Mince Pie Recipe – Vegan, Gluten Free, Sugar Free and Delicious!

[schema type=”recipe” name=”Vegan, Gluten Free, Sugar Free Mince Pies” author=”Rachel Howard” pubdate=”2015-09-20″ image=”http://www.sundaybaking.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/IMG_20150920_120322-700×393.jpg” description=”Mince pies made without dairy, gluten or refined sugar. ” prepmins=”10″ cookmins=”30″ yield=”18″ ]

I know, I know…it’s only September! I’ve been quite ill for a few weeks so wanted to make something to cheer myself up so I started thinking about Christmas!!

As I have been cutting down on refined sugar, I haven’t really been baking as much as usual as you have probably seen if you follow my blog posts. So when I had the urge to bake yesterday I started to look for sugar free recipes. This one from Deliciously Ella jumped out at me straight away.

I love mince pies and this year will be my first Christmas on my new diet. Obviously I will give in to a little sugar now and then (it’s Christmas after all!) but if there is anything I can make without it that still tastes delicious then I will.

The house smelt so wonderful while the minced fruit was bubbling away I knew this was going to be a good recipe.

These are so easy to make – and very quick! I had trouble finding dried cranberries that hadn’t been drowned in sugar, but I suppose it’s just the wrong time of year? (If you are looking to keep low on the sugar just look out for this when buying packaged dried cranberries)

[callout title=Ingredients for the filling:]

• 2 apples
• 1 vanilla pod (you can use essence if you prefer)
• 100g raisins
• 100g sultanas
• 100g dried cranberries
• the juice of 2 oranges
• 1 tablespoon of coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon of ground ginger

[/callout]

Method:

• Core the apples and chop them into small chunks
• Slice the vanilla pod and scrape out the seeds
• Add all the ingredients in to a saucepan and stir
• Simmer for around half an hour (until the apples are soft)

[callout title=Ingredients for the pastry:]

•  400g of ground almonds
• 6 tablespoons of coconut oil
• 4 tablespoons of water
• 400g medjool dates

[/callout]

Method:

• Heat the oven to 180C
• While the fruit is simmering, add all the crust ingredients to a blender and mix until well combined
• Spread some flour (gluten free if this is important to you) on to your surface and roll the dough to about 0.5cm thick
• Grease a muffin tin with coconut oil
• Place the circles of pastry directly into the muffin tins and put them in the oven for 8 minutes (or until they turn golden brown)
• With the remaining pastry, cut out shapes for the top of the pies
• Remove from the oven and once cooked, add the minced mixture and top with a pastry shape
• Return to the oven for another 8 minutes
• Leave to cool  and set for 20 minutes before trying

My verdict? Delicious. Quite different to the standard mince pie, but an absolute joy to eat. They are full of flavour and hold up well. When I make them again, I will use a larger cutter to make a bigger pie.

 

I’m a big pastry fan so wasn’t really sure what I would make of this but again – it’s so good! Great texture and flavour. If I have any left over next time I am going to add some ginger and see if it makes good ginger biscuits.

These are definitely being baked again. I put them in a tin overnight and although still tasty, the pastry has gone a little soft so I think I may have needed to bake them for slightly longer which I will also try next time.

Just 96 sleeps until Christmas!!!!