On such cook was Mildred Brown Schrumpf of Bangor, Maine.
According to the story, she was baking a chocolate cake and,
through what would become a very happy accident, Mildred forgot
to add the leavening to her recipe. The cake failed to rise. But
Mildred was a frugal cook and she decided not to waste the flat
cake. She cut it into squares, served it to her family and an
American legend was born! The newly created “Bangor
Brownies” became a local favorite.
The first brownie recipe, Mildred’s recipe, was published in the 1906 edition of
Fanny Farmer’s Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. A year later the Walter M.
Lowney Company in Boston was looking for ways to increase sales of their
chocolate products. They hired Maria Willet Howard to write a series of recipes
featuring their chocolate. Published in 1907, Lowney’s Cookbook contained the
second published brownie recipe.
Brownies became popular across America beginning in the 1920s. Today a search
of the internet can discover over 100,000 brownie recipes. The variations seem
endless, containing everything from candy to coffee beans. Take a taste of history
and try the original brownie recipes.