Symphony Brownies

The hubby and I have very similar food tastes and philosophies. We like food that tastes good, regardless of its preparation complexity or snob level. We share many of the same favorite dishes. Where our tastes do differ -- such as the hubby's love for seafood -- we agree that it's still OK for one person to indulge those tastes while the other person finds something else to eat.

One area where we differ is that I like to experiment more with recipes, whereas the hubby sees no reason to try new recipes for dishes that he thinks we've already perfected. Why try a new stew recipe when we already make the perfect stew? Why try a different cheesecake when fudge truffle can't be beat?

You can imagine the look on his face tonight when I offered to bake brownies, but told him I was throwing Symphony bars in the middle of it.

This is a recipe that I first saw on one of Paula Deen's cooking shows, and I've seen it posted elsewhere, as well. Most recipes call for breaking up two Symphony bars, but I could swear I saw Paula just plop three whole ones into her brownies, so that's what I did.

These are scrumptious. Even the hubby liked them. I warned him that there were toffee bits in the brownies. (I didn't mention the almonds. He would've freaked.) When I asked how they were, he said, "Good, but there's some sort of crunchy $@&# in them." So here you go. Easy, good brownies with crunchy $@&# in them.

Symphony Brownies
Makes 16

1 family-sized pkg. of brownie mix
Oil, eggs, and water, as per package instructions
3 4.25-oz. Symphony bars with almonds and toffee

1. Preheat oven as directed on package, and spray cooking spray in the bottom of a 9" x 13" pan.

2. Prepare brownie batter according to package instructions.

3. Pour half the batter in the pan. Lay unwrapped candy bars in a single layer on the batter. Cover with the remaining batter.

4. Bake according to package instructions. Let cool slightly before cutting.

That was my attempt at a picture. Here's another.

This was taken by my brother, Cory, who was visiting his new nephew. Cory brought a lens that's longer than my arm, and stopped taking cute Jack pics long enough to take some cute brownie pics.

I'm thinking about making Cory my official blog photographer. Of course, he'd have to move in. He can share baby Jack's room. Jack thinks sleep is for babies, so he's certainly not using it.