Soft and spicy gingerbread on top of fruity homemade mincemeat make these gingerbread mince pies a simply deliciously festive treat!

OHMYGOSH.  I could NOT be more in my element right now.  Planning and cooking ALL the Christmas food I can’t wait to share with you.  I know this year Christmas may be very weird, very disjointed or feeling very isolated.  Or all of these things.  But I’m determined to make the most of the colder weather and all the warming spices and festive smells that are coming out of my kitchen right now.  Mince pie season for me starts in October.  And as Phil only decided last year that he liked mince pies (thank you Viennese Whirl Mince Pies) and as he loves gingerbread I thought I’d combine the two into one truly festive flavour extravaganza.  That’s a thing right?  Either way these gingerbread mince pies were a hit.

First time I made these was just before the second national lockdown here in the UK.  We managed to squeeze in a quick trip to see Phil’s brother and fiance and a couple of their friends before it was back to facetime calls and relative isolation.  And as the recipe makes a lot (30 something – don’t worry, they freeze great, just defrost and give a gentle warm in a low oven) Phil actually managed to not eat the whole bloody lot before we went.  Everyone loved them, none were left – which always makes me disproportionately happy.  Good food, good company, lots of laughs.

They were the days huh?

Anyway …

How to make these super simple vegan mince pies:

Buy pastry.  Or not.  Up to you.  In the chaos of life there’s no judgement on cutting some corners.  If you want everything homemade from scratch I’ve got a complete step by step guide to making pastry.

Make your own mincemeat.  This I DO recommend.  It takes less than half an hour, start to finish, and can be chilling while you do the other stages.  It also tastes SO much better, you know exactly what’s in it and you can make it more or less sweet dependent on taste.

Make gingerbread.  This is super easy and takes only a few minutes.  You can use a stand mixer or beat by hand.  If you’re doing it by hand make sure to soften the butter first.  Beat together the butter, sugar, syrup and treacle.  Then gently stir in the dry ingredients – flour, bicarb, cinnamon and ginger.  Mix together until you get a soft dough.  Wrap in parchment or cling film and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.  You can make both the mincemeat and gingerbread in advance.  The mincemeat will keep at least 2 months in the fridge.

Roll out pastry.  Even using pre-rolled shop bought pastry I roll it out a bit thinner – I prefer thin pastry on a mince pie so you get more filling 😉

Cut out pastry circles.  You want a larger cutter, big enough so that the pastry covers the bottom and sides of your mince pie tin.  I used these fluted pastry cutters and this mince pie tin.  Pop your circles into your tin and gently press into the cups.

Fill the pies with mincemeat.  I used a heaped-ish teaspoon per pie.

Roll out the gingerbread.  I wanted a thick ginger cookie topping so rolled the dough to around 5mm thick.  Dust your work surface well with flour to stop the dough sticking while you roll.

Put the lids on the pies.  Gently press the edges together.  You don’t need to be too fussy with this as the gingerbread is quite a soft cookie mix and will bond well with the mincemeat and pastry underneath.

Bake for around 20 minutes.  The gingerbread should still feel quite soft to the touch.  It does firm up once cooled.  Though it’s SO delicious when the mince pies are still warm.  Give them at least a few minutes out of the oven to cool before devouring.  Phil learnt the lesson about molten mincemeat filling the hard way!

If you have any spare scraps of gingerbread or pasty just roll, cut into strips and bake for 15-20 minutes.  The birds love the pastry and the gingerbread is great spread with a bit of jam or buttercream!

If you love gingerbread as much as we do, you’ll love these deliciously festive vegan recipes …

Gingerbread cookies – nothing says Christmas quite like a gingerbread cookie right?

Gingerbread granola – even though granola is for life not just for Christmas.

Gingerbread pancakes – super easy festive breakfast.

Gingerbread hot chocolate – there honestly isn’t a better way to treat yo’self.

I’d love to hear from you if you make these Gingerbread Mince Pies! Just leave a comment as it’s so helpful and I love to hear how the recipe worked out for you! Thank you so much!

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