Symphony Brownies are the showstopper brownie recipe you need in your life.
I have never met a brownie I didn’t like but I have to admit that these Symphony brownies, even though they are crazy easy to make, are the most delicious ones I’ve ever had. Scroll on down if you’d like to jump right to the recipe. Keep reading if you have time to visit a spell.
The “Visiting A Spell” Part
So how is this whole parenting thing working out for ya? Not for wimps, huh? I’ve been at it myself going on thirteen years now and my respect for my mother (and awe at her still having hair in her head) has deepened daily.
Trying to raise two individuals, who each entered into this world with their own distinct personalities, is clearly one of the toughest jobs I’ve ever taken on, but also the most important and with rewards and a pay grade that will never be matched by anything else I do.
Teaching my kids values, morals, right and wrong, how to behave, show compassion, educating them, urging them to excel where they have the ability to excel rather than settling for “good enough”, building them up while gently reminding them of how far they have to go – Whew. I’m tired just typing about it. And lets be honest here, instilling a work ethic into kids sure was easier back in my Grandmama’s day – but I don’t want my kids out picking cotton in a field if I can help it so I have to get creative and be persistent. Man, this is heavy stuff.
In the midst of all this though, and equally important, is that I want us all to have some fun. I come from a fun family and I want my kids to say the same thing when they grow up. So as a result we joke, we kid, we prank, and we laugh. Every blessed chance we get.
Teaching your child to look for joy in their lives, in their days, and in each situation, is a lesson I rank right up there with teaching them to balance their checkbook, tie their shoes, and do the right thing. Without the ability to find joy in a situation and without the training to be on the lookout for it, we end up desolate and without hope. Depressed and without motivation. Down and out with no reason to rise. No sir. My kids won’t be going there.
Maybe we were strange but…
Joy was something we had in each day of our lives growing up. We had laughter and jokes and pranks and rear end pinches every time we happened to be bent over when our Mama came into the room. Tickles, whoopee cushions, and fake ice cubes with plastic flies in them. We had Elvis sing a longs that turned into strange operettas and breakfast biscuits that turned into bb gun skeet disks when Daddy decided to try his hand at making them by himself.
We had our share of hardships, too and there were times when our parents had to be serious with us, but those times were balanced with all of the moments they were silly with us as well.
Raising kids is serious business, and I do make mine tow the line, but remembering to teach them the valuable lesson of looking for joy and having fun in life is pretty serious business, too. The “joy” part of this post is where Symphony Brownies come in…
Buddy and Carol in Ecuador – Joyful folks!
I was reminded of this when I got to spend last week with some wonderful people, two of which were Buddy and Carol Smith. These are some joyful people. Always kind, looking after others before themselves, and just experts at making you feel loved. Carol and I talked a lot about our kids and her grandkids and during one conversation she said “You know, we have a lot of fun at our house when the grandkids come over. We just try to have fun with them. We’re always laughing and joking around.” We laughed with each other as we recounted the things we’d done with our own families. We talked about road trips and pranks, making our kids laugh and laughing right along with them. We spoke of the joy in our families – and then we talked about brownies 🙂
These are the brownies Carol told me about on one of our bus trips to a little village outside of Quito, Ecuador. “Oh! Have you ever made Symphony Brownies? Everyone just loves them!” she began, and I was already writing this post in my head as soon as she said the word “brownie”.
This is one of those super easy recipes that your kids will remember growing up with. I can hear our children now “My Mama was always pulling things to get me to laugh…Oh and she made these brownies! Everyone loved them…”
Look for the joy today but most importantly, each time you find it, remember show it to your kids.
You’ll need: Brownie Mix (the box that makes a 9×13 pan), and two symphony bars.
You’ll also need whatever ingredients your brownie mix calls for 🙂
The symphony bars I got are the large 8 ounce ones. You can use any type of chocolate bar you like or even individual chocolates (the mini bars).
Prepare your pan by spraying with cooking spray or by lining with foil and then spraying with cooking spray. If I’m making these to take somewhere and I want to make sure they’re all cut pretty, I line it with foil and spray. For us, I just use cooking spray.
Mix up your brownie mix according to package directions.
Yum! I love me some brownie batter!
Spread 1/2 of your brownie batter into the bottom of your baking dish.
Place chocolate bars on top of the brownie batter. You may have to break it up a little bit to get it to fit but it’ll work.
And in the end you’ll have brownies…so it’s all good 🙂
Pour the rest of your brownie batter on top of the chocolate.
Bake at 325 for 45-50 minutes.
