Symphony Bars
We revamped this old recipe to use our favorite plain blondie recipe as a base, then topped with melted Hershey’s Symphony bars.
Have you heard of Symphony Bars?
Amazingly, we had never heard of them before receiving an email from a reader, Cathy, who shared her recipe with us but said she found the base layer to be dry and wondered if we could improve upon them. When we Googled “symphony bars”, we found no shortage of recipes, and realized how in the dark we had been! Which is such a shame because oh our gosh, these are memorable!
We went ahead and did some troubleshooting of the base, and came up with an awesome bottom layer to support that top layer of melted chocolate. You’re going to LOVE these!
The original recipe for the base layer had butter, sugar, flour, egg and vanilla, with no leavening – sort of a soft shortbread. We wanted to make it more plush and chewy, but in keeping with the lack of leavening, we didn’t want anything too fluffy or cake-like.
Our answer?
A stripped-down version of our favorite blondie recipe. It’s chewy, light but not cakey, and is a great complement to the melted Symphony chocolate bars that adorn the top.
The verdict?
We love, love, LOVE these! Such a simple but memorable combination of a soft, chewy cookie with a slight toffee flavor adorned with a layer of memorable milk chocolate. These are A straightforward treat to whip up spur of the moment, so keep it on hand if last-minute visitors are stopping by, or you have a hankering for something sweet.
Three years ago: Toasted Coconut Dark Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream
Four years ago: Filled Raisin Cookies
Nine years ago: Egg Muffins
Symphony Bars
Yield: 24 bars We revamped this old recipe to use our favorite blondie recipe as a base, then topped with melted Hershey's Symphony bars.- 1½ cups (187.5 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1½ cups (330 g) light brown sugar
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 14 ounce (396.89 g) Symphony Bars, broken into small pieces
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13-inch baking with foil, allowing overhang on all edges. Spray the foil-lined pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter and brown sugar together in until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Turn the batter into prepared pan, smoothing it into an even layer with a rubber spatula (it will be a thin layer).
- Bake until the top is shiny and light golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes; do not overbake. Immediately after removing from the oven, sprinkle with broken up Symphony bars all over the surface and let sit for 1 minute. Using an offset spatula, begin to spread the chocolate; it will continue to melt as you spread it around. Once all of the chocolate has melted, smooth into an even layer.
- Cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Gently touch the chocolate - if it is still soft and not set, refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes to allow it to firm up. Remove the bars from the pan an cut into squares. The bars can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 5 days. If your home is warm, store them in the refrigerator.
Notes
Note: The recipe we received called for two 7-ounce bars, but we couldn't find any that big at our grocery store, so we bought four 4.25-ounce bars. There are a couple different varieties of bars (almond, toffee, etc.), but we went with straight creamy milk chocolate. Nutritional values are based on one serving
- Yield: 24 bars
- Prep: 15 minutes
- Cook: 22 minutes
- Total: 50 minutes
Ingredients
- 1½ cups ( 187.5 g ) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ( 0.5 teaspoon ) salt
- 12 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
- 1½ cups ( 330 g ) light brown sugar
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 4 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 14 ounce ( 396.89 g ) Symphony Bars, broken into small pieces
Method
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 9x13-inch baking with foil, allowing overhang on all edges. Spray the foil-lined pan with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk the melted butter and brown sugar together in until combined. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix well. Using a rubber spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the butter mixture until just combined; do not overmix. Turn the batter into prepared pan, smoothing it into an even layer with a rubber spatula (it will be a thin layer).
- Bake until the top is shiny and light golden brown, 22 to 25 minutes; do not overbake. Immediately after removing from the oven, sprinkle with broken up Symphony bars all over the surface and let sit for 1 minute. Using an offset spatula, begin to spread the chocolate; it will continue to melt as you spread it around. Once all of the chocolate has melted, smooth into an even layer.
- Cool on a wire rack to room temperature. Gently touch the chocolate - if it is still soft and not set, refrigerate for 15 to 30 minutes to allow it to firm up. Remove the bars from the pan an cut into squares. The bars can be stored in an air-tight container for up to 5 days. If your home is warm, store them in the refrigerator.
