I love a good lemon bar, but as I was watching the food network a couple weeks ago, I saw them make mango bars. It sounded delicious, so I decided to tweak my favorite lemon bar recipe to come up with this mango version.
These mango bars are sweet, buttery, and totally packed with the flavors of summer! While these aren’t the healthiest treat out there, this recipe makes a huge pan full, and you can cut them as small (or as large) as you want. This is a great recipe to make for a party, or to make and then freeze to pull out when guests come, because they can easily be made ahead of time.
Mango Bar Crust Ingredients:
- 2 sticks of salted butter at room temp
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 3/4 cup shredded, unsweetened coconut
- ½ tsp vanilla bean paste
Mango Bar Filling Ingredients:
- 2 packed cups of mango (I used frozen mango that was thawed out to room temp)
- 1 ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1/3 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
- 5 large eggs
- ½ cup all purpose flour
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
For the crust, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Next add in the vanilla bean paste and coconut. Finally, add in the flour, 1 cup at a time until everything is incorporated. Dump the dough into a parchment paper lined and oiled 9x13x2 inch baking dish. Flatten the dough with oiled hands and press it into the baking dish in an even layer.
Bake the crust for 15 minutes, until very lightly browned.
While the crust is baking, make the filling. Puree the mango until smooth, then set aside. In a large bowl or bowl of an electric mixer, mix all 5 eggs with the sugar. Next add in the lime juice and mango puree and mix until everything is smooth and fully combined. Add in the flour and try to get as many lumps out as possible until you have a silky smooth filling.
Once crust is lightly browned and ready to come out, let it cool for about 5 minutes and turn the oven down to 325 degrees. Once the crust is slightly cooler, gently pour the mango mixture on top and carefully place it in the middle rack of the oven to bake for 40 minutes until filling is set in the center.
Let the mango bars cool to room temperature, then chill them for at least 3 hours. These are best when set to chill overnight, because the flavors are able to meld together, and the consistency of the filling is perfectly set.
