Vegan Mince Pies - rich pastry and homemade sticky mincemeat full of festive fruits and spices! #veganmincemeat #veganmincepies #veganchristmas | Recipe on thecookandhim.com

Posted in Recipes on 12.12.2018

Vegan Mince Pies

prep: 30 mins / cook: 1 hour 10 mins / inactive: 30-60 mins / total: 2 hours 10 mins / quantity: 12 vegan mince pies Print recipe?

These Vegan Mince Pies have a short, rich pastry filled with homemade sticky mincemeat packed full of festive fruits and spices!

We’ve got both home made mincemeat and from scratch pastry in these vegan mince pies.  And if you’ve never tried making your own pastry, vegan or otherwise, it couldn’t be simpler.  I’d also say the same for the mincemeat!

In my pro-kitchen days we used to make so much mincemeat it required a thoroughly scrubbed sink and a paddle like spoon to mix it all.  And boy it was knackering on the arms!

These days it’s just a medium saucepan, around 45 minutes and a lot less interaction to end up with a rich, fruity, sticky sweet homemade mincemeat.

The pastry is also really simple – all it needs is a light touch.

Vegan Mince Pies - rich pastry and homemade sticky mincemeat full of festive fruits and spices! #veganmincemeat #veganmincepies #veganchristmas | Recipe on thecookandhim.com

Knead the dough as little as possible –  just enough to bring it together.  You then need to leave it to rest – this relaxes the gluten in the flour, resulting in less/no shrinking of the pastry during baking

Vegan Mince Pies - rich pastry and homemade sticky mincemeat full of festive fruits and spices! #veganmincemeat #veganmincepies #veganchristmas | Recipe on thecookandhim.com
Vegan Mince Pies - rich pastry and homemade sticky mincemeat full of festive fruits and spices! #veganmincemeat #veganmincepies #veganchristmas | Recipe on thecookandhim.com

The final consideration for these vegan mince pies is how much to fill.  There’s a balance between so little filling you end up sending out a search party to look for it and cramming so much in it just bubbles over and makes a sticky, glued to the baking tray mess.

Vegan Mince Pies - rich pastry and homemade sticky mincemeat full of festive fruits and spices! #veganmincemeat #veganmincepies #veganchristmas | Recipe on thecookandhim.com

I do tend to err on the side of overfilling.  I’d rather deal with the mess than have an empty void in my pies 😉

Vegan Mince Pies - rich pastry and homemade sticky mincemeat full of festive fruits and spices! #veganmincemeat #veganmincepies #veganchristmas | Recipe on thecookandhim.com

The pastry in this recipe makes enough for 12 vegan mince pies but the mincemeat makes enough for 24.  So you can either halve the mincemeat mixture or do a few other (highly recommended) things:

 

Vegan Mince Pies - rich pastry and homemade sticky mincemeat full of festive fruits and spices! #veganmincemeat #veganmincepies #veganchristmas | Recipe on thecookandhim.com

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Vegan Mince Pies

prep: 30 mins / cook: 1 hour 10 mins / inactive: 30-60 mins / total: 2 hours 10 mins / quantity: 12 vegan mince pies

Ingredients

Mincemeat:

  • ½ cup (80g) sultanas
  • 1 cup (170g) dried mixed fruit
  • ¼ cup (30g) goji berries
  • ½ cup (90g / approximately 10) dried apricots – chopped into smallish dice
  • ½ cup (90g) dried figs – chopped into smallish dice
  • 1 orange – grated zest and juice
  • 1 lemon – grated zest and juice
  • ¾ cup (160g) coconut sugar
  • 1 tsp ground allspice
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 2 tsp ground nutmeg
  • ½ cup (120ml) apple juice

Pastry:

  • 2 cups (250g) plain flour
  • 2/3 cup (110g) dairy free spread – I used Vitalite
  • 2 tblsp coconut sugar
  • 3 tblsp cold water

Mince pie tin

Instructions

  1. For the mincemeat, simply put everything in a heavy based saucepan and bubble over a low-medium heat for around 45 minutes until thick and very sticky. Give a good stir occasionally.
  2. Leave to cool while you make and rest the pastry - unless you're making in advance then cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the fridge
  3. For the pastry, put the flour and spread into a medium bowl and combine the two by rubbing them together between your fingertips. Do this just until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs then stir in the coconut sugar
  4. Add 2 tblsp cold water and mix together until it starts to form a dough - add another tblsp water (or more) if the mixture is too dry. You want to knead it as little as possible, just enough to bring it all together
  5. Wrap the dough in foil or cling film and put in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. The pastry can also be made in advance and stored in the fridge or freezer. Just thoroughly defrost before using
  6. Just before you're ready to use the pastry preheat your oven to 170 Fan / 190 C / 375 F / Gas 5
  7. Unwrap the pastry onto a floured surface and roll out to around 2mm thick, turning the pastry 90 degrees every couple of rolls - this helps stop the pastry sticking and helps with even rolling out
  8. Cut out 12 circles using a 3 inch (7cm) cutter then cut out another 12 using a 2 1/2 inch (6cm) cutter, re-rolling the pasty as necessary
  9. Lay the large circles into the mince pie holes, gently pushing down so the pastry sits in the tin like a cup
  10. Fill each cup with a teaspoon of mincemeat then top with a pastry lid. You can sprinkle the tops with just a dash of caster sugar here for a sparkly topping but it's not necessary
  11. Put in the oven and bake for 25 minutes until the pastry is golden
  12. Leave to cool for 5 minutes in the tin before carefully lifting out onto a cooling rack to cool completely - unless you're serving warm which I highly recommend ;)
  13. Once cooled, store in an airtight container. Don't store in the fridge, this will make the pastry quite hard

Notes

  • The coconut sugar can be subbed for normal sugar but as coconut sugar is quite dark and caramely, a light brown sugar would be lovely!
  • You can swap the spices and increase/decrease depending on taste – I’ve been using ginger in everything recently so didn’t include it, feel free to add it if you love ginger!
Vegan Mince Pies

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Hello there!  I’m Sam, devoted dog mum to Nooch and Baxter and your go-to vegan foodie on a mission to make plant-based eating a delicious adventure!  Join me as I whip up mouthwatering recipes that celebrate FLAVOUR.  From cozy comfort foods to vibrant salads and decadent desserts, there’s something for everyone in my kitchen.

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