Grainfree Mince Pies

Nothing quite says Christmas like a mince pie – it really feels like the festive season has started when you get your first taste of that sweet, spiced fruit flavour! It evokes such a festive feeling – we always have a mince pie and a glass of mulled wine while decorating our Christmas Tree which signals the start of the festivities for us at the beginning of December. It’s the mix of cinnamon and cloves that fills the house as the Grainfree Mince Pies are baking that makes December even more magical.

So how to go about making the Grainfree Mince Pies. To start with you need to make sure you have the mincemeat. YOu can use storebought if you’re OK with all the ingredients or make your own using my Refined Sugarfree Mincemeat Recipe. It’s sweetened only by the fruit!

Once you have your mincemeat, preheat your oven to 180C (350F). The next step is to make the pastry. Melt your coconut oil in a pan/microwave until it is liquid. and then add to a large bowl along with the almond flour and eggs and mix well until it starts to come together into a ball. Place this ball of pastry between two large sheets of greaseproof paper and roll out until around 2-3mm thick. (You can use a rolling pin or you can squish it down with your hands.

Grainfree Almond Flour Pastry Ingredients

Grainfree Almond Flour Pastry between sheets of greaseproof paper

Next, cut strips of greaseproof paper and form a cross in each hole of the muffin tin. (This is just in case your mince pies stick to the muffin tray). It’s much easier to lift them out after they’re baked with the help of the paper crosses. Then, you need to cut out pastry circles around 8-10cm diameter depending on the size of the holes in your muffin tin. Also, cut out enough stars to go on the top of the mince pies. Once you have cut out as many as you can get from your pastry, gather the pastry up and roll into a ball. Roll out again between the two sheets of greaseproof paper and repeat the process until you have no pastry left.

Carefully press the pastry circles into the muffin tin on top of the greaseproof crosses. As the pastry has no gluten in it, it is very delicate and you have to be pretty careful – you can also patch up any cases that split with a bit of extra pastry dough. Bake the empty pastry cases for around 8 mins in the oven until they just start to change colour.

Cutting out mince pie cases from almond flour pastry

Finally, fill each pre-baked pastry case with mincemeat and top with a pastry star. (Don’t overfill as if the mincemeat bubbles over the top of the pastry case, this is what can make them stick to the muffin tin).

Then, bake again for another 8-10 mins until golden brown. Watch them closely as once they start to change colour they can go from pale to brown to burned quite quickly!

Then, remove the grainfree mince pies from the oven. You can lift them out of the muffin tray with the help of the greaseproof paper crosses. Allow them to cool slightly on a wire rack before serving as the mincemeat will be incredibly hot.

Serve the delicious grainfree mince pies with some brandy butter or a drizzle of cream. They’re perfect all the way through December and make any tea break feel so much more festive! They’re also a perfect addition to your Christmas table! Have them with a coffee after your Christmas Dinner!

They can be kept in an airtight container for up to a week (although the pastry may go a bit soft). Just warm them through before serving to bring them back to their original deliciousness. They also freeze really well so you can make a huge batch and eat them all the way through the festive period.