I have found my new favorite brownie.
For reals. I am SO happy with how these experimental brownies came out. Some of you might be thinking “Mango? In brownies?! Is she serious?” And I’m hear to tell you that I am. Dead freaking serious.
I loooove fruit and chocolate together (as evidenced here, here, and here), and several years ago, I discovered that dried mango dipped in melted chocolate was an incredible combination. It may sound weird, but I urge you to give it a try! And I double urge you to try out these brownies.
They are a brainchild of mine that has been in gestation for a long, long time. I tested this recipe out a few weeks ago and sent the resulting brownies to work with Dan. They got rave reviews from his coworkers. A couple people even said that they were the best thing he’s brought in yet. So yeah. These are pretty darn tasty.
The brownies themselves have mango going on in two ways. The first is pureed mango. The second is chopped dried mango bits. Both are delicious, and I think both are necessary in ensuring that these brownies really send home that mango flavor.
The brownie batter is deeply chocolatey and results in super fudgy, dense brownies (which is what I prefer). It’s also an extremely easy batter to throw together because you don’t have to wait to soften butter. You simply melt chocolate and butter together in small increments in the microwave (or in a double boiler, if you don’t have a microwave). Then you stir everything into the chocolate.
One-bowl brownies for the win (well, except for the blender you’ll need for the mango puree)!
I topped these with a simple mango frosting. I had extra puree left over from the batter, and I didn’t want to waste it. The frosting added yet another mango element to these brownies, and now I can’t imagine them without the frosting. It was a good game-time decision!
If fruit and chocolate isn’t your thing, I still urge you to try these out. The mango is subtle and tangy and adds such a fun, tropical flare to otherwise standard chocolate brownies. I think it’s more subtle (and more delicious!!) than any berry-chocolate combo I’ve had yet.
And that’s really saying something.
Mango Brownies
- Yield: 12-16 brownies, depending on how you cut them 1x
Ingredients
For the Mango Puree:
- 2 ripe mangos, peeled, pitted, and chopped (or 1½ cups defrosted frozen mango)
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon of sugar
For the Brownies:
- 1 stick of unsalted butter
- 4 oz unsweetened chocolate
- ½ cup of the mango puree
- 1½ cups of sugar
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 3 eggs
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
- ½ cup dried mango, finely chopped
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
For the Frosting:
- 1 stick of unsalted butter, softened
- ¼ cup of the mango puree
- 3 cups powdered sugar
- Pinch of fine salt
Instructions
For the Mango Puree:
- Place the mango and lemon juice in a blender and blend until completely smooth and pureed.
- Transfer the puree to a small saucepan and add the sugar. Place over medium heat and bring to a simmer.
- Stirring frequently, cook for a few minutes or until the puree thickens.
- Remove from the heat and set aside. Scoop out ¼ cup of the mango puree and set aside for the frosting.
For the Brownies:
- Preheat an oven to 325°F. Grease a quarter sheet pan (or two 8 x 8 inch baking pans) and line with a piece of parchment paper that overhangs the edges of the pan (makes for really easy removal later).
- In a heat-safe bowl, mix together the butter and the chocolate. Microwave in 30-second increments, stirring after each time, or until the butter and chocolate are melted. Stir well to combine and then mix in the mango puree.
- Whisk in the sugar, salt, eggs, and vanilla until smooth.
- Place the chocolate chips and chopped dried mango in a fine mesh strainer and set the strainer over the bowl with the batter.
- Add the flour to the strainer and gently shake the strainer so that the flour falls through into the batter while simultaneously coating the chocolate chips and mango pieces.
- Stir in the flour until it is just incorporated, resisting the urge to overmix the batter. Last, fold in the flour-coated chocolate chips and mango pieces.
- Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the batter is set in the middle and the edges are crisp. Allow to cool completely before frosting.
For the Frosting:
- While the brownies are baking, make the frosting by creaming together the butter and half of the powdered sugar until smooth and fluffy. Add the mango puree and the remaining sugar and beat until the frosting is very thick and fluffy. Taste and add a tiny pinch of fine salt, if needed.
- Frost the completely cooled brownies with the buttercream. Place the pan of brownies in the fridge for about 30 minutes so that the buttercream can firm up a bit.
- Remove the brownies from the pan using the overhanging parchment paper. Slice the chilled brownies and serve!
NOTES:
- You do not need to serve these brownies chilled (I happen to like them that way), but chilling them before slicing makes it so much easier!
Hi There. I'm Molly. I'm a food-obsessed, self-taught cook and I can't wait to share my passion for all things culinary with you. My love for egg yolks is just the tip of the iceberg!
Hi! So I just used this recipe to make PAPAYA brownies, and they were AH-MAZING!
I had a very ripe payaya sitting in the fridge, and I read somewhere papayas are kinda similar to mangos, so I randomly searched for a brownie recipe and found yours! I pretty much followed it exactly, except for omitting the bit adding dried mango pieces (added crushed walnuts instead), and halved the sugar as well (I prefer less sugar).
Also, for the icing, I used greek yogurt + a little bit of white choc melted + papaya puree instead to make it a bit healthier. It was great, a little runny, but tasted good with it overall.
Anyway, thank you so much for this! Everyone loved them! Will definitely try with mangos once they are in season 😀
We enjoyed the dessert. Went well with chocolate ice cream. Next time I would have omitted the dried mango, as they were a bit too sweet, but overall I would definitely try this again.