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 (Mango Sago, Mango Sticky Rice…you name it!) 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!
Works well, consider eliminating the sugar from the mango mix which in itself was 1.5 X recipe. More fruity, less sweet and a great way to use up $1 mangos.
Good tip!!! Thanks fr sharing!!
These were easy and good. To make them vegan I used vegan margarine and egg replacer, also substituted potato starch since that’s what I had. Everyone loved them.
Great idea! Thank you for sharing!
I made these and they were absolutely fantastic. My husband and I finished them in two days and I am ready to make more. I’m going to put maybe 1/8 teaspoon ginger in the pastry dough mix and maybe 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in the mango filling. I can’t way to try them again.
Yum! That sounds really good! Thank you for sharing and for making it!
So delicious. I have made this three times already since I discovered this recipe. The crumb crust is so delicious that I’ve used it with other fruits and it never fails. I also added just 1/8 tsp ground ginger to the crust. You can’t really taste the ginger but it brightens the flavor so much. I will keep making this forever!
Thank you, Hope! Love the adding of ginger – I will have to try that sometime too! 🙂
These mango bars were absolutely delicious!
I was reading through some of the comments and had a hard time understanding why some ppl thought they were bland. Their so buttery and such a perfect balance of crumble and fruit! I will be making them again and again! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
I’m so glad you enjoyed it Betty!
Can these bars be frozen. I am making them tonight.
Yes!
So good! My family loves these. The recipe was easy too. I have never used mango before—a friend gave us a bunch from his tree and they were getting really ripe. Will make this again!
Yay! Happy to hear that it was a success the first time baking with mangoes!
My whole family absolutely loves these mango crumb bars! Layers of deliciousness!
That’s so wonderful! Yay!
I love the recipe and have made the crumble a half dozen times in the last month since my tree way over produced this year.
However, even when I follow the directions perfectly my dough turns out mushy and not crumbly, still tastes amazing and I will continue to make it as it also works well with frozen mangoes but I don’t know what I’m doing wrong I’m using cold butter.
Hi Tamara! Thanks for the feedback. If the dough is wet it’s most likely from the moisture in the mango. It’s so hard to control for that but if you want you can pat dry it and get the moisture out as much as you can. Frozen mangoes will have more moisture than fresh so for sure pat dry those to remove moisture. Hope that helps!
Do these bars freeze well?
Yes – they should freeze fine!
Simple, tasty dessert. Made it and took it to a party — everyone loved it! Used very sweet mangoes so only added 3T of sugar to the fruit. Also used a 11×7 pan and it was fine.
Thanks for sharing, Ramona! I’m so glad you hear everyone loved this recipe!
Simple and Delicious! Used a 7×11 pan, added 3T of sugar to mangos and added chopped walnuts to the top layer of crumble. Took them to a party and they were a huge hit!
Yum! Love the adding of walnuts! Thank you for sharing and I’m so glad you enjoyed this.
These were a HUGE hit at our church event! Everyone kept asking for the recipe! Thanks for another tasty dish!
So glad to hear everyone enjoyed it! Thank you for sharing 🙂
I made this using Mangos I purchased from a local farm. I only added 3Tbsps of sugar, but added a dash of cinnamon and ginger to the dry ingredients. It was absolutely delicious. The crumb crust is so good that I plan on using it as a base for different seasonal fruits.
Thank you for sharing, Lynne! Your modifications sound amazing. Great to hear you enjoyed this recipe so much.
this was beautiful and delicious!! I substituted agave nectar for sugar and boy, I don’t think eliminating the sugar was major as the mango was huge and very sweet on it’s own. This is definitely a keeper.
Thank you Andie! Happy to hear you loved this! And such a great idea to sub with agave nectar.
Love mangos can’t wait to try and make it thanks for your recipe and sharing have a great day
Let me know how it goes! I hope you love it!
Love mangos i will try and make it have some mangos thanks for your recipe have a great day
I hope you love it! Let me know how it goes 🙂
Love mangoes in anything.
Fresh mangoes are not in season in NZ, can I use tinned mango pulp?
I think that should be ok! If there’s a lot of excess liquid you’ll want to drain it
Delicious, took it to the church picnic and it was a big hit!
That’s wonderful!
Can I use mango jam in place of fresh mango and cornstarch?
I think that could work! If the jam not chunky the filling might be runny, and it might be hard to cut into. That is an issue I could see happening.