Get in the festive spirit with this GIANT Vegan Mince Pie.
A delicious light and flakey buttered vegan pastry, filled with spiced mincemeat topped with a decorative pastry lattice decoration.
Why have a small mince pie, when you can have a giant one?
This is the perfect dessert to make and share with loved ones!
Mince pies are a staple at Christmas. There’s nothing quite like sitting besides the fire with a hot drink, Christmas movie on tv or reading a book and a buttery mince pie in hand!
Speaking of books, have you pre-ordered my first baking book yet?
PRE ORDER HERE!
It would make a great Veganuary present!
What is a mince pie?
Mince pies are a sweet pastry / pie with a filling of spiced mincemeat. Using fruit and spiced mincemeat, brings out the warming and cosy side of Christmas.
Mince pies are my dad’s favourite. He loves the plain pies, where as I have a major sweet tooth and can’t get enough of the pies topped with a layer of fondant!
They also remind me of my childhood. My sister and I would leave a mince pie, glass of dairy-free milk and carrot out for Santa and Rudolph on Christmas eve!
What is mince meat?
Mincemeat is a mixture consisting of chopped fruit and spices. Originally made with ‘beef suet’, mincemeat can also be made with vegetable suet, making it 100% plant based.
You can make you own homemade mincemeat, or alternatively, many shop bought mincemeats are now suitable for vegans.
Mince pies consist of two things:
- The most incredible light and butter pastry
- Flavour packed mincemeat
Let’s start off with the pastry:
Oh boy, do I have a treat for you! This pastry is SO GOOD! It’s extremely easy to make and has a gorgeous buttered / flakey texture.
Unlike many pie / pastry recipes, this one is free from eggs / any animal products, making it 100% vegan friendly.
This pastry is super simple to make, and has an amazing texture which is ideal when making the braided lattice for the top of the pie.
This pastry is:
- Quick and easy
- Vegan
- Delicious
- Crispy
- Flakey
- Suitable for sweet / savoury pies
- Versatile
- Easy to work with
Finding an amazing vegan friendly block butter is key to perfecting pastry.
The butter ensures flavour and that classic ‘flakey’ texture.
I came across Naturli about a year a go and they have been my go-to vegan butter for making the most incredible buttercream, cakes and cheesecakes!
When it comes to using butter in pastry, you must make sure the butter is COLD!
Having a cold dough doesn’t only make it easier to work with, but it’s also less likely to shrink in the oven.
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I am SO happy I discovered Naturli. They have become a go-to in my bakes and I always have a block of their butter in my fridge ready to start recipe creating!
Naturli is a plant-based food company based in Denmark. They have a selection of tasty plant based products and as I have already said one of my favourites that I love to use in my baking is their Naturli block butter.
It’s extremely versatile as you can spread it onto toast, add it to sauces, create the BEST Swiss meringue buttercream or even use in baking like I have with my lattice mince tart.
Naturli also have a spreadable version which can be used in similar ways to the block butter. But to make the perfect pastry as in this Mince tart recipe chilled block butter is essential.
Why use block butter in pastry rather than margarine?
Using Naturli’s block butter in this pastry means you will get an extra tasty pastry. When solid chunks of the butter melt in the heat of the oven, not only does it create that delicious flakiness we all CRAVE in a mince pie, but it helps leaven the pastry.
Check out the Naturli Vegan Block here.
Available from Sainsbury’s, Ocado, Waitrose and many more supermarkets!
Available online too – google ‘Naturli Vegan Block’ to see where it’s stocked near you!
Looking for more festive recipes? Look no further:
No-Bake White Chocolate Rocky Road
Vegan Yule Log
Easy Chocolate Reindeer Cookies
Giant Vegan Mince Pie
- Total Time: 1h, 45min
- Yield: 10 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
This super size vegan mince pie is a Christmas classic!
