The 1920s started as an era of prosperity and ended with the stock market crash that precipitated the Great Depression. This decade brought both Prohibition and repeal. Women gained the right to vote. Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Sinclair Lewis, and other “lost generation” expatriate writers composed classic literature in Europe. Young women ditched corsets and high heels and shocked their Victorian parents with their bobbed hair, painted faces, and ankle-baring flapper dresses. The first commercial radio station opened its doors and broadcasted the results of the presidential election.
The Roaring Twenties introduced great change, but some things stayed the same. It’s safe to say that people still loved cookies. This is the last installment in the “Tasting History” blog series, which explores Betty Crocker’s most popular cookies, by decade. We covered the favorite cookie of the 1880s, 1890s, 1900s, and 1910s in previous posts. Today we’ll discover the most popular cookie of the 1920s. Although that was later than the Montana goldrush era I wrote about in the Montana Gold series, Maisey would have loved baking this delectable morsel, and I’m sure Rob would have enjoyed sampling it. Let’s see if you can guess the cookie that was the “bees knees” in the Roaring Twenties.
You’ll probably recognize this cookie as it is often enjoyed today.
- Several claims as to its origin exist.
- The many versions of this cookie include added cream cheese, peanut butter, apricot glaze, butterscotch chips, chocolate chips, candy canes, and caramel.
- Chocolate is a quintessential ingredient of this cookie.
- Some people believe that a cookbook that predates the Fanny Farmer one is the original source. That recipe contained no chocolate.
- A blonde version of this cookie exists.
Have you guessed yet? The most popular cookie of the Roaring Twenties was the brownie!
“Legend has it that the first brownies were a fallen chocolate cake” Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book (1963).
Brownie Myths and Origin
Theories of the brownie’s creation include several cooking mishaps. A cook accidentally added melted chocolate to biscuit dough. Someone baking a cake ran out of flour. A housewife forgot the baking powder in her chocolate cake recipe. However, the evidence suggests that the brownie was created on purpose.
Bertha Palmer, wife of a hotel owner named Potter Palmer, served as president of a board for the World Columbian Exposition of 1893. The event organizers asked her to come up with a dessert for the boxed lunches at the Women’s Pavilion. She asked the chefs at the Palmer House Hotel in Chicago to work. Palmer wanted a dessert that wasn’t as messy as pie and would fit in boxed lunches better than cake. The concoction her chefs came up with had double the chocolate you normally see in brownies, walnuts, and an apricot glaze. They still make this delicacy at the Palmer House Hotel today. If you’d like to try this version, here’s the original Palmer House Brownie recipe.
There’s only one problem with the above narrative. People don’t seem to have referred to the Palmer House dessert as a “brownie,” and it’s not clear when they were first picked up that name.
The first authenticated “brownie” recipe is attributed to Fanny Merritt Farmer in the 1896 edition of The Boston Cooking-School Cookbook. Farmer adapted a regular cookie recipe to make bar cookies. However, her brownie recipe did not contain chocolate.
The first known recipe for chocolate brownies, dubbed “Brownie’s Food,” appeared in the Machias Cookbook of Maine in 1899. The title seems to support those who believe that the brownie was named for the mischievous fairy by the same name. Others think that brownies are simply named for their color.
So, who created the first brownie? You decide.
Brownies
The Palmer House Brownie looks quite rich, so I’ll save it for when I want a holiday dessert. If you’ve tried that one, let me know what you think of it. The version given in Betty Crocker’s Cooky Book is less likely to skyrocket my cholesterol or induce a chocolate coma. It takes just two ounces of chocolate (compared to fourteen), and two eggs as opposed to eight. I believe it is based on the Brownie’s Food recipe. Below you will find my adaptation for modern cooking.
Ingredients
2 squares unsweetened chocolate (2 oz.)
1/3 cup unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts
Instructions
Heat the oven to 350 degrees.
Grease a square pan (8x8x2”).
Melt the chocolate and butter over low heat, preferably in a double-boiler. Remove from heat and cool slightly. Beat in the sugar and eggs. In a small bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, and salt. Stir into the chocolate mixture. Mix the nuts into the batter. Spread in your prepared pan.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, or until the top forms a dull crust, and a only a slight imprint remains when touched lightly. If desired, you can ice the brownies (recipe follows) before cutting them into squares.
Chocolate Icing
Ingredients
1 Tbsp butter
1 square unsweetened chocolate (1 oz.)
1 1/2 Tbsp warm water or milk
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
Melt the butter and chocolate under low heat, preferably in a double-boiler. Blend in the warm water. Beat in the confectioners’ sugar a little at a time until the icing reaches a spreadable consistency.
Janalyn Voigt fell in love with literature at an early age when her father read chapters from classics as bedtime stories. When Janalyn grew older, she put herself to sleep with tales “written” in her head. Today Janalyn is a storyteller who writes in several genres. The same elements–romance, mystery, adventure, history, and whimsy–appear in all her books.
Learn more about Janalyn Voigt at her website.
Based on actual historical events during a time of unrest in America, the Montana Gold western historical romance series explores faith, love, and courage in the wild west. Step back in time to a simpler day. Fall in love with the West.
Janalyn Voigt