Vegan Mofo Day 23: Sickly Sweet Sundays

Sometimes you just need some pudding in your life. I’ve had my fair share of chocolate puddings, tofu based, avocado based, soymilk based, you name it, but I like to switch it up every now and then. Enter Banana Mango Pudding Bars. I found the original recipe in an issue of VegNews and since it was created by Hannah Kaminsky, I knew they were going to kick ass. You damn well know I couldn’t leave well enough alone, so instead of sticking to the original recipe which consists of bananas and a vanilla pudding, I took some mangos I had ripening and threw them into the mix.

The recipe consists of a browned butter shortbread type crust, a layer of bananas and a layer of mango pudding. Um, shit yeah! I don’t mean to gloat (I totally mean to gloat) but these turned out amazingly tasty. The recipe says to let them chill in the fridge for an hour but I would recommend longer, mine were somewhat set when I took them out but as you can see from the pictures, they were still a little soft, overnight would probable be best. The mango didn’t come through as strongly as I hoped but that may have to do with that fact that the fruit in the grocery store is somewhat lacking in the flavour department this time of year. These bars turned out luscious, sweet and creamy, my token taste tester (P) gave them two thumbs up.

Banana Mango Pudding Bars
Makes 16 squares 
Adapted from VegNews (July+August 2009 issue)

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup non-dairy margarine
• 1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

• 3 bananas, diced
•  1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/3 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups coconut milk, divided
• 2 ripe mangoes (3/4 cup)
• 2 tablespoons non-dairy margarine
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and lightly grease an 8×8-inch square pan.

Peel mangoes, scoop out flesh and place into a food processor or blender. Puree mango until completely smooth. Set aside.

In a small saucepan over medium low heat melt margarine. Cook, stirring constantly, until margarine begins to turn golden brown, about 5-10 minutes. Immediately remove from heat and stir in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. In a small bowl, whisk together sugar and flour, add margarine and mix well until  a dough-like/shortbread consistency is reached. Evenly press dough firmly into the bottom of the prepared pan and take for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

 In a small bowl, drizzle bananas with lemon juice to coat, then evenly distribute over the crust and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Pour in just enough coconut milk to form a paste, and mix thoroughly. Add remaining coconut milk and 3/4 cup of mango and place over medium-high heat. Whisking constantly, bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat and add margarine and vanilla, whisking thoroughly until margarine has melted.

Pour pudding mixture onto crust, smooth down the top with a spatula, and let cool completely. Refrigerate for a minimum of one hour (overnight is best). Slice into squares and serve.

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