Ingredients
Ingredients for the pastry
- 310g of plain flour
- 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt
- 50g of caster sugar
- 225g of dairy-free block butter
- 60ml of ice water (see notes*)
- Dairy-free milk (‘egg’ wash)
Ingredients for the filling
- 3 jars vegan mincemeat (approx 600g) – depending on how deep your pie dish is.
Instructions
Method (pastry)
- You will need a large pie dish. (I used a 9 inch deep dish.) In a medium sized bowl, sift in the flour, salt and sugar. Stir to combine, set aside.
- Cut the Naturli butter into small cubes and place into the freezer for approximately 5-8 minutes. It’s important the butter stays as cold as possible when making pastry dough!
- Add the cubes of cold butter into the flour mixture, one at a time. Use a fork to break up the butter.
- Use your fingertips to gently rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles bread crumbs.
- Add in the ice cold water a tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together. It’s important you don’t over knead the dough as you will loosen the flakiness.
- Wrap the dough in grease proof paper and place into the fridge for 40 minutes. This makes it easier to roll out, less sticky to handle and also gives the dough time to chill again.
- Remove the dough from the fridge and allow to sit at room temperature for 5 minutes.
- Slice the dough in half so you have 2 balls of dough. Wrap one ball of dough up and place back into the fridge for later (this will be for the lattice).
- Flour a clean work-surface and rolling pin. Roll out one of the dough portions into a 12 inch circle (around 1/8 inch thick), a few inches bigger than your pie dish. Make sure the dough isn’t sticking to the work-surface, add more flour if necessary.
- Check the size by inverting a pie dish over the top of the dough. Look for around a 1-inch edge around the pie dish. To transfer the dough to the dish, starting at one end, roll the dough around a floured rolling pin then carefully unroll over the dish.
- Gently press the dough down into dish so that it lines the bottom and sides of the dish. (Being careful not to stretch the dough). Use a sharp knife to trim off any excess.
- Use your fingers to crimp the edges of the pastry. Check this amazing video for a tutorial (it really helped me when making my first pie).
- Spoon the mincemeat into the pie, enough to fill the pie dish 1/2 – 3/4 full. Set aside.
- Remove the second pastry ball from the fridge and allow to come down to room temperature for 5 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 170 degrees c fan.
- Flour a clean worktop and rolling pin. Roll out the dough until 1/8 inch thick. Use a pizza roller, sharp knife or pastry cutter, slice the dough into even strips (depending on how thick you want the lattice).
- Carefully pick up the strips and lay 5 vertically over the pie, making sure that they’re evenly spaced out.
- Carefully fold back the first, third and fifth strips towards you then lay a strip of dough perpendicular to other dough strips. Unfold the first, third and fifth strip over the new strip.
- Unfold second and fourth strips over the new strip. Repeat until you have a beautiful lattice detail. See the video of how to do this here.
- With any excess dough, cut out festive shapes using a cookie cutter or a snowflake press. Using some dairy-free milk, stick them on-top of the pie.
- Brush the entire pie with dairy-free milk. This will ensure that the pie gets a gorgeous golden colour once baked.
- Place the pie into the middle of the oven and bake for 45 minutes, or until the mincemeat is bubbling and the pastry is golden.
- Carefully remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool down. It will be extremely hot.
- Slice with a sharp knife and serve.
Serving options:
- Drizzle with dairy-free single cream
- Enjoy with a scoop of dairy-free vanilla ice-cream
- Add a spoon of vegan vanilla custard or yoghurt
Notes
Storing: Store the mince pie in a sealed container in / out of the fridge. If in the fridge, allow to come to room temperature before serving. Best eaten within a few days of making.
How to make ice water: Pour 60ml of water in a bowl and add in a couple of ice cubes. Allow to sit for 5 minutes before using.
- Prep Time: 1 hour
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Tarts and pies
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Where did you get these snowflake cutters from? They are so lovely, and I can’t seem to find anything quite like them!