coconut as ingredients.
Brownies were created in the late 19th century, and were popularized at the beginning of the 20th. There is some debate as to their provenance. One story claims that Bertha Palmer, wife of the owner of the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago, asked a pastry chef to create a dessert for women to eat at the World's Columbian Exposition. The chef created the Palmer House Brownie, a brownie with walnuts and apricot glaze, that is still sold at the hotel today. Another story claims a housewife in Bangor, Maine, created the brownie. Brownies began appearing in their current form in various cookbooks during the first decade of the 20th century.
How to Observe National Blonde Brownie Day
Celebrate the day by making and eating some blonde brownies!