It’s that time of year again—the holidays! But the holidays does not mean turkey nor trimmings for me; it means pies. I love pumpkin pie, apple pie, and mince pies.

Every year come the colder months I like to make my own mince pies. I’ve only just discovered these European Christmas traditional treats 5 years ago, and I’ve been making them since. 

Mince pies have been around since the Middle Ages, and contained ground beef (also known as “mince”), fruits, and spices. The latter ingredients were rather expensive, and only the rich could afford them, so mince pies were rather posh.

As time went on, the meat content began to decrease, as the fruit content increased. Today there are no more traces of meat, unless one is daring, and the pie filling (known as mincemeat) is sweet and alcoholic, therefore it can be preserved and used throughout the holiday season.

As soon as I hear “pumpkin spice” on the radio, I make my mincemeat and enjoy it way before Christmas. Of course, I still have plenty come this joyous day.

Hope you’ll enjoy them too!

Ingredients:

1 package pie crust dough 

1 apple, shredded

1 orange, zested and juiced 

1 c. Mixed dried fruits

1/2 c. Mixed nuts, chopped (optional)

1/4 c. Butter

 1/2 c. Sugar

1 tsp pumpkin pie spice or mixed spice

1/2 tsp cinnamon 

1/2 c. Brandy 

Other:

Cooking spray or butter

Mince pie tin or muffin tin 

Circle cookie cutters

 2 tsp milk or an egg 

Method:

1. To make the mincemeat, in a sauce pan add the shredded apple, juice and zest of the orange, fruits, nuts, butter, sugar and spices. Then bring the pan to a boil and allow to simmer for 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally.
2. Turn off the heat and remove the pan from the stove. Add the brandy and mix it thoroughly.
3. Allow the mixture to cool while preparing the pie crusts.
4. To make the pie crusts, roll out the premade pie crust dough, and cut out mini circles. Either spray your mince pie tin (or muffin tin) with cooking spray or butter. Then lay in the pie shells.
5. Scoop 1-2 teaspoons of mincemeat into each pie shell. Cover each with another layer of pie crust and poke holes on top to allow air to escape. (Or add a decorative top like I did.)
6. Wash the tops of the pies with either milk or an egg and bake according to the box pie crust’s directions. 
7. Allow to cool and enjoy with powdered sugar and tea ^-^