Vegan Mince Pie & Brandy ‘Butter’ Recipe

Vegan Mince Pies? Sounds like an oxymoron, right! We thought so too but turns out it’s more than possible and even more delicious than the original version. Ally Van de Pol of Dragon Fitness & Coaching, a fitness coach and plant-based advocate, shares her very special recipe below. Yumsy!

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry & Pie Assembly

It’s not the easiest pastry to work with as sweet often isn’t- I use muffin liners in the bun tins to make it easier to get them out.

Ingredients

For one batch ( makes 12 mince pies):

• 2 cups gluten free flour (like Bob Mills GF Baking Flour)
• 2/3 cup coconut oil ( make sure it’s cold and hard)
• 1/4 tsp sea or Himalayan salt
• 1-2 tbsp icing sugar
• 3-6 tbsp cold water

Directions

1. Rub oil into flour and salt, until mixture resembles breadcrumbs, add sugar to taste. Add enough water so that pastry comes together.
2. Use a round pastry cutter- I use the top of a mug to cut out rounds which I then pop into each liner. If you get holes or tears just fill them and mould with bits of pastry.
3. Add your vegan mincemeat (recipe below), then using a star (or any other Christmassy cutter), cut out star shapes and pop on top.
4. Bake at 180C for about 20-25 mins. Take out, dust with icing sugar and eat!  Serve with vegan brandy butter below or a dollop of coconut cream.

Vegan Mincemeat

A lot of shop-bought mincemeat has suet in, so it’s not vegan. This recipe is just an ‘assemble job’: no real cooking needed, and it tastes better than any mincemeat from a jar! It keeps for months in the fridge too.

Also, don’t worry if you can’t find some of the dried fruit, you can substitute another or add more of what you can find:

Ingredients

• 2 heaped cups raisins
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1/12 cup dried blueberries
• 1.5 cup dried cherries
• 1.5 cup dried chopped figs
• 1 cup slivered (or chopped raw almonds- I bashed mine in a plastic bag with a rolling pin!) – omit if you want to keep this nut-free
• 2 lemons zest and juice
• 2 oranges – zest and juice
• 1 large apple grated
• 1 cup coconut sugar (or any granulated sugar)
• 3 teaspoons ground all spice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons rosemary chopped finely
• 1.5 cups port/ 0.5 cups brandy (or add unsweetened apple juice if you want it alcohol free)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 110C.
2. Mix all the ingredients together, except the alcohol, in a large oven proof bowl or casserole.
3. Cover tightly with tin foil or  a lid and place in the oven. Leave to warm in the oven for 90 minutes.
4. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, then add the port and brandy and stir really well.
5. Transfer into clean jars, ideally sterilise by washing in hot soapy water and place on a baking tray at 220C for 10 minutes. Fill the jars with the mincemeat and cover with a  waxed disc then seal tightly with a  lid.
6. Proceed with caution if you are giving this mince meat/ mince pies to children. Ideally make a non-alcoholic version for them.

Vegan Brandy Butter

You could just add brandy and icing sugar to a shop bought vegan butter, but where’s the fun in that? Plus you get a sock load of preservatives and unpronounceables to boot. Try this on your omni friends- see if they can tell the difference!

Ingredients

• 5 tablespoons plant based milk
• 4 tablespoons ground almonds/ almond meal
• Scant ½ cup icing sugar, ideally organic. You can use granulated sugar but the result might be a little grainy.
• ½ tsp nutritional yeast
• ¼ teaspoon salt1/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• ½ cup coconut oil
• 3 tablespoons brandy, add more if you want a stronger flavour.

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients together. The colour will depend on if your almonds had skins on; skins equals a beige-hued butter; no skins equals a cream-colored butter.
2. Store in the fridge. Note: it will melt in contact with a hot mince pie or Christmas Pudding.

All images courtesy of Ally van de Pol.