Mangoes always make me think of home.
Home, the Philippines, yes. But also, home, my family.
Ever since I can remember, my entire family – my immediate family and relatives from both my mother’s and father’s side – would always clamor for mangoes for dessert. Sweet, sticky, with the yellow color so bright it’s almost orange.
I can’t believe that I used to hate mangoes when I was a kid. But I have learned to love it, love it so much. And now I yearn for it, keeping a bag of frozen mango chunks in my freezers (I found that Trader Joe’s has the best ones), buying the pre-sliced ones for easy snacking, trying different varieties to see which comes closest to my beloved mangoes from the Philippines (the ones from Mexico are similar, but still not the same).
When I saw a recipe for Mango Bread in Saveur’s 100 Delicious Recipes Around the World issue, I immediately bookmarked it. I can imagine the texture of banana bread, but studded with mangoes. I decided to use coconut oil for a more tropical flavor, and toasted the walnuts (because why not?) And then, to make everything even better, I poured dark rum over the freshly baked bread.
Eaten warm from the oven, this coconut mango bread reminded me of a a visit to the tropics. Soft and moist, it had the intoxicating scent of mango and coconut. But after chilling in the fridge over night, and letting the sweet and spicy rum seep into the bread, it morphed into something closer to rum cake. Mango Coconut Rum Cake. That sounds even better, right?
Mango Coconut Bread
Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter to grease pan
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 1/2 cups flour, plus more for dusting
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 whole eggs
1 egg yolk
1/2 cup mango purée (I just added a little water to frozen mango chunks and pureed it in my blender)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups fresh mango cubes
1/2 cup chopped walnuts, roasted (to read about how to roast nuts in the oven, check out The Kitchn's tutorial)
1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
1/4 cup dark rum
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Generously butter 3 mini baking loaf pans, or one 9" x 5" loaf pan, then dust with flour. Sift together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and salt in a bowl. Make a well in the center.
- In a separate mixing bowl, whisk together coconut oil, sugar, mango puree and vanilla. Add to well in the flour mixture and mix to combine.
- Fold in mango, walnuts, and shredded coconut. Pour into prepared pans and bake until a toothpick inserted into the bread comes out clean, or about 45 minutes. If you are using a single loaf pan, you may need to bake it longer, about 60-80 minutes. Pour rum over the bread before slicing.
recipe adapted from Saveur's Mango Bread
Recipe
I really loved this chilled, when the bread gets slightly sticky from the rum and absorbs all the flavors. Each bite made me smile with memories of home.
If you’d like to try another easy bread recipe, how about Pumpkin Banana Bread with Cream Cheese Frosting?
And if you’re looking for an easy, no-bake mango dessert, try my recipe for Mango Ice Box Cake. It’s perfect for hot summer days when we’re all craving something cold and sweet.
Hi! I’m Bianca Garcia. I love food, running, yoga, sangria, and my job. I'm an advertising professional, social media enthusiast, blogger, freelance writer, and obsessive list-maker. I think about dessert constantly. 
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I could eat a mango a day (or more!) and think I would absolutely love this bread. It’s so pretty, too!!
Bianca – I love mangoes! I am dying to know what it would taste like in banana bread; it looks great! Thanks for the tip about Trader Joe’s mango chunks. I see it all the time but haven’t bought it since I’ve been disappointed by other frozen ones. When it comes to fresh mangoes, I love to make this Asian mango sago – it’s a cold dessert soup with mango nectar, chunks of mango, sago (like tapioca), evaporated milk…really amazing if you like mangoes. : )
Mmmm sago! In the Philippines, it’s considered more of a drink that a dessert soup – but drink or dessert, I definitely like it! Now I am craving sago, too :)
Mmm this looks good. I didn’t like mangoes until very recently and now I can’t stop eating the frozen mango chunks from Trader Joe’s. Delish!
So good, I go at it straight from the freezer!
Good call on to toasted nuts! I have a mango bread that I make, but this recipe is so much more tropical with the addition of coconut. Great photos, too—they’re making me wish it was sunnier in Boston :).
This looks heavenly!
That bread looks insanely good! I’ve made mango muffins, mango cookies, and oatmeal raisin cookies with dark rum – but never the combo you did and it’s stunning. I looooooove mango. And rum isn’t too shabby. Great job, Bianca!
This looks and sounds incredible! Never would have thought to put the two together in a loaf…lovely!
As a Filipino, I adore anything mango!
I’ve been loving mangos recently – every time the variety pictured above (Ataulfo, I think? they’re my favorite) are on sale for $1/each I can’t resist buying a huge amount.
Thanks for the recipe, and great idea to add rum on top!
Hi, Liz! Yup Ataulfo :)
i like rum, probably too much. i see some great ingredients in this bread, bianca–very nice!
this looks heavenly. mango in bread, what a combination!
Eating a bowl of yogurt with fresh mango chunks (and flax seed) while reading this :) looks yummy! Monic the mango monster will love this! (she just had mangoes for breakfast, before her pancake-cream cheese combo)
this sounds and looks absolutely phenomenal!
It’s always so great to find a dish that reminds you of home, happiness and nostalgia! This quickbread sounds majorly tasty.
This is such a brilliant bread, mango is so tasty :D
Cheers
CCU
P.S Because of my exams, I will not be commenting for around 4 weeks – see you afterwards!
Love that you poured dark rum over the whole thing!
I love quick breads. I never think to put any fruit in it except banana…so silly of me! This bread looks so good!!
oh geez this looks amazing… mango coconut bread… yum!!! love mango and coconut together… gorgeous picks
Hi Bianca I want to make this bread ,it sounds delicious but I have a small question? How much coconut oil do I use, because you mention 1/3 C Coconut but you aren’t saying what coconut it is . Is it oil?
Hi Peter, thanks so much for dropping by and for this comment! Yes, I did mean coconut oil in the ingredients section. I just fixed it, so no more typo :) Let me know how this turns out, I hope you like it as much as I do!