Spiced Mango Chocolate Chip Muffins

Like I said last month, for some reason, recently all these We Should Cocoa themes keep bringing me back to muffins. I went from Nigella’s chocolate chocolate muffins, to honey banana chocolate chip muffins, and now to these mango muffins. Now.. I could have made it a quick bread instead and made it into a loaf, but part of me wanted to stay in this muffin groove because I love muffins.

The downfall with muffins is I have a hard time just eating one and yesterday I ate far too many muffins for one human being. I had one for breakfast this morning too. The mango/chocolate combination is perfect.

This month’s We Should Cocoa is hosted by Allotment 2 Kitchen. You should join!
For those who don’t know, We Should Cocoa comes from the love and support of Chocolate Log Blog and Chocolate Teapot.

Speaking of mangoes, my brother has requested for his birthday that I make him a mango cake. I have several recipes pulled. Besides the “mango cake” he didn’t give any other suggestions on flavors or type of cake, so that’s free reign for me. Does anyone reading this have some ideas for recipes that might work? So far I have:

Tres Leches Cake with Mango Whipped Cream
Chunky Fresh Mango Cake
Mango Cream Cake

Any other ones you suggest I look at?

Spiced Mango Chocolate Chip Muffins
(source)

Ingredients
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp ground ginger
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
1 1/2 cups mango, chopped
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, vegetable oil, and applesauce.

2. In a large bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, sugar, brown sugar, and baking powder.

3. Once mixed together, pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture. Stir together to get rid of any dry clumps. Once well mixed, fold in the mango and the chocolate chips.

4. Spoon into a prepared muffin tin. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool for 10 minutes. Remove from tin and place on a wire rack until completely cooled.

* makes a dozen muffins
* Besides We Should Cocoa, this dish is being shared with Wednesday Whatsits & Cast Party Wednesday

Brie and Brisket Tacos with Mango Barbecue Sauce

I saw this recipe sometime back and it initiated a drool fest. I can’t usually make mango dishes because Matt is allergic to many raw fruits – mangoes, avocados, pears, apples . . . basically, lots of stone fruits. However, if you take those raw fruits and cook them he’s not allergic to them anymore. We’ve done some research on it and basically it’s an enzyme in the fruit he’s allergic to that gets cooked out. Because of this I rarely get to eat avocado and I rarely get to eat mango. When I saw this recipe I was so happy because the mango was cooked!

If you read this, will you share recipes with me that you’ve enjoyed that have included cooked mango and avocado? I know of dishes for the pear and apple, but the mango and avocado are much desired in my diet but also avoided.

Anyway, this mango barbecue sauce did not cause an allergic reaction in him! The brisket was absolutely delicious. The brie on the taco was so fancy and tasty.

Brie and Brisket Tacos with Mango Barbecue Sauce
(source)

Ingredients

BRISKET
3 lb brisket
salt
ground black pepper
garlic powder
ground chili powder
20 oz Dr. Pepper

MANGO CHUTNEY (needed for sauce) 
1 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup yellow onion, diced
1/4 jalapeno, minced
3 cl0ves garlic, minced
3 tbsp cider vinegar
juice from 1 lemon
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
pinch of ginger
pinch of curry powder
1 mango, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup raisins
1 cup water

MANGO BARBECUE SAUCE
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
1 1/2 tsp mustard
1/4 cup of mango chutney

TACOS
8 taco shells
8 oz brie, thinly sliced

Directions

BRISKET

1. To make the brisket, rub the meat with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and chili powder. Place in the slow cooker and pour the Dr. Pepper over the top. Set on low and cook for 8 hours.

2. Once done, remove from the slow cooker and let sit for 10 minutes. Slice the brisket against the grain.

MANGO CHUTNEY

1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Add the onions and saute until translucent. Add the jalapeno and garlic an cook for 1 more minute.

2. Whisk together the vinegar, lemon, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, ginger, and curry powder.

3. Add to the onions. Add mango, raisins, and water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to medium-low. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Using a spoon smash the mangoes. Cook uncovered until the liquid has reduced.

MANGO BARBECUE SAUCE

1. Heat the olive oil in a saucepan. Saute the onions for 5 minutes.

2. Stir in the remaining ingredients and cook for 5 minutes.

3. Pour into a food processor and pulse until well combined.

TACOS

1. Put meat in each of the taco shells. Top with barbecue sauce and cheese.

* serves 8, but with extra meat left over
* Shared with F.O.T.M.C. at La Cocina de Leslie and Simply Delish at KB and Whitesnakes Home