Enjoy single-serve sugar-free keto Christmas fruit pies with warm winter spices served in a gluten-free almond flour pie crust.
Only 5.5g net carbs per mini-fruit pie and is one of the many keto-friendly delicious recipes that you can enjoy with friends at Christmas.
BONUS: You can download FREE printable gift tags at the end of this post.
Get your FREE keto Thanksgiving and keto Christmas meal plans with over 70 of the best keto holiday recipes, your whole family will love.
This easy Christmas recipe is gluten-free, grain-free, low-carb, no added sugars, and the whole family will come back for seconds.
These are the best ways to use Christmas leftovers.
Jump to:
- What's inside a mince pie (fruit tart)?
- How much sugar is in a Christmas fruit pie?
- Ingredients to make fruit mince pies
- How to make almond flour tart cases
- How to add your pie filling
- How to decorate keto fruit pies
- Keto mince pies FAQ
- More sugar-free Christmas recipes
- FREE printable gift tags
- π Recipe
- π¬ Comments
What's inside a mince pie (fruit tart)?
Traditional Christmas fruit mince pies are a sweet baked pastry filled with sweet minced dried fruit, brown sugar, glucose syrup, Christmas spices, and often contain brandy, rum, or whiskey.
You can make your own homemade sugar-free Christmas fruit pies by swapping the wheat flour pie crust for an almond flour pie crust and swapping the dried fruit for shredded apple, sugar-free sweetener, and warm winter spices.
By making your own homemade sugar-free Christmas fruit pies, you will avoid all the dried fruit, added sugars, and unnecessary carbs, but you will still enjoy the same delicious Christmas flavors.
How much sugar is in a Christmas fruit pie?
This is the nutrition panel for Coles fruit mince pies, and if you think this is a bad example, the iced (frosted) mince pies or the deep dish mince pie has even more sugar.
Nutrition facts, Coles Fruit Mince Pies (1 fruit pie serving 68g): 36.6 g net carbs, 21.5 g sugar, 2.2 g protein, 8.2 g fat, 235 calories.
Nutrition facts, Low-Carb Christmas Fruit Pies (1 mince pie serving): 5.5 g net carbs, 3.1 g sugar, 6.9 g protein, 20.3 g fat, 231 calories.
Nutritional values from cronometer.com
But be honest, how many of these mini fruit tarts would you eat at a party? How many would you eat in one sitting, at a party, or over an evening, over a week, over the festive season (which seems to start earlier each year)?
So let's make a better, homemade recipe instead - low-carb Christmas mince pies (or mini fruit tarts).
Ingredients to make fruit mince pies
Instead of sugary mincemeat full of dried fruit, brown sugar, raw sugar, or honey, the bulk of the keto mince pies is made up of the following simple ingredients. All the quantities, prep time, and instructions are in the recipe card below.
Christmas Fruit Mince Pie Filling
- Apple - 1 small grated apple (shredded apple) goes a long way for very few carbs.
- Butter - you can use salted butter or unsalted butter. Adjust the salt in your fruit mince before baking. Salt actually enhances sweet flavours.
- Granulated sweetener - use your favourite sugar replacer and add more or less to your taste and sweet tooth. You can also use powdered sweetener for a smoother texture.
- Ground mixed spice - the perfect winter warm spice.
- Ground cardamon - an exotic spice that is my secret ingredient.
- Ground cloves - the classic Christmas spice.
- Ground nutmeg - another classic festive spice.
- Almond meal - or almond flour helps to add bulk to your fruit mince pie filling.
- Brandy - adding any alcohol is purely optional. You can use brandy essence, rum essence, or whiskey extract if you want to serve alcohol-free desserts.
Variations
You may choose which extra ingredients and extra carbs you would like to add to your fruit pie filling. Unfortunately, your mince pies will no longer be sugar-free or low-carb. You need to decide how authentic you want your Christmas mince pies to taste, and how many carbs you want in your final mincemeat.
Orange zest or lemon zest - this will remind you of a Christmas fruit cake.
0.3 g net carbs (0.3 g sugar) per tablespoon of lemon zest.
Dried cranberries - if you really want an authentic taste, you may wish to add dried cranberries.
7.7 g net carbs (7.3 g sugar) per tablespoon of dried cranberries.
How to make almond flour tart cases
You can make the little flourless almond flour pastry cases first. This can be done a day ahead and kept in an airtight container stored in a cool place. if you want a nut-free pie crust you can make a coconut flour pastry instead.
Step 1: Make your almond flour pastry.
Place all the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl (or food processor) and mix together until it resembles damp bread crumbs. If your almond flour pastry is too damp, add additional almond flour, 1 extra tablespoon at a time. If your pastry has become too dry, add a drop of water at a time.
Ensure the pastry is not too damp because it might collapse. Your pastry should be moist enough to stay in place when baking.
Step 2: Make your pastry cases
Using a rolling pin, wine bottle, or coffee mug, roll your pastry in between 2 sheets of baking parchment paper and cut each circle of pastry slightly larger than the mini muffin case you will be baking them in.
