Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Tropical Mango Bars

These bars have a fun, fresh flavor befitting of spring. They're like a tropical burst of sunshine in every bite!
These bars are super moist from the mangos and preserves and are a yummy combination of crumbly buttery crust and sweet tangy filling with a little crunch from the toasted almonds. I took these to a cooking club and they were very well received. 

You don't see many mango desserts around, so this is a fun and tasty treat that's sure to delight at any gathering.
I cut my bars into small squares that were perfect one bite treats. They were gone in no time!

Mango Bars
Crust
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup Butter
Filling
3 cups fresh mangoes, cut into 1/2-inch cubes*
1 cup peach preserves, warmed
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted, finely chopped
Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons freshly grated lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 to 2 tablespoons milk

Heat oven to 375°F. Combine flour, sugar and salt in large bowl. Cut in butter with pastry blender or fork until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Reserve 3/4 cup crumb mixture; set aside.

Press remaining crumb mixture onto bottom of ungreased 13x9-inch baking pan. Bake for 16 to 18 minutes or until edges are lightly browned. Remove from oven.

Top hot, partially baked crust with mango** and preserves. Combine reserved crumb mixture and almonds; sprinkle over preserves. Bake for 21 to 23 minutes or until crumbs are golden. Cool completely.

Combine powdered sugar, lemon peel and vanilla in small bowl. Stir in enough milk for desired drizzling consistency. Drizzle over cooled bars.

*Substitute 1 (24-ounce) jar refrigerated mango in light syrup, drained.

** I added 1 cup of diced pineapple tidbits (from a can, drained) with the mangos and preserves (I used frozen mangos from Trader Joe's, so I heated up the mangos, pineapple and preserves in a pan before pouring over the par-baked crust). The pineapple was a tasty addition. If you have shredded coconut on hand, you could add some of that to the topping to really up the tropical flavors. Yum!

Recipe adapted from Land O Lakes.

1 comment:

Shauna said...

They look devine! I think I should make them.
I love everything mango. Except I don't like working with them.

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails