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For my 8th birthday party, I celebrated with specially-decorated Walton’s Mountain brownies instead of a birthday cake (December 6, 2014). Photo by Larkin Mehta.
A Sugary Secret
A Sugary Secret
by Samara Mehta
Across three generations of birthdays, anniversaries, and major milestones, there is one dish linking these nostalgic moments together: Walton’s Mountain brownies. Unlike most brownies, these ones my grandma named after the 1970s TV show are almost like a cake, spongy and less dense. Instead of having a glossy, crackly surface, Walton’s Mountain brownies are smooth on top, slathered in a runny, grainy, bitter-yet-sweet frosting that brings every flavor together in one bite.
Every time I eat them, these special brownies lift my mood. It’s not just me––this feeling has a scientific basis. According to the Journal of Functional Foods, cocoa-derived products contain a plant pigment called flavanol, which, when consumed, triggers an anti-inflammatory response in the nervous system leading to decreased stress and improved mental well-being (Smith). But long before researchers found out about the calming effects of brownies, the first ones were already making their mark in America.
Although the history of my family’s brownies begins in the 1980s, the original recipe for brownies dates much further back. While the exact story is not known, most believe that the original brownie was created by Bertha Palmer, a wealthy socialite, in 1893 in preparation for the World’s Fair in Chicago (Swiers). Originally intended for visitors at the Palmer Hotel, brownies have now become a mainstream confection with hundreds of variations, including ones with nuts, caramel, and for my family, cinnamon and secrets.
In fact, this dessert is so common that many opt for the store-bought mix, but true dessert connoisseurs know that the best brownies are the ones that are homemade. When you take the time to bake from scratch, “you can control the quality of your ingredients including, most important, the quality of your chocolate” (Lomas). The very act of adding in copious amounts of chocolate, knowing what is to come, is one of the reasons why Walton’s Mountain brownies are one of my favorite foods.
Here in Ann Arbor, you can buy a variety of brownies at Zingerman’s Next Door Cafe (September 12, 2025). Photo by Samara Mehta.
Growing up, my mom and I spent many hours in this kitchen together baking brownies (August 16, 2025). Photo by Samara Mehta.
As a child, my mom and I would spend the afternoon before all milestone events in the kitchen together. My first task was just to watch over the brownies as they rose in the oven. Soon, though, I became more involved, cracking the eggs, mixing the ingredients, and pouring the brownie batter into a classic 8x8 glass pan. Over the years, I eventually took over most of the baking, each step becoming effortless and instinctive after hundreds of batches. No matter how old I am, my mom and I have always each taken a beater at the end, licking off the yummy frosting left behind as a reward for our work.
What makes this mundane task special is the time I spend bonding with my mom, a mirror image of her own childhood. My grandmother grew up in the South, spending her days running an independent consignment store and dreaming up all kinds of confections. Together, they spent afternoons in the kitchen baking for family and friends. Even our Walton’s Mountain brownies recipe was born from my mom and grandma’s shared experience.
According to my mom, the two of them were on a trip around the Shenandoah Valley, touring colleges with the intention of finding a hotel nearby each night. Because of a university event happening, however, no rooms were available, and so they ended up in a tiny town in the middle of nowhere. At a small fair there, they met a food scientist showing off her special brownies. After just one bite, my mom and grandma were hooked, and ended up surviving on just these brownies for the next 24 hours as they continued to drive around the Shenandoah Valley. As soon as they returned home, my grandma set out to recreate the recipe, ending up with an exact replica which she named Walton’s Mountain brownies, an homage to where they first tried the brownies and the setting of my grandma’s favorite show The Waltons (Mehta).
While my grandmother and mom may have stumbled upon these brownies by chance, it is no accident now that nobody else has the recipe. With measurements written in my grandmother’s looping cursive, even the original copy of the recipe still has not been passed down to me. Guarded as our family secret, any time a guest asks for the recipe, we do not give it out. Instead, I treasure it as a hallmark of my childhood and a force for generational connection.
Works Cited
Lomas, Vallery. "The Best Brownie Recipe: A Chocolate Lover’s Guide." Wall Street Journal, Dow Jones & Company Inc., 23 Jun. 2022, wsj.com/arts-culture/food-cooking/the-best-brownie-recipe-a-chocolate-lovers-guide-11656010800?st=Eahp9J&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
Mehta, Larkin. Personal Interview. 10 Nov. 2025.
Mehta, Larkin. Photo of me at age 8 with brownies. 6 Dec. 2014. Author’s personal collection.
Mehta, Samara. Photo of my kitchen at home. 16 Aug. 2025. Author’s personal collection.
Mehta, Samara. Photo of Zingerman’s Cafe. 12 Sep. 2025. Author’s personal collection.
Smith, Donald F. “Benefits of Flavanol-Rich Cocoa-Derived Products for Mental Well-Being: A Review.” Journal of Functional Foods, vol. 5, no. 1, 2013, pp. 10–15, ScienceDirect, doi.org/10.1016/j.jff.2012.09.002. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
Swiers, Autumn. “The Confusing Origin Story of Brownies.” TastingTable, Static Media, 9 Mar. 2024, tastingtable.com/1531880/history-of-brownies-multiple-origin-stories/. Accessed 7 Nov. 2025.
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