Brownie Magic

    Tonight  I was in a bit of a rush trying to prepare dinner and (of course) dessert in a little less than two hours after I arrived home.  We had some lovely friends arriving and since I was pressed for time, I turned to one of my favorite recipes from my friend Gloria.

    You have all met Gloria.  She is the quintessential Southern hostess and is the life of the party.  Every event she coordinates looks beautiful and has her own personal touch.  She has magic tricks up her sleeve for entertaining and for cooking.  She is that woman who can make ANYTHING look good!  To top it all off, she is just as kind and welcoming as can be.  

    Luckily for me, I work with Gloria and am the beneficiary of many of her tips and recipes.  We love to swap cooking and baking ideas and fight over the Southern Living when it arrives in our office! These brownies are one of her signature dishes.  Gloria, of course, goes that extra step and layers them with a delicious frosting, but since I am usually out of time, mine are served unadorned!

     I think you will certainly appreciate the easiness of this recipe.  For those of you out there telling me that the pie crust is just a little too much for you to experiment with, then this is the recipe for you!

   Grab yourself a box of brownies (I prefer Betty Crocker) , all the ingredients to make them (eggs, oil, and water), a pan to bake them in, and two XL Hershey Symphony bars.  You can usually find these on the candy aisle as opposed to the baking one.

   Notice how in my attempt to be super-mom, I had already cut off the Box Tops on the box before taking this picture.  Brilliant.

    I always, always, always line my brownie pans (or any bar cookie for that matter) with parchment paper to make it easier to clean up.  I am really lazy like that.  Again, the If You Care brand is great because they are unbleached and come in sheets.

   Begin by mixing the brownies according to the directions.  Spread half the batter in the bottom of the pan.  I use a smaller pan for my brownies.  If you use a 9X13 dish you might want to prepare two boxes of brownies and put one whole mix in the bottom of the pan.

  Here is the really, really hard part.  Break up the Symphony bars and crumble them on top of the batter.  I know you can do it!

    Cover the Symphony pieces with the rest of the batter by dropping spoonfuls on top.  It is kind of hard to spread and some of the candy pieces might poke through the top.  No worries!  The brownies will still taste fantastic!

  Bake according to the directions on the box.  Pull them from the oven and allow them to cool completely.  Cut them into squares and then tote them to the next party you are invited to.  Expect praise!