Mango Mini Muffins

I LOVE mangoes. Love, love, love them. When I saw this recipe for mango bread, I was totally inspired, since I usually don't do much with mangoes besides just plain eat them. Speaking of which... I have a little mango story. We'll get back to that after the recipe, though.


The first time I made the original recipe for mango banana bread, it was good, but a tad bland. So I decided to alter it a tiny bit, and to make it into mini muffins.

Top row: prepping the muffins; bottom row: fresh out of the oven.

Don't you just love these mini cupcake wrappers I found? We have an awesome bakery store called Spun Sugar just a dangerous 2 blocks away, so I am often tempted to pick up fun stuff... these wrappers reminded me of spring, and I thought they'd be a perfect holder for mango mini muffins.

Recipe inspired by Vegan Mango Banana Bread from The Sweet Life and the Tolerant Vegan's Coffee Cake Cupcakes
Makes 24 mini muffins
Ingredients:
Muffins:

• 1-2 bananas (1 large or 2 small) 
• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil (can use slightly less with more banana)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1 ripe mango, sliced into bite-sized pieces
• Optional: 1-2 tsp agave syrup.

Cinnamon drizzle:

• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 1.5 tsp melted Earth Balance/butter

Steps:

1. Mash the bananas in a large bowl. Then add the sugar, vanilla, and oil and mix.  
2. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, and spices.
3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well. 
4. If your mango isn't very sweet and juicy, or if you want a sweeter muffin, toss the mango pieces in some agave syrup. Then fold in to the batter.
5. Prepare the cinnamon drizzle by mixing ingredients together (you can melt the butter in the microwave but it won't take long so watch it!) 
6. Line a mini muffin pan (holds 24) with mini cupcake holders (or lightly grease then pan). Spoon enough batter for slightly less than half the holder, and then drizzle about 1/4 tsp of the cinnamon mix in. Add more batter to almost fill each holder. If desired, drizzle with a little bit more of the cinnamon mix. 
7. Bake for ~18 minutes at 350 F. 

Allow to cool for about 30 minutes and store in an air-tight container or wrap in tin foil.

Yummy! Moist, low-fat, spice from the ginger & cinnamon, and chock-full of mangoes.

Notes:
The whole wheat flavor comes through a little here; if you want something a little less "healthy tasting," you can always use 1/4 cup whole wheat flour and 3/4 cup regular flour. I like them as is though. And I actually thought these tasted better the next day- the cinnamon flavor intensifies a bit and they stay perfectly moist provided you have kept them wrapped up.

So, back to the mango story: I don't know if I've mentioned this on my blog before, but I'm allergic to mangoes. Not allergic like I can't eat them, but allergic like I have an uncomfortable reaction. The first time I realized this was after eating probably the best mango I have EVER tasted. Sometimes when mango isn't quite ripe, you get hard flesh that is tough to get off the peel, and doesn't have much flavor. This was not one of those times- this mango was sweet, tender, and amazing. It was so good, I shoved my face right in it. I sucked that mango flesh right off of the peel. It was such a juicy mango, it drizzled down the side of my face, but I was too far in mango heaven to care.

A few days later, I woke up and looked like Angelina Jolie. Well, ok...just my lips did. Which I was actually pretty psyched about. Except for the fact that they felt like they were on fire, were dry, and had tiny bumps that itched like crazy all over them. And I had some of those bumps around my mouth too, detracting from my Angelina moment. At first I thought maybe it was a lip gloss I'd been using. But the bumps were on my hands, too. My doctor and I eventually figured out what we thought to be a curious fact (one that I later found out is common knowledge in some regions, or to anyone who knows mangoes well): the inner peel of the mango contains the same oil found in poison ivy. To which I am awfully allergic. Hence the itchy bumps and Jolie-swelled lips. Luckily, I can still enjoy mangoes- I just have to wash my hands well immediately after cutting them. That, and avoid shoving my face in them ;-)