Easy fruit mince pies with no sugar added.
These mince pies were made of a spiced, sweet meat mixture, consists of a mixture of dried fruits and spices.



 

Mince Pies

It is that time of the year again to indulge in mince pies.
By this time of the year, everyone is looking for the best mince pies in the market.



Honest truth...

I don't like mince pies! They are too sweet for my liking.
 
Store-bought mince pies are always loaded with sugar, so sweet that I felt sick after ONE bite!

 

Is there meat in Mincemeat Pies?

Mincemeat pies are actually pies without meat!

Mincemeat pies are filled with dried fruits and spices.
Mincemeat making could be traced back to 13th centuries.

Mince in mince pies are made of sultanas, dried apricots, raisins, dried figs, fresh apple and orange marmalade.

Spices like ground cloves and mixed spice were introduced to the mincemeat.

This a non-boozy version of mincemeat pies.

How to make Mince pies?

A full printable recipe is in the recipe card below.

Making mince pie pastry

 
1. Mix flour, lemon zest, almond meal and icing sugar

 
2. Add butter and rub together until breadcrumb like texture

 
3. Add egg yolks and milk

 
 4. Mix until the pastry comes together, then refrigerate for 20 minutes.

Preparing for mince pie filling

 
1. I use store bought mixed fruits, dried apricot, dried apples.
Add ground cloves and mixed spice to the mince pie filling

 
2. I add 1 tablespoon of homemade kumquat marmalade.
You can use any marmalade.
Mix thoroughly

How to make Mince Pies

 
1. I use 24 mini muffin fan baking tray.

Roll out the pastry to 3mm thickness. Using a circular cutter, cut the pastry and gently place the pastry in the muffin pan.

 
2. use the skewer to make some holes at the base.

 
3. Fill up the pastry with mince fruit filling

 
4. Cover the mince pies with star shaped pastry.

 
5. Bake and sprinkle with gold dust.

The best Mincemeat pies in the market

I was told that Marks and Spencer's mince pies are the best!

Comes November, my friend would be looking hi and lo for Marks and Spencer's mince pies.
And MS mince pies don't stay on shelves for long!

 The turn around time is so quick!
You snooze , you lose and you will be without any pies for Christmas.

 She used to vent out her frustration when she couldn't get any!
Christmas without mince pies will be like Eid without lemang :(.

Mince Pies Recipe to try

...and you might be wondering why am I baking mince pies, since I don't like mince pies?

Hubby was surprised that I wanted to bake mince pies for he too not a great fan of mince pies.

Well... I came across a mince pies recipe from an old magazine cut-out.

I believe its was from Prima magazine.

They claimed that this mince pies recipe :-
"Once you've made this mincemeat, you'll never want to buy the ready made-kind ever again!"
Their statement just cried out LOUD to me

  So I MUST try.

Homemade Mince Pies

I am so glad that I tried baking these mince pies.

I would taste the mince pie filling before adding extra sugar.
Most of the time I need not add sugar or just reduce the sugar by heaps to the mince pies filling
The sweetness was just right.

The pastry was good too, soft and crumble in the mouth.
Coming from two person who don't like, never like mince pies.

We gave these mince pies 2 thumbs up!

And I actually lost count of how many mincemeat pies I ate!

I am not sure how Marks and Spencer's mince pies tasted like.

I'd like to believe that these homemade  Christmas mince pies would top that, after all you can control the amount of sugar hence sweetness in your mince pie filling!

How long can I keep the mince pie filling?

I kept my mince pie filling in the refrigerator for 2 weeks.

How to store mince pies?

Keep them in an air tight container and consume within 2 weeks.

More Seasonal Recipe to try :

• Slow Roast Duck with Cherry Sauce
• Spritzen Christmas Wreath
• Gingerbread House
• Rosemary Seasalt Sables

Video on How to Make Mince Pies