On the back of the FODMAP friendly Christmas pudding, today we’re talking gluten-free, fruit-free mince pies. No longer do the fructose or gluten intolerant have to suffer in silence come Christmas time. This recipe is gluten free, FODMAP friendly and nut free. The fruit mince is vegan, so if you have a solid recipe for vegan, gluten free pastry… You’ll have vegan, FODMAP friendly, gluten and nut free mince pies. I’d say most of our bases are now covered, no?
Gluten-free fruit-free mince pies
The magic of these FODMAP friendly mince pies is the completely fruitless fruit mince. It is made out of very finely chopped cubes of pumpkin that have been candied with sugar, lemon and spices, among other things. The result is that delicious fruit mince we all love, but without the fructose and high FODMAP issues that come with dried fruit.
Our second magic trick is the gluten free, nut free pastry that is made without xanthan gum. It uses a simple blend of easily accessible gluten free flours to achieve a flaky yet solid gluten free pastry. The thing I love about using individual flours is that you can control the blend to be perfect for each recipe. Store bought blends are a one size fits all, which I don’t believe exists in gluten free baking.
Tips and tricks for your gluten free mince pies
You can buy all of these flours at the supermarket, but I recommend sourcing the white rice flour from a health food store if you can. They’re generally a lot finer in texture and taste a lot better.
I’ve chosen this blend of flours to be the simplest and easiest to acquire. At the moment I don’t have any flour blend substitution tips.
Both the pastry and the fruit mince can be made a few days ahead of time and stored in the fridge.
The lower and slower you cook the fruit mince, the chewier and more dried fruit-like it will be. You can cook it in 30 minutes if you’re in a rush, but I like to keep it on a low heat and cook it for an hour or so.
The tapioca flour in the fruit mince is to gel up the liquid so it doesn’t drip out when you bite in. I actually prefer it with the tapioca, but you can omit if you like.
FODMAP notes for your gluten-free fruit-free mince pies
Use Japanese or Kent pumpkin to keep the FODMAP content down. Butternut contains more oligos than these varieties.
As I have mentioned, I really don’t recommend omitting the full fat sour cream. In Australia it is currently difficult to find lactose free full fat sour cream, but given 100g of sour cream is divided between 12 mince pies, it should not be an issue. If you’re really concerned, use some lactase drops in the sour cream 24 hours ahead of using it.
Other than that, we’re golden!
Recipe notes and substitutions
If you don’t need the fruit mince to be fruit free, you can substitute regular mince pie fillings and just make the gluten free pie crust as per the instructions. You could also use the fruit mince in a regular, glutinous dough if that’s what you’re into.
I don’t recommend using light sour cream for this recipe. Because it contains a higher water content than full fat, it results in a less flaky crust.
The vodka is really the secret trick to a hyper flaky crust. Because it contains less water than water (being part alcohol) it hydrates the dough without adding a lot of liquid, which results in a flaky crust. You can use water if you’d prefer to keep the recipe alcohol free.
If you don’t want to use Campari in the fruit mince you can use any alcohol you like (I have even used mezcal.) For an alcohol free option, simply add an extra tablespoon of lemon juice and one of orange juice.
You can use celeriac in place of some of the pumpkin, if you fancy. That is how I originally developed the recipe, but I figured pumpkin was easier to find.
Can I make these low FODMAP mince pies vegan?
With the right gluten free vegan pastry, these mince pies are easily made vegan. I don’t know much about store bought brands, but I understand that some of them are vegan because they use vegan shortening.
I have a number of different gluten free pastry recipes on my website. Many of these can be made with vegan stick butter, particularly if you have access to a good brand.
My top suggestions are this gluten free rough puff pastry with a good vegan stick butter (I hear Earth Balance is good) or the gluten free puff pastry in Intolerance Friendly Kitchen.