Use a drinking glass, cup, or tumbler to cut a circle slightly larger than your cupcake's case. Press all the leftover pastry back together and keep rolling out to make as many pastry cases as you can.
Line a metal or silicone muffin tray with paper cupcake cases or silicone muffin cases. The reason for baking mini pie crusts in paper cases is that it is easier to peel the paper away from the almond flour tart case than to try and lift them out of a muffin tray. They are likely to snap.
I prefer to use my silicon cases as I can easily fold the cases backward over the cooled cooked pie case and the pastry won't break.
Press each pastry circle into paper cupcake cases or paper muffin cases. Place each paper case into a metal or silicone muffin tray.
Step 3: Bake the empty pastry cases
Preheat oven to 180C/350F and bake your pastry in the paper or silicone cases for 10 minutes. Gently remove the baked pastry from each paper or silicone case and bake for an additional 2 minutes on the baking tray until they turn golden brown.
How to add your pie filling
Once your pastry cases have completely cooled on a wire rack, carefully add 2 tablespoons of filling to your Christmas mince pies. Serve with whipped cream on the top and sprinkle ground nutmeg over the top.
You can add brandy, rum, or whiskey to your whipped heavy cream, or f you want to serve alcohol-free fruit pies, use brandy essence, rum extract, or whisky extract.
How to decorate keto fruit pies
There are 2 easy options to decorate your festive fruit pies (fruit tarts).
1: Whipped cream - Spoon or pipe whipped heavy cream that has been sweetened with a sugar-free sweetener. Sprinkle with a little ground nutmeg or ground cinnamon on top. You can even place a pecan or other favorite nut on top to garnish.
2: Marzipan (almond paste) - make my 3 ingredient sugar-free marzipan in less than 5 minutes then cut circles of marzipan and place on the top of your fruit tart. It looks so festive and really has a lovely festive strong almond flavor too.
BONUS: make little snowmen out of marzipan (almond paste) and place one on the top of each fruit mince pie.
Keto mince pies FAQ
Christmas fruit mince pies are filled with spiced fruit mincemeat which is a mix of dried fruit (sultanas, raisins, and currants), brown sugar, candied peel, and often covered with a pastry lid.
You can add a pastry lid, cover with cream cheese frosting, brandy cream, sweetened cream cheese, or serve with whipped heavy cream. Or simply sprinkle powdered erythritol over the top to look like snowflakes.
Yes, allow them to cool completely then place in an airtight container for up to 3 days in the fridge or up to 3 months in the freezer. To defrost, remove each mince pie from the freezer and they will defrost on your countertop in 2 hours.
Yes, fruit mince pies can be served hot or cold. To gently warm your pies, heat in a warm oven for 5 minutes or microwave for 10-15 seconds (depending on the power of your microwave).
You can swap out half the apple with shredded zucchini or sliced almonds to reduce the net carbs and natural sugars. You may however need to add additional sweetener.
Some readers may be used to brushing empty pastry or pie crust with an egg wash to make their pie crusts a little more "waterproof" against the liquid or damp fillings. You don't need an egg wash for this pastry however please feel free to use it if you prefer it.
You cannot swap these low-carb flours directly but you can make coconut flour pie crust instead.
No, you want to avoid using baking powder as you don;t want the pastry to rise. You want it to stay solid and sturdy, not airy and light.
More sugar-free Christmas recipes
For more low-carb recipes to serve this Christmas, there are plenty of family favorites that are absolutely delicious. These will all help you stay on track with your keto diet over the festive period.
- Keto snowball cookies
- Low-carb keto "fruit cake"
- Top 20 low-carb Christmas recipes
- Sugar-free spiced almonds (candied almonds)
- How to cook an easy roast turkey (PLUS printable cooking schedule)
- Frozen white Christmas (frozen Christmas pudding)
- Walnut & brandy truffles
- Buttery bacon Brussels sprouts
- Keto glazed ham
- Sugar-free lemon meringue pies
- Sugar-free Bakewell tarts
FREE printable gift tags
Download your FREE printable gift tags and make some healthy sugar-free recipes and keto-friendly baking treats as presents. Some sugar-free baking delicious recipes you can give as gifts.
Get ready for Christmas and start planning your healthy low-carb meals. Wonderful sugar-free and low-carb sweet treats are included in this book. So start celebrating now and treat yourself to make the holiday season a little easier.
π Recipe
Please rate this recipe.
Low-Carb Christmas Fruit Pies Recipe (keto mince pies)
Calculate ingredients
Ingredients
Almond Flour Pastry Cases
- 150 g (1 ½ cups) almond meal/flour
- 1 eggs - medium
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour (see notes)
- 2 tablespoon granulated sweetener of choice or more, to your taste
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Christmas Fruit Mince Pie Filling
- 1 small apple grated/shredded (approx 150g / 5oz)
- 55 g (½ stick butter) butter
- 2 tablespoon granulated sweetener of choice or more, to your taste
- ¼ teaspoon ground mixed spice
- ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
- ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 75 g (¾ cups) almond meal/flour
- Brandy to taste (optional)
Brandy Whipped Cream (optional)
- heavy whipping cream
- brandy and sweetener to taste
Instructions
Flourless Pastry Cases
- Put all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix together with a fork until it resembles soft pastry. If it is too damp, add some more almond meal/flour. If it has become too dry, add a drop of water at a time.
