Introducing a fabulous mango dessert…Mango Crumb Bars! These buttery, crumbly bars are filled with fresh mangos, then baked to perfection. The sweet tropical flavors combined with buttery pastry is just too good for words.
These mango bars are kinda like a mango cookie or a mango pie, making them such a great sweet treat and dessert. Or have them as an afternoon snack or even breakfast! Because WHY NOT. 🫢
A Delicious Mango Dessert
I am a huge mango fan, and an even bigger fan of all mango desserts. Besides having a distinct flavor and scent, the ripened fruit itself is sweet as candy – making them the perfect candidate for the yummiest dessert.
Mango Crumb Bars is one of my favorite mango desserts. No only are they yummy, they are deceivingly easy to make. A few simple tips and tricks will give you everything you need to bake your heart out and never look back.
Mangoes are also in season right now and I’ve been trying to incorporate it everywhere while they are at their peak and taste the best.
These mango bars are sticky and yummy sweet treats loaded with the flavors of summery mangoes, sandwiched between buttery beautiful crumbles. Yum!
Nothing like sinking your teeth into a juicy piece of sweet mango surrounded by a buttery, crumbly, shortbread-like pastry to go along with it. Kinda like a mango pie or mango cookie.
My love for mangoes has led to a boat load of mango recipes on this blog. Everything from the traditional Thai Mango Sweet Sticky Rice dessert to Fish Tacos with Mango Peach Salsa. And now this.
If you’re a mango fan, don’t miss all the yummy mango recipes because I think you’re gonna fall in love each of them. 🧡
Ingredients
- Mangoes – Use ripe, juicy, sweet mangoes for best results! Unripe mangoes are sour and just don’t taste very good in this. Cut mangoes into small chunks so that it can be cooked easily and softened when baked in the oven. A ripened mango will typically be orange/yellow-ish in color, and it smells sweet and mango-y (if you know what I mean 🙂 ). I typically use ~2 mangoes for this recipe, or 3 if they are smaller.
- Flour – feel free to substitute for a gluten free flour alternative
- Baking powder – this is the leavening agent that makes the mango crumb bars rise while baking
- Salt – just a dash of it helps open up the flavors!
- Butter – the secret ingredient that keeps the pastries moist and crumbly. Use cold unsalted butter and cut it into small cubes
- Brown sugar – this has a caramel-like flavor to add flavor depth
- Egg – only one needed; binds mixture together for a moist and crumbly bar
- Vanilla extract – the additional hint of vanilla flavor brings the mango crumb bars to a whole new level
- Granulated sugar – to add to the mango filling – adjust amount used based on the sweetness level of the mangoes used. If mangoes are already generously sweet, you may not need much sugar, or any at all
- Corn starch – to thicken the mango filling and makes it less runny.
How to make Mango Bars with Crumbles
Step 1: Make Mango Mixture
Cut the mangoes into small chunks, and mix with sugar and cornstarch in a mixing bowl.
If you are using less sweet mangoes, add more sugar to the mixture.
Set aside until you are ready to layer it onto the baking pan.
Step 2: Make dough
The dough requires cold butter.
Yes, cold! So bring it out from the refrigerator right before you need to use it so it won’t be softened by the time you use it.
After mixing the dry ingredients together (flour, baking powder, salt), add chunks of cold butter into the food processor.
Pulse until mixture turns crumbly (see picture below).
Alternatively, you can also use a pastry cutter to mix the butter into the dry ingredients until mixture becomes crumbly.
Mix together wet ingredients (brown sugar, egg, vanilla extract), then pour wet ingredients into the crumbly mixture and mix well.
Step 3: Layer it
Bring ~2/3 of the crumbly mixture and spread it onto a 8″x8″ baking pan lined with parchment paper (for easy removal of the bars and less cleanup!).
If you are not using parchment paper, consider greasing the pan.
Use a spatula to press crumbs onto the pan to form the bottom layer of the bar.
Next, pour and spread mango mixture onto the bottom crumb layer.
Lastly, sprinkle the rest of the crumb mixture on top of the mango mixture.
Step 4: Bake!
Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes at 350ºF.
And viola.
Step 5: Let it cool and slice!
Let the mango bars cool in the pan for 5-10 minute.
