Our Signature Mince Pies

Back in 2016, when we were a lunch delivery company, we added these mince pies to our daily menu. Fun, festive, bitesize treats. Except we really didn’t anticipate their popularity, and before we knew it we were baking upwards of 100 of these every day. Cutting out that many bitesize cases + stars by hand as a team of 4 meant we were quickly counting down to the big day for more than one reason! Making 20 though? Totally manageable! They taste exactly like a traditional mince pie, just with all our usual 'free-from's' applied. Christmas simply wouldn't be the same without them. 

Recipe:

OUR SIGNATURE MINCE PIES
Makes 20

PASTRY:

INGREDIENTS
- 1.5 cups ground almonds
- 2 tbsp cup honey
- 1/4 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup brown rice flour
- 1 egg

METHOD
1. Mix together the ground almonds and brown rice flour until fully combined. 

2. Add the honey, coconut oil (room temp) and egg to mix until it forms a ball - adding more flour if necessary. 

3. Chill the dough in the fridge for one hour, or overnight if you possible.

4. Preheat the oven to 175C, and grease the moulds of a mini muffin tine with coconut oil.

5. Remove the dough from the fridge and place between 2 sheets of baking paper. Roll over the paper with a rolling pin to flatten out the dough until thin. Using a cookie cutter, cut out 32 circles and lightly press into the muffin pan moulds. Tip: the pastry is quite difficult to work with as there’s no gluten present, so if the pastry splits, simply push it back together with your fingers to fix it. 

6. Place a heaped tbsp of mincemeat in each.

7. Using the remainder of the dough, cut out 32 stars to top each mince pie. Use a little water to help these stick down if needed. 

8. Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes. 

9. Remove and leave to cool in the tins before gently transferring to a wire cooling tray.

MINCEMEAT:

INGREDIENTS
- 100g raisins
- 100g cranberries
- 100g currants
- 1 apple, grated
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 5 oranges, juice and zest
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup water

METHOD
1. Add all the ingredients to a large pot over a medium heat. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 20 minutes

2. Remove the pan from the heat and leave the mincemeat to cool.

3. Store in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 2 weeks. 

Tip: leftover mincemeat can be used as a festive porridge topper, or mixed with apples to make a festive crumble or pie.