- Roll out in between 2 sheets of baking paper and cut each circle slightly larger than the case you will be baking them in.
- Press the pastry circles into each case and place on a baking tray. Bake in the cases at 180C/350F for 10 minutes, then remove from the pastry from each case and bake for 2 minutes on the baking tray to brown slightly.
Christmas Mince Pie Filling
- Melt the butter and the grated apple on low in a saucepan.
- Add all the other ingredients (apart from the brandy) and heat through for a minute or two.
- Remove from the heat and add brandy to taste (I add 1 or 2 tablespoons).
- Once cold, divide the mixture evenly amongst the pie/tart cases.
Brandy Whipped Cream
- Whip the cream gently until soft peaks for, then add the sweetener, whip until almost firm, then fold in the brandy to taste.
To Serve
- Top each low carb Christmas mince pie with the brandy cream and sprinkle with a ground nutmeg.
Notes
- Brandy cream is optional - I haven't given quantities for the brandy whipped cream. It all depends on how much you would like to be served on top and on the side. The sweetness and amount of brandy required will be totally personal to you (personally, I like it quite boozy).
- Coconut flour substitute - if you don't like, or cannot tolerate coconut flour ou may substitute this with 2 tablespoons of psyllium husk instead.
5-INGREDIENTS COOKBOOK
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YOUR HOLIDAY PANTRY & GIFT GUIDES
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Approximate nutrition information is provided for convenience and as a courtesy only. For the most accurate nutritional data, use the actual ingredients and brands you used in your preferred nutrition calculator.
Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a healthy happy new year.
Sarah Bacon
Hi Libby
Is the carb count per mince pie?
thanks
Sarah
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Yes π
Karen
I have some left over pastry dough from this recipe, do you have any other ideas what I could make with it apart from mince pies? Thanks!
Libby Jenkinson
You can make cookies with leftover dough or mini lemon meringue pies. Yummo.
Sam Crocker
Hi Libby,
Iβm just wondering you mention to cook the cases. Iβm planning on putting my sugar free (but still fruity) mincemeat into them & that would need cooking. Do you think I can cook both at the same time or is the pastry too delicate?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
The pastry really needs to be cooked blind (without filling) first so it will bake and harden. Then place your fruity mincemeat inside, and bake again to cook the mincemeat.
Timea Turai
I was just wondering, if a berry chia jam would make the pastry too soggy?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
It's worth a try!
Erica
Love these! Do you think they could be frozen (minus the cream of course)?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
You could try, however I think they might be a little delicate though so they might not defrost readily. Let me know how you get on.
Heidi
Is it possible to make this as one pie?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Yes that would work. Great idea.
Kelly H.
Any chance you could link to the silicon cases you mean, perhaps what a US version would look like? The link you have takes me to phone cases π Thanks!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Done. Apologies for that -oops.
Marion Robinson
Hi Everyone, from a very flooded west coast of Scotland...but we keep smiling.
I wanted to wish all our low carb " family " a very very happy & most of all, healthy
new year...I love all the recipes on here, & as it's far too wet to go out , I shall be in the
kitchen, making the mince pies...I just love them. Take care all of you, keep the low carb recipes coming.
They are such a help to this diabetic....doing her best to be good !!!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
And a very happy new year to you also Marion. Best wishes all the way from little NZ to bonnie Scotland π
Julie Hawkes
Hi Libby, after using too much Stevia in my Frozen White Christmas, I reduced the amount for these Mince Pies and they were perfect. We love the traditional mince pies but have terrible heartburn after eating them, not good. We've been sugar free and low-carb for a month so this is fantastic to find alternative recipes that we can take out with us to enjoy, but also to try on our friends and family!
David
Hi Libby, I like the basic look of this - we would be pigging out on full carb Christmas pies before we ditched the carbs. My problem is that I can't use nuts due to allergies. Any ideas to substitute the almonds?
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Gosh, not really for this recipe as the pastry and the filling are mainly based on ground almonds. I do have a waffle recipe coming up though - nut free!!!!
thehomeschoolingdoctor
Adorable! We don't eat mince pies much here (well, not my family). But once, some Romanian friends brought us one! Fun! Another stellar looking recipe!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Thanks Teri, your comments are always so kind. Merry Christmas to you all x
Lore
Try using cooked pork and beef ground up after cooking instead of nuts.
maihuku
Thanks, Libby - you are so clever!
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Ha ha, thats what I keep on telling my children, but they don't believe me π
Orla
Thanks for this Libby - it looks like a fabulous recipe! Why do you add the coconut flour to the base can I ask? Is it just for flavour? I find it a bit grainy. I was going to try pastry with just the almond flour......
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
I just find it binds the almond and egg a little better. if you dont like it I'm sure you could try omitting it.
Orla
Thank you! I knew there had to be a reason.