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Here are today’s five things to know about the brownie:

A blonde brownie is a baked square or bar containing light brown sugar instead of dark brown cocoa.

The brownie was developed in the United States at the end of the 19th century and popularized in both the U.S. and Canada during the first half of the 20th century.

The blondie came into being long before the brownie due to the availability of light brown sugar over cocoa.

The earliest published recipes for a brownie like those of today appeared in the Home Cookery (1904, Laconia, NH), Service Club Cook Book (1904, Chicago, IL), The Boston Globe (April 2, 1905 p. 34), and the 1906 edition of The Boston Cooking School Cook Book by Fannie Merritt Farmer.

The first brownie ever made was a treat sweetened with molasses.

Today’s Food History

• 1521 Emperor Charles V opens the Diet of Worms.
• 1892 Coca-Cola was incorporated.
• 1939 Chef, Jeff Smith,The Frugal Gourmet was born
• 1985 A cold wave damaged 90 percent of the Florida citrus crop.
• 1997 A weekend freeze cost Florida farmers at least 100 million dollars in crop losses. Winter vegetables in south Dade County and southwest Florida were hardest hit
• 2008 The Jewish Holiday, Tu B’Shevat, celebrated by planting trees that bears fruits, is permitted work

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