A healthy fruit mince pie recipe

Nothing screams ‘Christmas’ like a nice warm batch of home-made mince pies.

While commercially-made mince pies brought from your local cafe/bakery are convenient, they usually contain vast amounts of energy-dense ingredients and lack any real nutritional value. This Christmas, our team of PPN dietitians have been on the hunt to find a recipe that was not only nutritious, but super simple and delicious. And we think we’ve found one!

Check out the recipe below and if you happen to make a batch yourself, don’t forget to share pictures with us on social media by tagging @ppndietitian. We love seeing your creations.

Ingredients

Filling

– 500g Apple
– 250g Sultanas
– 100g Cranberries
– 1 tsp Cinnamon
– 1/2 tsp Nutmeg
– 1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
– Juice of 1 orange
– Zest of 1/2 an orange
– 500ml water
– 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste

Base

– 175g rolled oats
– 50g desiccated coconut
-70g almond meal or LSA (linseeds/sunflower seeds/almonds)
– 2 tbsp olive oil
– 2 tbsp honey
– 1 tsp vanilla extract or paste
– 2 tsp water

Method

1) To make the mince pie filling, combine all fruit, spices and vanilla extract with water. Bring the mixture to the boil and allow it to simmer until the fruit softens and the mixture thickens. You can always add additional water if you feel the mixture is too thick. Once you are happy with the consistency, set the mixture aside to cool while you prepare the bases.

2) Pre-heat oven to 180ºC.

3) Line a muffin tray (10-12 portions) with baking paper or lightly spray with olive oil.

4) Start making the casings by combining the dry ingredients in a bowl or food processor (oats, coconut, almond meal/LSA). Once combined, add the wet ingredients and mix until sticky and smooth. Again, feel free to add more water if your casings appear too dry.

5) Once you are happy with the consistency of the casings, squeeze out any additional water. Wrap the dough in cling wrap and refrigerate for 40 minutes.

6) Roll the chilled mixture between two sheets of baking paper. Cut the mixture with a round cookie cutter so your pastry fits nicely into the muffin tray. Choose a cutter that is slightly larger so your pastry forms a rounded cup to hold the fruit mince.

7) Once you have placed the pastry into your muffin tray, fill each one with the fruit mixture you prepared earlier. Top with small off-cuts of the oat-mixture. If you have additional cutters, you may wish to make stars, hearts etc. to place on top.

8) Bake in the oven until golden brown. Allow pies to cool for 5 minutes.

9) Serve warm with your choice of sides… A thickened Greek yoghurt is always a refreshing and delicious option.

10) Enjoy!