Gluten-free Christmas: Mince pies recipe
Makes 12
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without mince pies, so I had to find a way of making a healthy version to keep up with tradition. I think I’ve found a tastier option, try them and see for yourself.
For the pastry:
60g (2oz/4 tbsp) vegan butter, plus extra for greasing
4 tbsp coconut palm sugar
½ tsp vanilla extract
85g (3oz/½ cup) rice flour, plus extra for dusting
50g (1¾oz/½ cup) chickpea flour (gram)
60g (2oz/scant ½ cup) cornflour (cornstarch)
¼ tsp xanthan gum
a pinch of Himalayan pink salt
3 tsp water
For the filling:
60g (2oz/scant ½ cup) unsweetened dried blueberries
100g (3½oz/⅔ cup) unsweetened dried cranberries
70g (2½oz/scant ½ cup) sultanas (golden raisins)
finely grated zest of 1 orange
juice of ½ orange
finely grated zest of 1 lemon
¼ tsp grated nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
Method
First, make the pastry. In a bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, mix together the flours, xanthan gum and salt. Pour the flour mix into the butter mixture, add the water and use your fingers to mix it together toform a dough. Knead for a minute and then roll into a ball, wrap in clingfilm (plastic wrap) and chill for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, put all the ingredients for the filling in a food processor and pulse until you achieve a rough consistency. Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/gas mark 3, and grease a 12-hole muffin tin with vegan butter. Dust a work surface with some rice flour and roll out the pastry until 3mm (⅛in) thick. Using a pastry cutter, stamp out 12 rounds, rerolling the trimmings and cutting again; keep the remaining pastry aside. Use these rounds to line the base and sides of each muffin ‘hole’.
Fill each pie with 1 tablespoon of the ‘mincemeat’ – don’t overfill or it will bubble out during cooking. With the remaining pastry, roll out to a thickness of 3mm (⅛in) and using a shaped cutter (I like to use a heart or a star), cut out 12 shapes that will form your pie lids.
Place over the filling, pushing the edges of the lids down to meet the bottom pastry rim. Bake in a preheated oven for 10–15 minutes. Remove from the oven, leave to cool and transfer to a wire rack. Then, dust with some rice flour or agave powder and enjoy while still warm.
NUTRITIONAL NUGGET
Blueberries and cranberries are rich in iron, fibre and beta-carotene to boost your immunity and give you natural energy.
Recipe taken from Natasha Corrett's second book, Honestly Healthy for Life
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments