Caroline's Cooking

Internationally inspired recipes for everyone to enjoy - mostly healthy, always tasty

  • Recipe index
    • Breakfast/Brunch
    • Appetizer/Starter
    • Main dishes
      • 30 minute meals
      • Seafood recipes
      • vegetarian meals
    • Side dishes
    • Lunch
    • Snack recipes
    • Desserts
    • Drinks
  • International recipes
  • Subscribe
  • About Caroline’s Cooking
You are here: Home / Holiday ideas / Mince pies (sugar free and gluten free)

Mince pies (sugar free and gluten free)

December 17, 2014 by Caroline's Cooking 9 Comments

Pin
Tweet
Share

mince piesSo first of all, I hope you have made your own mincemeat, as it really does make for a tastier pie than bought versions, not to mention a lot healthier. Then, now that you have your mincemeat, the next step for me is to make some delicious mince pies. As I mentioned in the previous post, in case you missed it, the name is deceiving as these are actually deliciously sweet and no meat in sight. They go perfectly with a nice warm cup of coffee, hot chocolate or mulled wine.

ready to roll pastry for mince piesTo take mincemeat to mince pies, you basically need to make pastry and fill a base layer with mincemeat and top it either with another layer of pastry, with a little air vent, or a more decorative covering such as a star or lattice pattern. I would tend to advice against leaving them open as the mincemeat will probably dry out, plus you miss out on that lovely balance of crisp pastry with the juicy sweet mincemeat in between. Mince pies are usually made in a muffin/cupcake tin to be a nice handy single-serving size. I tend to use quite a shallow pan as it makes a good size and has less steep sides which work better for filing etc. It is possible to make a larger tart size, but personally I find a slice of that much more fiddly to eat and am less convinced by the balance of sweet filling and pastry, but that may just be me.

filling mince piesI recently saw chestnut flour when I was shopping and while I had heard of it before, for some reason it hadn’t clicked with me to use it in any way. Given the time of year, it seemed a perfect compliment to these seasonal treats so I decided to try it in a gluten-free pastry for these tarts, so more people can enjoy them but also for the nice flavor. If you would rather a more traditional pastry, then I would suggest the recipe in the pumpkin pie post.

mince pie

I would warn that this pastry, like many gluten-free pastry recipes, is fairly crumbly, and so I would probably suggest it is better to cover the top properly rather than try to do a lattice as I did, as it will hold together a bit better. These do come out of the tin OK, if you are careful, but tend to collapse if they get the slightest bit jiggled around in transit (as I discovered) and sometimes if you hold them on the two edges rather than supporting underneath. All a bit of a flaw, I appreciate, and I did debate whether to post this pastry recipe at all, but decided I still would as it does taste delicious and they are already better than earlier versions. But, I might keep working on the pastry and would forgive you if you wanted to use another pastry, such as the pumpkin pie one as I mentioned, or else used ready-made. It’s OK, the star here is the mincemeat, so I would put the time into that if I were you and you have limited time. You won’t regret it – these are delicious! And you can tell yourself they are almost good for you too, if you really need an excuse to have a second one.

mince pies

mince pies
Print
Mince pies (gluten free)
Prep Time
25 mins
Cook Time
10 mins
Total Time
35 mins
 

These mince pies might be a little crumbly, but they are full of fantastic festive flavor and gluten free too.

Course: Snack
Cuisine: British
Keyword: gluten free mince pies, traditional Christmas recipe
Servings: 10 - 16
Author: Caroline's Cooking
Ingredients
  • 4 oz unsalted butter 110g, 1 stick, cut into chunks
  • 1 cup chestnut flour 110g
  • 1/2 cup almond flour 56g, ground almonds
  • 2/3 cup rice flour 90g
  • 2 tbsp water
  • 1 egg yolks or 2, if needed
  • I quantity of mincemeat see separate recipe
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400F/200C.
  2. Making the pastry is easiest in a food processor. Place the three flours and the butter in the food processor and pulse until like fine breadcrumbs.
  3. Add the water and egg yolk(s) and pulse until mixed. It will probably still be crumb-like.
  4. Remove dough from mixer food processor and bring together into a ball, needing together a little.
  5. Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface (using rice flour), to a fairly thin thickness - only around 1/4in/2mm. Cut circles in the dough bigger than your tin holes so that when you press it in to the tin, it fills to the top. You may find the circles crack as you fill the tin - if so gently press the dough together to seal the holes.
  6. Fill the cases with mincemeat, filling fairly full, then top the pies with either a smaller circle, star, or decorative lattice, sealing down at the edges and cutting a small vent in the top if covering completely.
  7. Bake in oven for around 10-15mins until gently golden.

Pin
Tweet
Share

Filed Under: Holiday ideas, Snack recipes Tagged With: Christmas, gluten free, mincemeat, sugar-free

« Sugar-free mincemeat
The cranberry gin experiment (part 2: finishing touches) »

Comments

  1. Jhuls says

    December 19, 2014 at 9:34 am

    I haven’t made my own mince pies or eat either. Poor me! So I will take this opportuniy to have my first. And as a co-host, I hope you don’t mind me taking more than my share, πŸ˜€ Enjoy the party!

    Reply
    • Caroline's Cooking says

      December 19, 2014 at 2:16 pm

      Do definitely try them, they are delicious! And definitely come back for more – just tell yourself they are almost healthy πŸ™‚ Thanks for co-hosting!

      Reply
  2. Loretta says

    December 19, 2014 at 7:23 pm

    Beautiful mincemeat pies, I’ve never made them myself yet, but have always indulged in them when I lived in the UK.

    Reply
    • Caroline's Cooking says

      December 19, 2014 at 8:31 pm

      Thank you, I made them partly as I am no longer in the UK, but now I have made them I think I prefer my version. It’s not difficult, so hope you do give t a try!

      Reply
  3. Sadia says

    December 20, 2014 at 7:51 am

    I love this recipe. Must try!

    Reply
  4. Judi Graber says

    December 20, 2014 at 12:15 pm

    What cute little pies – I love the individual servings πŸ™‚

    Reply
  5. Indu says

    December 21, 2014 at 12:56 pm

    yum..this looks so appetizing! I am impressed with the ingredients you sue for your pastry dough – almond flour and chestnut flour – it must make the whole thing so yummy! πŸ™‚

    Reply
  6. Sarah @ Sarah's Kitchen says

    December 21, 2014 at 5:20 pm

    I’e never had a mince pie before but I now know I definitely should! It looks awesome and super delicious!

    Reply
    • Caroline's Cooking says

      December 24, 2014 at 8:16 pm

      Thanks Sarah, I hope you manage to try making them and enjoy them!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Caroline's Cooking

Welcome! I'm Caroline and this is where I share recipes inspired by travels, places I want to go, or just ideas from feeding the family. Most recipes are easy to make and healthier, but there are treats too! Read More…

Search for more recipes:

Recent Posts

  • bo kho – Vietnamese beef stew
  • Beet and blood orange salad
  • Eccles cakes
  • Gambas al ajillo (Spanish garlic shrimp)
  • Chocolate madeleines

Get the free newsletter!

Thanks - you have successfully subscribed!

More on Caroline’s Cooking

  • About Caroline’s Cooking
  • As featured…
  • Blogging resources
  • Eat the world! International recipes
  • Instagram
  • Language and measurements
  • Privacy policy
  • Recipe index
  • Subscribe

We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.

Meta

  • Log in
  • Entries RSS
  • Comments RSS
  • WordPress.org

Copyright © 2019 · Foodie Pro Theme by Shay Bocks · Built on the Genesis Framework · Powered by WordPress