Gluten-Free Fruit Mince Pies

Mince pies dusted with icing sugar on a bench.

These Gluten-Free Mince Pies will be a perfect addition to your festive celebrations. An easily made, buttery pastry, encases sweet fruit mince, richly fragrant with spices we associate with Christmas. Your family and friends will love these traditional Mince Pies, now suitable for those who follow a gluten-free diet.

Course Afternoon Tea, Dessert, Morning Tea

Cuisine British

Prep Time 1

Cook Time 17

Chill Time 1 30

Total Time 2 47

Servings pies

Calories 149kcal

Author Alexandra Cook - It's Not Complicated Recipes

Equipment

2 x 12-hole ⅓ cup muffin tins
1 x 7 cm (2¾ inch) cookie-cutter, with a scalloped edge if you have one
1 x 5.5 cm (2 ¼ inch) star-shape cookie cutter
Pastry brush

Ingredients

For the Pastry:

2 ¼ cups (340 g) gluten-free all purpose/plain flour See Note 1
2 tablespoon sugar See Note 2
½ teaspoon baking powder See Note 3
¼ teaspoon coarse cooking salt
¾ cup (185 g) unsalted butter - cut into 1 ½ cm (½ inch) cubes
½ cup (120 g) full-fat sour cream See Note 4
iced water - if required See Note 5

Fruit Mince:

2 cups fruit mince/mincemeat - homemade or store bought See Note 6

To assemble:

1 egg - beaten, for brushing the pastry

Instructions

For the Pastry:

Prepare all the ingredients before you start. For accuracy, it is best to weigh your ingredients. The butter and sour cream need to be chilled so measure them out just before you begin.
In a glass or small bowl, add some ice to a quarter cup of water and set it aside.
Add the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt to the bowl of a large food processor. Pulse twice to combine the ingredients.
Add the butter and pulse until the butter is about the size of a pea. Add the sour cream and pulse until combined.
Start the processor, and with the machine running, gradually add iced water, if needed, through the feed tube until the dough starts to come together. The amount of water required is dependent on several factors; the type of flour, the humidity and the type of fat used.
Be careful to not make the pastry wet and sticky. Test by squeezing some with your fingers to see if it will come together. If it crumbles, add a teaspoon at a time until it will form a dough. If it is too wet and you need to add extra flour it will negatively affect the texture. Do not overmix.
Turn the dough onto a piece of clingwrap and bring it together with your hands. When the ingredients are thoroughly incorporated, flatten into a block, approximately 15cm x 12cm (6 x 4 ¼ inches), and smooth with your hands, turning it over once or twice and making sure there are no cracks. Wrap in the cling wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

For the Fruit Mince:

Turn the Fruit Mince, homemade or shop-bought, into a bowl and stir thoroughly. See Note 6.

To Assemble:

Remove the pastry from the refrigerator about 10 minutes before you want to use it.
Cut the block of pastry in halves, using one half and keeping the other wrapped in the fridge.
Place the pastry half between two large sheets of non-stick baking paper to roll. This will avoid adding extra flour which would affect the texture of the pastry.
With your rolling pin, start at the centre of the block of pastry and roll away from you. Give the pastry a quarter turn and repeat this procedure. If your pastry is cold and starts to crack, leave it for another 5 minutes.
Work quickly and evenly, occasionally lifting the baking paper, then return it to the surface of the pastry and turn the pastry over. Doing this occasionally helps to roll the pastry evenly and keep it from sticking to the baking paper.
The pastry needs to be kept cold. If it becomes warm as you are working, cover it and return to the fridge to chill.
Roll the pastry evenly to about 3 mm (⅛ inch) thick. Use a 7 cm (4 ¾ inches) cookie cutter and cut out 10 circles. See Notes 7 and 8.
Use your fingertips to gently ease the pastry circles into the muffin tin. See Notes 9 and 10.
Add about 1 tablespoon of fruit mince to each cup and smooth it with the back of a teaspoon. It should sit just under the level of the pastry cup. Repeat until you have 10 cups filled in your muffin tin.
Gently bring the pastry offcuts together and re-roll to cut the stars. When re-rolling leftover pieces of pastry, don’t roughly squash them, stack the pieces on top of each other before rolling. This way, the pastry will not toughen.
Sit the stars on your fruit mince. They will just touch the edges of the pastry cups. Cover any pastry offcuts and return to the fridge.
Place the tin in the fridge to chill while you work with the other pastry half, repeating the procedure as above. You may find that you have sufficient pastry to make more than 20 pies.
Ensure both tins have chilled for at least 10 minutes prior to baking.

Baking the Mince Pies:

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees C (400 F).
Remove the mince pies from the fridge and, using a pastry brush, brush the stars with a little beaten egg which will help them to develop a nice golden colour. Be careful to not get the egg on the tin as it will cause the pies to stick.
Place the muffin tins into the oven and bake for 15-17 minutes until the pies are a nice golden colour, swapping the trays and turning them around halfway through.
Remove the trays from the oven and set them aside for 10 minutes. Do not try to remove the pies immediately as they may break.
After 10 minutes, remove the pies by sliding a blunt-tipped knife or small offset spatula down the side of the pies, gently lifting and easing them out of the tin. Place them onto a cooling rack.
Enjoy the mince pies immediately, or store them in an airtight container once completely cool.

Video

Notes

Gluten-free flour: I have tested this recipe using Orgran Gluten-Free Plain Flour and Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 baking flour. Our gluten-free flour blends contain xanthan gum to stabilise and provide structure to our recipes. If your flour blend already contains it, there is no need to add more. Not all gluten-free flour blends are equal. It may take trial and error to find one which you like.
Tablespoon: we use a standard Australian tablespoon which is 20 ml (4 teaspoons). For readers located elsewhere in the world, please use 1 tablespoon + 1 tsp.
Baking powder: check that your baking powder is gluten-free.
Sour cream: The sour cream that I used was very thick. If yours is quite thin, you may not need as much water.
Water: if you need to add water, do it gradually. To bring the pastry together, I needed to add 1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons of water.
Fruit mince: we use our Homemade Fruit Mince in this recipe, however, you can certainly use store bought if you prefer. If using store bought, you may wish to brighten the flavour with a little fresh orange zest. Also, be sure to check that the level of spice is to your liking.
Cookie cutter: depending on the exact size of your cookie cutter, and the thickness you roll the pastry, you may get more than 20 pastries. I got 24 but I recommend that you start by cutting 10 circles from each pastry half.
Dusting the cutter: occasionally, dust your cutter with flour so it doesn’t stick to the pastry and cuts through cleanly. I keep a small dish with a little flour on the bench.
Muffin tins: I have used non-stick muffin tins and it was not necessary to grease them due to the amount of butter and sour cream in the recipe. If you are unsure of your tins, it would be worth trying one or two mince pies first. Alternatively, lightly grease the tins – do not be heavy-handed or it will affect the texture of the pastry.
Pastry tears: if the pastry should tear, gently push it together or patch with a small amount of the offcut pastry.
Accuracy when baking: we have provided both volume and weight measurements, but when it comes to baking, weighing your ingredients is more accurate.
Storage: keep the cooled mince pies in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.
Freezing: when the Mince Pies are cool, store them in an airtight container. If there is more than one layer, place a sheet of baking paper between them so they don’t stick together. They can be frozen for up to 3 months. To serve, allow them to defrost prior to warming through.
Reheating: they can be reheated in your oven at 180 degrees C (355 F) for about 6-8 minutes.

Nutrition