Simple to make and deliciously moreish, children can enjoy them without getting those nasty sugar highs (and lows). You could make an extra big batch to bring with you to parties or family celebrations this year.
Summary
Prep: 20 minutes
Cooking: 20 minutes
Ages: Toddlers to Teens
Difficulty: Intermediate
Makes: 14 mince pies
How long do fruit mince pies keep for?
As these are homemade and preservative free, they don’t keep as long as some store bought kinds. We recommend keeping them in an airtight container in the fridge and consuming them within 1 week. They can also be frozen for up to 3 months.
Fruit mince pies, gluten free
Ingredients
Gluten free shortcrust pastry:
- 325 grams / 2 cups naturally gluten free flour* (we used Doves farm rice flour)
- 150 grams / ⅔ cup unsalted butter, softened
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup (60 ml)
- 1 egg
- 1½ teaspoons of xanthan gum
- juice of 1 orange (50 ml)
- pinch salt
*You can replace this with plain flour if you want regular mince pies. If you do this, remove the xanthan gum from the recipe as well as it’s not needed with all-purpose flour.
Fruit mincemeat filling:
- 3 apples (150 grams) finely chopped, with peel on
- 60 grams raisins
- 50 grams sultanas
- 50 grams currants
- 50 grams goji berries
- Zest and juice of ½ orange
- Zest and juice of ½ lemon
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 25 grams / 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (or coconut oil)
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt (remove if using salted butter)
Topping:
- 1 egg, beaten with a little water (for the eggwash)
- Icing sugar for dusting (optional)
Instructions
Gluten free shortcrust pastry:
- To make the dough, sift the gluten free flour into the bowl of a food processor.
- Add the softened butter and mix on a high speed until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Add in the maple syrup, egg, xanthan gum and the juice of 1 orange to the mixture. Beat again until it makes a dough.
- Remove the dough and knead it gently on a floured surface.
- Cut the dough into two pieces, wrap each one in clingfilm, and chill in the fridge while you make the mincemeat.
Fruit mincemeat:
- Dice the apple. The pieces should be about as big as the raisins. The peel can stay on.
- Place all the mincemeat ingredients into a large saucepan and set on a low heat.
- Cook with the lid on for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent it sticking to the pan. Make sure it’s on a low heat and that you check on it every few minutes as the dried fruits can burn quite quickly.
- Towards the end of cooking time remove the lid to let any excess liquid evaporate. Empty the mixture into a bowl and set aside.
Fruit mince pies:
- Preheat the oven to 170°C or 340°F fan setting.
- Grease a shallow cupcake tray with butter or oil spray.
- Take the pastry out of the fridge and working with one half at a time, roll it to approximately 3 mm thick. You can do this by flouring a flat surface or by rolling the dough between two pieces of greaseproof paper.
- Using a cookie cutter, cut out circles that are roughly the same size as the holes in your cupcake tray. Press the cut out circles into the greased cupcake holes.
- One of your two pieces of dough should make about 12 circular bases. The rest will be used to make the stars on top, and a further 2 bases and stars.
- Fill each pastry case with 2 heaped teaspoons of mincemeat mixture.
- Roll out the remaining half of the pastry to 3 mm thickness and cut the stars out. You want them to be smaller than the width of the mince pies. Gently place each star on top of the mincemeat mixture.
- In a bowl make the eggwash by beating an egg with a little water.
- Brush the tops of the mince pies with the eggwash and place them on the middle shelf of the oven to cook for 20 minutes or until golden.
- Leave the pies in the tin to cool before releasing from the tin. Dust with sieved icing sugar before serving (optional).
Fruit mince pies – your step by step guide:
Make your gluten free shortcrust pastry
To make your pastry, whizz the flour and butter in the bowl of a mixer until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.
(Note: If you’re using gluten free rice flour you’ll need to add the xanthan gum in the next step so that the dough ties together. If you’re using plain flour then you can just use the flour without the xanthan gum.)
Add in the maple syrup, egg, xanthan gum and the juice of 1 orange and beat again until it makes a ball of dough.
Remove it from the mixer and knead it for a minute on a clean, floured surface. Split the ball of dough into 2 parts. Wrap each one with clingfilm and place in the fridge while you make the mincemeat.
Cook your mincemeat
Dice your apples until they’re small pieces, about the size of raisins. Place them in a saucepan with your butter, raisins, currants, sultanas, goji berries, zest and juice of your orange and lemon, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and maple syrup.
Set on a very low heat and simmer for 10 minutes checking it regularly and scraping down the sides to avoid sticking. You want to keep an eye on it at this stage as the dried fruits can burn pretty quickly.