Remove and allow to cool completely.
Prepare for well deserved oohs and ahhhs! I think I need to make some of these today, how about you? If you end up making them, share a pic on Instagram and tag @southernplate or post it on my Facebook wall!
Ingredients
- 1 9x13 size Box Brownie Mix prepared according to package directions
- 2 8 ounce Symphony Bars can use other milk chocolate bar
Instructions
- Spray an 8x8 baking dish lightly with cooking spray. Prepare brownie mix according to package directions.
- Spread half of brownie batter in bottom of pan. Top with a layer of chocolate bars. Pour remaining brownie batter over top of chocolate bars and gently spread to cover.
- Place in 325 degree oven and bake for 45-50 minutes. Allow to cool completely before cutting. ENJOY! (and believe me, you will!)
Notes
This recipe was originally published in 2012. I updated the photos in 2019.
You might enjoy this recipe as well:
How do you teach joy to your family?
What is the best prank you’ve ever pulled on them?
Tell us in the comments below!
Weeds are nothing but flowers in disguise!
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This recipe featured in Meal Plan Monday and The Weekend Potluck
Yum 
My brother found out about this recipe a few years ago & introduced it to me …. Oh man!! Are they good. And no calories whatsoever! 😉
You are so right, Lee! It’s amazing how the calories bake out of them!!!!!
These sound wonderful! I am thinking of mixing it up with the toffee Symphony bars if I can find them!
Yes! They are fabulous with the toffee Symphony bars! Used to make a double batch to take to potlucks at work…and they would almost fight to get their share!
I make them with the toffee ones all the time. They are wonderful! My grandson’s favorite
Making these tonight for hubbies “secret” valentine goody. His favorite candy bar is Symphony, but the large one is 6.8 oz, not 8 oz, right? I KNOW he will like it too.
Would the Symphony bars that have almonds, caramel or toffee pieces work? Gonna make these for movie night!
I use the Symphony bars with almonds & toffee pieces – fabulous!
These look so yummy! Can’t wait to try!!!
Not good to send us these type of recipes right before lunch!! These look delicious!
Mmmmm mmmm good!
Wow these are some awesome looking brownies! Symphony bars are one of my favorites too.
Thanks Christy!
Oh! YUM! Gotta try these! Thanks so much Christy!!
I love brownies and I love chocolate bars! Must try these!!
Raising children is one of the most difficult, but most wonderful things in the world. =) Loved reading your post!!
WOW!!! Looking at these makes me want to make them ASAP!!!
You are so right about raising kids. I feel like I’m still doing it, but I don’t mind. When one of my sons has a problem they still come to me. (Eric is 40 and Matthew is 34.) I guess I did something right. They are both hard workers and love children and animals.
Remember you will always be a Mom and they will always be you kids, no matter how old they are….
I saw Paula Deen do this one time and I’ve dreamed about it ever since. SO don’t need to make them, but I have a feeling they will be making an appearance very soon 🙂 I have 3 kids and I agree – I admire my mom’s patience and perseverance more and more every day!
WOW, those look wonderful. Have to try them.
Amazingly simple to make and simply amzing to eat? Thanks for sharing the recipe with Christy!
Thanks for the post Christy. You are right….teaching joy to our kids is very important. When something bad happens to us we try to find a blessing from the bad experience. We know God will bless us, but sometimes we need to be still and see it. This recipe looks wonderful!! I’m sure this will be a hit with our daughter & her friends. Thanks for sharing. Blessings to you & your family!
Christy, You are doing the right thing…..teaching gratefulness even when we encounter bad experiences. It’s how we cope and learn from the experience that really matters. WOW!! was I ever shocked when I opened the email to see an overblown pic of a delicious brownie. Even tho I have eaten a wonderful lunch, I suddenly became hungry. I will have to try this recipe very soon.
You are making diabetics want to do “bad” things . . . like eat all of this! lol!!
How did I teach my children joy? I was always joyful; playful. Even when I felt bad, I forced myself to smile and be upbeat for them. We always pulled fun pranks on each other.
One year, when my oldest son was going on nine and we had little money, I told him not to expect a birthday party. The day of his birthday, I told him we would go to the bowling alley to bowl one game for his birthday and then go back home.
To his surprise, his classmates were at the bowling alley and there was a party after all. He really was so happy.