More festive gluten free recipes
- My fruit free, gluten free mince pies
- These grain free and refined sugar free Gingerbread
- For my American friends, this gluten free pumpkin pie
- And this gluten free, dairy free pumpkin bread
- These gluten free Linzer cookies
- This waste free pavlova with a dairy free raspberry yolk curd
- These gluten free shortbread
- This gluten free, lactose free tiramisu
- The gluten free cream puffs from my cookbook, Intolerance Friendly Kitchen
Gluten free low FODMAP mince pies
Ingredients
For the fruit mince:
- 500 g Kent or Japanese pumpkin chopped into roughly 1/2 centimetre cubes
- 275g (1 1/3 cups)* caster sugar
- 100ml orange juice
- 100ml lemon juice
- 40ml (2 tablespoons)* Campari or liquor or choice
- 2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 2 teaspoons nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ground clove
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
- 20 g cubed ginger optional
- Sprig of rosemary optional
To finish:
- 2 teaspoons tapioca flour
For the pastry:
- 120g (3/4 cup)* fine white rice flour
- 30g (1/4 cup)* (30g) glutinous rice flour (otherwise known as sticky rice flour)
- 30g (1/4 cup)* tapioca flour
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar
- Pinch of fine salt
- 100 g cold butter cubed
- 100 g full fat sour cream chilled
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste I use Queen brand – they vary in thickness
- Chilled vodka or water as needed
To finish:
- 1 beaten egg for eggwash
- Sugar for sprinkling (optional but delicious)
Instructions
To make the fruit mince:
- The night before, combine all the ingredients for the fruit mince and allow to sit in a non-reactive bowl overnight. This will begin the process of flavouring and candying the pumpkin.
- The next day (or at least 3-4 hours later) pour the mixture into a large saucepan or skillet. Place over a low-medium heat, and allow to cook for around 30 minutes, stirring intermittently. The slower you cook the mixture, the softer the pumpkin will be, so if you have the time you can cook it low and low for up to an hour.
- The mixture should bubble throughout the cooking process. Eventually, a thickened syrup will form while the pumpkin pieces remain intact but soft. Once that syrup is sufficiently thick, remove the mince from the heat and allow to cool completely. If you have used the rosemary sprig, gently remove it and discard.
To make the pastry:
- Combine the flours, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl, stirring to combine. Rub in the cubes of flour, using your forefinger and thumb to gradually press the butter and flour together. The end result should be the consistency of slightly damp sand, with small but visible pieces of butter throughout the mixture. These will form the flakiness of the pastry, so it’s important they don’t melt.
- Add the cold sour cream and vanilla bean paste and use a spoon to stir most of the way. Once it has been mostly incorporated, use your hands to bring the dough together. The aim is to create a ball of dough that is smooth and easy to handle – not too craggy and dry, but also not too wet that it sticks to your hands. To that end, add vodka by the teaspoon and only as necessary – even if it’s just a teaspoon to bring it all together.
- Once the dough is in a ball, wrap it in beeswax wrap or cling film and place in the fridge for around 30 minutes.
To make into mince pies:
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius or 356 degrees Fahrenheit, and grease your cupcake tray liberally with butter.
- Liberally (tapioca) flour a large piece of baking paper on a dry, clean bench.
- Place the dough on the sheet and liberally flour the top. Cut off about 1/4 of the pastry to set aside for the tops of the pies.
- Roll the remaining pastry out into a large rough rectangle, about 1/2 centimetre thick. If the pastry keeps cracking, allow it to warm up a little. If it’s too soft to handle, pop it in the fridge for 5 minutes.
- Use a circular cutter significantly larger than your cupcake tray holes to cut the bases for the mince pies. Lower each pastry round into a cupcake tray hole, gently pressing it flush against the sides but without stretching the dough. Any tears can easily be patched up with your fingers, and excessive dough around the edges can be neatly trimmed.
- Continue this process until you have lined 12 cupcake holes.
- Stir the tapioca flour into the fruit mince until it’s well combined. This will thicken it a little and ensure it doesn’t seep out and create soggy pastry.
- Fill the pastry with the fruit mince and place in the fridge while you make the lids.
- Roll the reserved pastry out into a 1/4-1/2 centimetre rectangle, flouring liberally whenever necessary. Use a cutter the same size or a little bigger than the muffin tin holes to cut out circles or stars for pastry lids. Continue until you have 12.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius and remove the pie bottoms from the fridge. Use the egg to lightly egg wash the sides of the pies, and then press the lids gently but firmly atop to secure. Paint the tops of the pies with the egg wash, and then sprinkle over the sugar, if you’re using it.
- Place the minced pies in the oven for 20 minutes, or until they smell fragrant and have coloured lightly. Turn the grill function on and continue to cook the pies for another couple of minutes, watching closely. Remove them when they are golden brown on top.
- The pies can be served warm or cold, and keep well in an airtight container for up to a week.
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