Lift parchment paper and bring the pastry out to cool further on a cooling rack. Give it at least 15-20 minutes, then cut into square bars after it cools down.
And there you have it. Crumbly, buttery, juicy sweet Mango Crumb Bars.
So lovely, and so very delicious!
The next time you are craving for dessert, and are about to bake a cookie or a cake, consider baking some Mango Crumb Bars. It’s the ultimate mango dessert treat!
If you love mangoes and mango dessert, you will fall in love with this! 🧡
Tips and Tricks
- Add more sugar if needed: If the mango used isn’t super sweet, you will need to add more sugar to the mango mixture.
- Use cold butter: Do not use melted or soft butter, the texture of the pastry is not the same.
- Line basking dish: to make cleanup and removal easier, line the dish with parchment paper.
- Let it cool: Let it cool before cutting your crumb bars! This will yield the best texture.
Storage Instructions
Mango crumb bars can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3-5 days.
If left outside in room temperature, it would last 1-2 days, assuming indoor temperature is not exceedingly warm, especially without all the humidity we get if left outside.
Tips and Tricks
- Use ripe mangoes: Ripe mangoes are soft and super sweet which will make this mango dessert taste much better! If mangoes aren’t super sweet, you can add sugar to sweeten it.
- Using cold butter: Make sure butter is cold for the best crumb texture. This helps create flaky layers in your crust and crumb topping.
- Use parchment paper: This will make it a whole lot easier to remove the bars from the baking dish.
- Let it cool: Pushing the point here! Let it cool before cutting your crumb bars! This will yield the best texture.
Frequently Asked Questions
To determine ripeness, 1) gently press the mangoes to check for softness. If the mango is hard, it likely is not ripe enough for this recipe and if it is too soft, it may be overripe. 2) mangoes should smell sweet if they are ripe, and 3) mangoes turn orange/yellow/red when they are ripe, green mangoes are often a signal that they aren’t ripe
Using butter is prefered as it will yield a better texture and a stronger, more distinct flavor.
The extra moisture from the mangoes can make the crust soggy. Avoid using thawed, frozen mangoes with moisture clinging to them – pad dry them with a paper towel.
ENJOYED THIS RECIPE? Tell us what you think by leaving a rating and review below! 🤍
Other Dessert Recipes
- Thai Mango Sweet Sticky Rice
- No-Bake Chocolate Tart
- Rustic Blueberry Galette
- Mini Chocolate Chess Pie
- Lemon Ice Cream
- The Best Cookies and Cream Ice Cream
- Cinnamon Bundt Cake
Mango Crumb Bars
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups ripe mangoes (small chunks) 2-3 mangoes
- 3-5 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1/2 tbsp corn starch
- 2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup cold unsalted butter
- 2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Cut mangoes into small chunks. In a bowl, combine mango chunks, sugar (use more if mango is not ripened) and corn starch. Mix well and set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt.
- Cut cold (important: make sure it is cold!) unsalted butter into chunks and add to flour mixture.
- If using a food processor, pulse until small crumbs are formed. If using a pastry cutter, cut butter into flour mixture until small crumbs are formed.
- Mix together wet ingredients – brown sugar, egg and vanilla extract. Then add wet ingredients into buttery dry mixture. Mix well – mixture should be slightly crumbly.
- Bring ~2/3 of crumbly mixture to the bottom of a 8″ x 8″ baking pan lined with parchment paper. Press mixture onto pan to form a layer of crumb pastry.
- Add mango mixture, and spread it out evenly.
- Then sprinkle the top with the rest of the crumbles.
- Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes.
- Remove from oven and let it cool for 5-10 minutes. Then lift parchment paper and bring pastry out from the pan. Let it cool for another 15-20 minutes.
- Cut into 9 square bars. Serve and enjoy!
The Mango Crumb Bars look YUMMY. Can’t wait to try them!
Thank you! It’s yummy! If you have any questions when you make them please let me know! 🙂
i am fascinated by your mango crumb bars recipe creation. i want to try making them .
Besides mango what other fruits can i use? Will pisang rajah work?
I think it could! Depending on the fruit and how sweet it naturally is, you might need to add more sugar to really bring out the fruit flavor. Pisang rajah (banana) tends to be more tart, so maybe add more sugar to it? Good luck!