Take the lid off for the last few minutes of cooking time to allow all the water to evaporate. When your filling is ready, place it in a bowl and set aside while you roll out the dough.
Roll out your dough
Preheat your oven to 170°C or 340°F fan setting and grease a shallow cupcake tray with butter or oil spray.
Take your dough from the fridge and roll out each of the two dough balls separately. You can do this on a floured surface or by rolling them between two pieces of greaseproof paper.
By the end, the dough should be thin, only a few mm thick.
Take a cookie cutter which is the right size. It should be about as wide as the holes in your cupcake tin. Cut out round circles for the base of the mince pies. One half of the dough should be enough to allow you to cut 12 pastry bases.
Press down on the mince pie bases
Place each mince pie base in a cupcake hole. Press them down lightly so that they fit the moulds.
Fill with mincemeat and top with stars
Fill the pastry bases with a few teaspoons of your mincemeat.
The filling should be level with the top of your crust.
Then roll out the second piece of dough in the same fashion and cut your stars out using a star shaped cookie cutter. They should be slightly smaller than the tops of the mince pies.
Place them carefully on top of the filling.
Brush with eggwash and cook
Beat an egg with a little water in a bowl. Brush the tops of the mince pies with the egg wash and place them in the middle shelf of the preheated oven to cook for about 20 minutes or until golden.
Sprinkle with sifted icing sugar (optional)
Leave to cool and then sieve icing sugar over the top of the mince pies for added wow factor. Or you can simply leave them plain.
Serve up fruit mince pies as a healthier festive treat!
Fruit mince pies, gluten free
Equipment
-
Round cookie cutter, large
-
Star-shaped cookie cutter, medium
-
Food processor
Ingredients
Gluten free shortcrust pastry
- 325 grams naturally gluten free flour* (2 cups) – we used Doves farm rice flour
- 150 grams unsalted butter, softened (⅔ cup )
- 4 tablespoons maple syrup (60 ml)
- 1 egg
- 1½ teaspoons xanthan gum
- 1 orange, juiced (50 ml)
- pinch salt
Mincemeat filling
- 3 pink lady apples (150 grams) finely chopped, with peel on
- 60 grams raisins
- 50 grams sultanas
- 50 grams currants
- 50 grams goji berries
- ½ orange, zest and juice of
- ½ lemon, zest and juice of
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 25 grams unsalted butter or coconut oil (2 tablespoons)
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt (remove if using salted butter)
Topping
- 1 egg beaten with a little water (for the eggwash)
- 40 grams Icing sugar for dusting (optional)
Instructions
Gluten free shortcrust pastry
-
To make the dough, sift the gluten free flour into the bowl of a food processor.
-
Add the softened butter and mix on a high speed until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
-
Add in the maple syrup, egg, xanthan gum and the juice of 1 orange to the mixture. Beat again until it makes a dough.
-
Remove the dough and knead it gently on a floured surface.
-
Cut the dough into two pieces, wrap each one in clingfilm, and chill in the fridge while you make the mincemeat.
Fruit mincemeat
-
Dice the apple. The pieces should be about as big as the raisins. The peel can stay on.
-
Place all the mincemeat ingredients into a large saucepan and set on a low heat.
-
Cook with the lid on for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent it sticking to the pan. Make sure it’s on a low heat and that you check on it every few minutes as the dried fruits can burn quite quickly.
-
Towards the end of cooking time remove the lid to let any excess liquid evaporate. Empty the mixture into a bowl and set aside.
Fruit mince pies
-
Preheat the oven to 170°C or 340°F fan setting.
-
Grease a shallow cupcake tray with butter or oil spray.
-
Take the pastry out of the fridge and working with one half at a time, roll it to approximately 3 mm thick. You can do this by flouring a flat surface or by rolling the dough between two pieces of greaseproof paper.
-
Using a cookie cutter, cut out circles that are roughly the same size as the holes in your cupcake tray. Press the cut out circles into the greased cupcake holes.
-
One of your two pieces of dough should make about 12 circular bases. The rest will be used to make the stars on top, and a further 2 bases and stars.
-
Fill each pastry case with 2 heaped teaspoons of mincemeat mixture.
-
Roll out the remaining half of the pastry to 3 mm thickness and cut the stars out. You want them to be smaller than the width of the mince pies. Gently place each star on top of the mincemeat mixture.
-
In a bowl make the eggwash by beating an egg with a little water.
-
Brush the tops of the mince pies with the eggwash and place them on the middle shelf of the oven to cook for 20 minutes or until golden.
-
Leave the pies in the tin to cool before releasing from the tin. Dust with sieved icing sugar before serving (optional).
Notes
