brownie day

On 8 December we celebrate brownie day. Image: Pixabay.com

Days of the year: It is national brownie day!

On 8 December we celebrate brownie day, learn more about the history of this day and get a fudge brownie recipe to get you baking

brownie day

On 8 December we celebrate brownie day. Image: Pixabay.com

Another day to celebrate the sweet things in life, 8 December is national brownie day.

This is the perfect day to get baking and indulge in these sweet treats:

The history of national brownie day

The original version of these, made for a luncheon at a ladies’ fair in the late 1800s, was discovered covered in an apricot glaze and stuffed with delectable walnuts.

The Palmer House Hotel in Chicago still uses the same recipe that was given to these ladies more than a century ago.

Millions of people who enjoy this chocolaty, cake-like treat created National Brownie Day, and there are countless recipes that have appeared over the years.

A timeline of national brownie day

  • The Brownies and Other Tales book is released in the 1870s. Stories by Juliana Horatia Ewing about young people realizing their capacity for service serve as the cornerstone of what will one day be a sizable Girl Scouts wing.
  • As a special treat at the Chicago World’s Fair in Chicago, Illinois, the United States, brownies are invented in 1893. Baker Joseph Sehl is asked to create a new dish by Bertha Palmer of the Palmer House Hotel.
  • This First Brownie Recipe was published in 1896. The first documented recipe for brownies appears in The Boston Cooking School Cookbook.
  • The Brownie Program for girls is established in 1914. Lord Baden-Powell founded this organization in England for girls aged 7 to 10, and it was initially called Rosebuds. However, the girls preferred the name “Brownies.”

Make some brownies today

To celebrate this day, make these delicious fudgy brownies https://cafedelites.com/best-fudgy-cocoa-brownies/

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and HOT
  • 1 tablespoon cooking oil, (olive oil or coconut oil are fine)
  • 1 1/8 cups superfine sugar, (caster sugar or white granulated sugar)*
  • 2 large eggs
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose (or plain) flour
  • 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
  2. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking pan with cooking oil spray. Line with parchment paper (or baking paper); set aside.
  3. Combine hot melted butter, oil, and sugar together in a medium-sized bowl. Whisk well for about a minute. Add the eggs and vanilla; beat until lighter in colour (another minute).
  4. Sift in flour, cocoa powder and salt. Gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients until just combined.
  5. Pour batter into prepared pan, smoothing the top out evenly. (OPTIONAL: Top with chocolate chunks or chocolate chips.)
  6. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the centre of the brownies in the pan no longer jiggles and is just set to the touch (the brownies will keep baking in the hot pan out of the oven). If testing with a toothpick, the toothpick should come out dirty for fudge-textured brownies.

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