Mango Spice Muffins

Special shout out to the National Mango Board for sponsoring this post and helping keep this site/me moving/shaking/twisting.

We’re wading into the waters of pumpkin spice and holiday seasons, but what if we could make the colder months mango spice season instead?

This recipe uses fresh mango puree from a v v v large green-skinned mango, aka the Keitt mango. This delicious, versatile fruit is in season and available fresh year-round, thanks to the six varieties that have staggered growing seasons, and I’m not complaining. To ensure your mango is ripe, give it a gentle squeeze. It should give slightly when pressed. Each mango variety has a slightly different color (like the green Keitt mango I used in this recipe), so don’t use color as an indicator for ripeness.

When used in a recipe like this, the mango almost takes on the same responsibility as pumpkin in the fall and adds a bunch of sweet moisture to the muffins. The warm spices give us pumpkin spice adjacent vibes, dare I say combatting the need for any pumpkin at all in this season of pumpkin spice.

The muffins come together easily and are a perfect start to any day, but the streusel makes them a perfect sweet snack throughout the day.

Mango Spice Muffins

Makes 12

For the Streusel:

1/4 cup butter, cold and cubed up

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 tablespoons white granulated sugar

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

For the Muffins:

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 1/4 cups mango puree, from about 1 large ripe mango*

3/4 cup white granulated sugar

1 large egg

1/4 cup neutral oil, like canola or grape seed

Instructions:

1. Start by making the streusel. In a bowl, carefully toss together the butter, flour, sugar, cinnamon and salt then use your fingertips to smash the butter into smaller pieces until it’s evenly incorporated, and the mixture starts to clump together. Break the streusel up into smaller pieces then transfer to the refrigerator for the butter to firm up while you make the muffin batter.
2. Preheat your oven to 350ºF and line a muffin tin with 12 baking cups
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom. In another bowl whisk together the mango puree, sugar, egg, and oil then add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix together just until combined. Use a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop to scoop 1/4 cup of batter into each muffin tin until all 12 are filled. 
4. Take out the streusel and break it up until you have no clumps bigger than the size of a pea, then add about a tablespoon of streusel to each muffin, spreading it out evenly over each muffin. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
5. Let the muffins cool in the pan for 5 minutes then carefully remove the muffins and let them cool completely on a metal cooling rack before serving.

*To make the mango puree, carefully slice the cheeks off the mango and scoop out the flesh into a blender. Then, use a spoon to scrape off the mango flesh from the pit until all of it is in the blender. Blend on high for 15-20 seconds until smooth then use however your heart desires.