Gluten-Free Vegan Mincemeat Pie
Crust recipe adapted from the traditional mincemeat pie pastry from Joy of Baking.
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 mini pies
- Category: Pie
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Dessert
Ingredients
Mincemeat Filling:
- 1 tbsp coconut oil
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ cup apple butter {I used my homemade apple butter recipe}
- ¾ cup mix of dried fruit {I used a mix of thompson raisins, golden raisins, dried cherries, dried currants, and cranberries}
- zest and juice of ½ an orange
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp cloves
- ¼ tsp ground ginger
- ¼ tsp salt
Pie Crust:
- ¾ cup gluten-free flour mix {I recommend Pamela's Artisan Flour Blend}{or make your own by combining: ⅓ cup brown rice flour, ⅓ cup tapioca starch, 3 tbsp sweet rice flour, ¼ tsp guar gum}
- ¼ cup coconut oil, room temperature {not hot or melted}
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp ice water
Instructions
- Begin by preparing the filling: place all filling ingredients into a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer on medium-low heat, stirring occasionally to combine and allowing the heat to bring the flavors together. Allow mixture to simmer a few minutes, then remove from heat and set aside to cool while working on the crust.
- Preheat oven to 400F. Oil a 12 mini muffin pan and set aside {a good non-stick tin is recommended}.
- Place flour, maple syrup, and salt into a food processor and process to combine. Add in coconut oil and process on pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add in ice water and pulse a few times to combine.
- Scoop out dough and shape into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Prepare a rolling surface {I rolled my dough out in between two sheets of parchment paper for easy handling}. Roll out the dough to approximately ¼" -⅙" thickness.
- Use a round cookie cutter that's a bit bigger than the opening of the muffin cups to cut out as many rounds as you can. Transfer the cut dough circles into the muffin cups and carefully shape each pastry circle to the shape of the cup. Fix any rips or tears in the process {though I didn't really have to -- the dough was quite sturdy!}. Gather up the remaining dough scraps and re-roll dough again to cut out the rest of the rounds.
- Gather up any remaining scraps once again, roll out the dough and then use a smaller cookie cutter {or a knife} to cut out 12 more shaped pieces of dough that will go on top of each pie. {Note: the dough may get quite soft at this point, so if you find the small shapes are difficult to handle, roll out the dough and place in the freezer for 10 mins while working on the next step, this will help it harden up a little so the little cut-outs are easier to handle}.
- Scoop about 1 tsp prepared mincemeat filling into each muffin cup. Top with a smaller dough scrap cut-out shape {see previous step}.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and place muffin tray on a cooling rack. Allow pies to cool for 10 mins, then remove from the tray and enjoy warm or chill for later use.
Notes
I used apple butter in place of chopped apples and apple juice in this filling recipe as it drastically reduces the cooking and prep time in the filling {and adds a lot of flavor, thickness, and natural sweetness}.
Filling can be made days in advance and stored in the fridge {this is actually recommended by some to help the flavors come together more as the filling sits in the fridge overnight, though I used mine straight away and it tasted great too}.
Traditional mincemeat filling consists of a mix of different dried fruit, citrus fruits, candied ginger, etc. Feel free to use a mix of any of the following traditional ingredients you have on hand: dark raisins, golden raisins, dried cranberries, dried currant, dried apricots, dried figs, dates, candied ginger, candied citrus peel, candied cherries, etc. {Personally, I skipped all the candied ingredients to avoid the excess sugar and the funky ingredients these tend to be accompanied with, and I did not feel like they were wanted -- the filling tasted great!}
Double the recipe ingredients for 12 larger mini pies {using regular muffin trays} or for a single larger pie.