Hi, love any brownie recipe but I also wanted to share a tidbit. A friend from church noted she was off to visit her daughter at Vanderbilt for a mom/daughter weekend at her newsorority. I had just tried your oatmeal cookie pie recipe and suggested she go to the Loveless Cafe as recommended by your blog. They went, had amazing biscuits & pulled pork. But just to top it off, the sorority had guess who to cater? Yup, Loveless Cafe. This northern girl thanks you for the recommendation and can’t wait to try it myself!
Christy, these look amazing. And i must say from experience, that of all the convenience box brownies out there, Betty Crocker is my personal favorite. I will have to make these for my son’s upcoming high school graduation.
Symphony bars are my hubby’s favorite!!! Can’t wait to make this for him!!!!
Fantastic recipe for a chocoholic like me!!
I had so much fun clowning around when my son was growing up he would laugh and say, ” not normal, Ma, not normal”. We have had some serious talks and he still comes to me with his problems, but we are the best of friends. I enjoyed him so much as a child and even more as an adult.
Hi, Ive made these before but doubled the recipe, using 9 x 13 pan,one brownie mix on bottom and 3 symphony bars on this layer and then second brownie mix on top.
Made your pie crust in the pan,Twice,everyone loved it.Thanks for all of the yummy recipes !
From the pictures it looks like you used the 2 egg-fudgey recipe instead of the 3 egg-cakey version, yes? Im doing fudgey cuz..uh, yeah! Hope they come out as nice as yours..(.I’m not doing foil cuz Im a bit lazy)☺
Oh my gosh!!! I’m not a real big sweet eater but these do look awesome!!!
I wonder is you could put any kind of candy bar in between. Hmmm, something to think about!!
I’ll be trying these, they look wonderful! And I LOVE your blue baking dish, so pretty!!
With 3 kids, ages 15, 11 and almost 4, its very easy to forget to have some joy in every day life. We’re so busy with homework, activities, friends, housework, etc. But I will say that my kids often tell me I’m “weird” because I will dance to commercials on tv, or tell stupid jokes, or play jokes on them. That’s ok- I’d rather be weird than boring 😉 Besides, all the kids in the neighborhood tell my children that I’m a cool mom! That might have to do with me making your awesome cookie recipes and handing them out, though. But hey, I’ll take it!
I CANNOT WAIT TO BAKE THESE FOR MY GRANDSON. HE LOVES CHOCOLATE BROWNIES AND I AM SURE THESE WILL EVEN BE BETTER. HAPPY THAT YOU ENJOYED YOUR TRIP.
Thanks for the reminder Christy. One of my favorite memories growing up was laughing ’til I cried with my mom over various things. I’d like my kids to have the same memory of me, but I know I need to instill more humor and joy into our family. It’s hard sometimes with all there is to do! One of the things we like to do is put soapy water on the kitchen floor, pull on some old socks, put on some good music and scrub the floor with our feet while we dance. One of the best pranks I’ve done was an idea from Family Fun for April Fool’s day. I made “grilled cheese sandwiches” using toasted pound cake and frosting colored to look like cheese and served them first at supper. The kids still talk about it and it was 3 or 4 years ago!
ok. Sorry but these sound soooo good. I gave up sweets for lent. So after Easter, I will have to make these…. omg I am drooling- lol =)
I saw Paula Deen make these on her show.
Christy, I’ve always bought the family size brownie mix, three large Symphony Bars, used a 9×13 pan, and the three bars will cover the entire pan without having to break them at all. This has always been extremely popular when I’ve taken them to various affairs.
Christy, I’ve made these for years with a Family Size Brownie Mix, three large
Symphony Bars, a 9×13 pan, and when you do that the bars will lie side by side and cover the entire length and width of the pan. This has been a popular dish anytime I’ve taken it to any gathering.
Oh, these look soooooo good! Being a dark chocolate nut, I think I will sub with Hershey’s Special Dark!
You are so right about giving your kids joy! I really didn’t have that growing up. I probably went too far the other way with my daughter! One of my favorite memories with her was when she was about four, it was pouring rain outside. It had been raining for a couple of days and we were both tired of being stuck inside. I told her to take off her shoes, we were going to go play in the rain (for once there was no lightning). She couldn’t believe it! We danced and sang and had the best time. Did it for years! She’s now 23 and still loves playing in the rain!
Any time we see something slightly scary or freaky on tv or a movie or even in a book or magazine, (zombie, gorilla, rabid bat LOL) I giggle and tell the kids “I saw that under your bed!” It started as a good way to lighten a moment, but now it’s our “thing!” They try to beat me to it now, and have even come up with some quick come-backs: “So did I, that’s why I put it under your bed!” etc. Good times!