Um. Out of nowhere yiu list an egg as a wet ingredient . No egg is listed in the ingredients. I take it one egg is called for?
Oops! Yes! One egg is called for. I just added it to the ingredient list – thanks for pointing it out! 🙂 Let me know how it goes when you make it!
This looks so good! It can be difficult to know what to do with a bunch of mangoes when they are about to go bad. This is a nice way to use them up!
Absolutely!!! Thanks so much!
Thanks for sharing! Do they keep long?
You can keep them in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or so!
I just did this one! It is very good inspite I changed some of the ingredients to vegan . Instead of one egg, I used unsweetened applesauce, instead of reg butter, I used Earth Balance Vegan Butter. Looking forward to making this again.
Yay! Love that you made it your own – thank you for sharing with us the tweaks you made! So glad you enjoyed it!
i don’t have cornstarch, any substitute? 🙂
Try flour? Maybe double the amount it calls for?
Absolutely delicious! Definitely a keeper. Not too sweet and the crumble is great. I want to make more for friends…do they freeze well?
I’m so glad you like it! I haven’t tried freezing them but I think it should freeze just fine! Give it a try and let me know how it goes!
Hi, I had a question, how come the mixture isn’t crumbly after I add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients… It instantly becomes soft and mushy… Its frustrating not being able to “sprinkle” it on because I’m busy forming the top layer into a flat sheet… Any help would be very much appreciated, also brilliant recipe, my family loves it! If only it would crumble. Thanks!!
The mixture typically becomes soft and mushy if the butter in the dry mixture is already melted. You’ll need to cut cold butter into the dry mixture and then quickly add the wet mixture to it before the butter is melted. Glad your family enjoyed it!
Mine was not crumbly either- I used a coarse grater and smooshed it through. Came out looking great and tasting great.
This was honestly waaay better than I thought it was going to be because usually I don’t like baked fruit but I had expensive mangoes and had to use them or they would go to waste , so I tried this and it was soooo good. Great recipe👍🏽👍🏼
I didn’t put any cornstarch or sugar with the mango! Delicious and very easy!!
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing!!
Fabulous recipe! Based on other comments, I baked this in an 8 x 8 Pyrex dish. I also added toasted, chopped macadamia nuts to the topping for a little extra crunch. Next time, I will add a little cardamom to the topping as well. My family of mango lovers devoured this!
That’s great! Thanks for sharing your variation!
Do you happen to know what can I replace the egg with, for a vegan result?
I’m sorry but I do not. 🙁 Unfortunately, I have not baked this without the egg and don’t know how to do it off the top of my head.
I was really happy to find this recpe but disappointed when I tried it as there really wasn’t much flavour. Sprinkling ground ginger over the top of the completed bars solved the issue – on repeating the recipe I would mix this into the crumble itself or perhaps in the fruit mixture. With that bit of extra flavour – delicious!
Hi Suyana! I am sorry to hear that it wasn’t flavorful enough for you! I think adding ground ginger is a great idea. In addition, some mangoes are more flavorful and sweeter than others, so if mangoes aren’t sweet enough, adding more sugar will open up the flavors as well! I hope you give it a try again and let me know how that goes!
It is mango season here in Jamaica and I am the lucky recipient of dozens of them – different varieties. I often puree and sieve them to get rid of the strings which I don’t like getting stuck in my teeth. I made this recipe using puree instead of chunks of mango. Worked just fine.Tastes just fine too.
Great idea to puree them! Thanks for sharing! 🙂
Hi, can I use 9×9 inch pan instead?
Yes! That is fine!
These are absolutely delicious!! Going to make them again and again!
Awesome!! ENJOY IT! 🙂
Can we use cornflour instead of corn starch?
Yes! Double the amount of corn starch called for to achieve the same thickening effect!
Overall good recipe but the finished product tasted a bit bland. If I make these again will mix some crushed pineapple or lemon juice into the mango to make it pop. I drizzled with icing made of powdered sugar and cream, a bit of almond extract and lemon zest and it added a little depth.
Adding more sugar will definitely help especially if the mangoes are not super ripe! Love the idea of adding pineapple or lemon juice! Yum!
can these be frozen?
I have not tried it but I think it should be fine!