Dessert Light Bites & Snacks Recipes

Mince Pies

Whether you made your own mincemeat or not, there are still ways to help increase the diversity of plant fibres in your mince pies. You could try adding in some extra dried fruit to bought mincemeat, zesting in some clementine zest, or try adding carrot like in my own mincemeat recipe. And you don’t have to stop there, you can even change the pastry!

In my recipe, I use a mixture of shortcrust pastry to stay traditional, but use a crumble topping instead, keeping it lighter, but also so it allows me to include more plant sources. I use both oats and ground almonds in my crumble.

Each of my mince pies contains around double that of shop bought mince pies. I always find it harder to include fibrous foods over the festive period as there are so many treats to eat! My homemade mince pies contain 8 different source of plant-based goodness, and research shows those who eat 30 or more different sources of plant-based foods per week have an increased variety of gut microbiota in comparison those who eat 10 or fewer different sources. So feed your microbiome!

These mince pies are delicious served warm with vanilla custard, a true Christmas time treat.

If you want to make vegan mince pies, use a pre-made vegetable oil based shortcrust pastry and top with the crumble mixture substituting the butter for rapeseed oil.

Makes 12 deep-filled mince pies

Recipe

  • 750g mincemeat, shop bought or homemade
  • Short crust pastry, either bought or homemade (see below)
  • 75g plain flour
  • 50g fridge cold butter
  • 25g rolled oats
  • 50g ground almonds
  • 25g soft light brown sugar

Method

  • Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C Fan
  • Roll the pastry out to 2mm, around the thickness of a 2p coin.
  • Cut disks of pastry out to 11-12cm diameter and line a muffin tray.
  • Fill each case with mincemeat, leaving a little gap at the top.
  • Make the crumble topping by mixing the flour and butter together until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
  • Add the oats, almonds and sugar and combine.
  • Top each mince pie with a spoonful of the crumble topping*.
  • Bake for 22-25 minutes till golden brown.
  • Cool on a wire rack

To make your own shortcrust pastry combine 225g plain flour with 100g cold butter till it resemble bread crumbs. Add just enough cold water to form a dough. Wrap and rest it in the fridge for 30 minutes before rolling.

Mince Pies

Per Mince Pie 327kcal/ 13.7g fat/ 4.5g saturated fat/ 48.1g carbohydrates/ 2.5 fibre/ 3.2g protein

*Crumble topping makes enough for 24 mince pies

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