Gluten Free Christmas: Gluten Free Mince Pies

November 30th, 2008 by admin

Gluten free mince pies have been on my mind since the beginning of November! It’s sad, I know, but Jamie absolutely loves mince pies, and when the first ones started appearing in Walmart it suddenly occurred to me that it’s his first gluten free Christmas and I can’t buy any for him this year.

I must admit at this point that I have never made ordinary mince pies successfully, so gluten free mince pies were always going to be something of a challenge but I have, after more than a few mishaps, come up with two batches of gluten free mince pies - the first of which disappeared before I could even get a photo!

Gluten free mince is fairly easy to come buy. I found it on my first trip to Walmart. The secret, as ever seems to be in the pastry and therefore in the gluten free flour that is used. I had my best results with a simple plain gluten free flour (available from the gluten free mall) but found the secret to be to add loads of xanthan gum which gives the pastry back some of its elasticity and takes away the totally crumbly texture that you get otherwise.

So for another of my easy gluten free recipes: Gluten Free Mince Pies

Ingredientsistmas

100g butter/margarine
200g plain gluten free flour (and some for rolling out and sprinkling)
few teaspoons of water
1tblspoon xanthan gum
gluten free mincemeat
Little bit of mile or a beaten egg to glaze

Method

Rub together the flour, xanthan gum and butter/margarine with your fingertips

Add sufficient water to make a dough. Keep kneading! Unlike ‘normal’ pastry, the more kneading the better - the rules of keeping it cool don’t seem to apply!

Roll out the dough and cut into circles of the right size, then place in your pie tins

Add a spoonful of the mince into each and top with a further pastry circle, dampening the edges to make it stick

Brush the top with a bit of milk or a beaten egg

Bake at 180′C / gas 5 for about 20 minutes until the pastry is golden brown

Top tip: If these are to be served at a gathering where there will also be ‘normal’ mince pies, make yours distinctive - an unusual shape on top or something - so people can tell at a glance which are the gluten free mince pies.