I bet you thought I couldn't do it - develop low carb Christmas mince pies (fruit tarts) with no dried fruit, no sugars and no grains. Well I think I've cracked it with these little beauties, oh and did I mention the ah-mazing brandy cream? Christmas isn't Christmas without lashings of brandy.
UPDATE: FREE printable gift tags have been added to the end of the post, take a look.
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What's inside a mince pie (fruit tart)?
I used to love Christmas mince pies, with all those festive spices, brandy and fruit, and since I discovered my low carb lifestyle I tried to cut back and buy possibly 1 or 2 packets through the entire season to keep the tradition going (we would have been consuming easily 1 or 2 packets a week previously).
Well I can't see myself ever buying them ever again.
I challenge you to head the supermarket and read the ingredients, it's quite disturbing. Below is the nutrition panel for Sainsbury's Christmas mince pies, and if you think this is a bad example, I could have chosen the iced version or the deep dish version.
So how many sources of sugar can you read? This is a classic example of how the sugar content is split amongst the ingredients and given different names - sugar, sugar syrup, glucose-fructose syrup, glucose syrup, and all the fruit puree and dried fruit are also sources of sugar.
Now, look at the oils, palm oil and sunflower oil. And did you spot the fortified wheat? Sorry if I have just ruined Christmas mince pies/fruit tarts forever, but personally once I discover just how revolting and harmful certain ingredinets are, I find it easier to never have them again rather than ration myself.
How many carbs are in a fruit tart?
Each regular high sugar pie/tart contains a whopping 31g carbs and 22g sugar. Now be honest, how many of these could you eat in one sitting, at a party, over and 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).
To make up the bulk of the fruit mince, I use 1 small apple grated, but it is shared between 8 pies/tarts. It also has ground almonds, all the Christmas spices we love and of course brandy (omit this if you wish to have an alcohol free version).
How to make almond flour tart cases
Begin by making the little flourless almond pastry cases first. This can be done a day ahead and kept in an airtight container. I roll my pastry out between 2 sheets of baking paper (baking parchment) to stop my rolling pin from getting covered in the pastry and it allows you to roll the pastry really quite thin.
Use a drinking glass/cup which is slightly larger than your cupcakes case and cut out as many circles as you can, line each cupcake case with a pastry circle and press lightly into the case to form the shape of the pie/tart cup. I use my silicon cases as I find I can easily fold the cases backwards over the cooked pie case to remove them and the pastry won't break.
I have had years of pastry breaking or sticking to every other type of case. These silicon cases really work. Ensure the pastry is not too damp as it will collapse. My pastry is just damp enough to stay in place when baking.
Repeat with the remaining pastry until all the pastry has been used. Once the cases have cooked for 10 minutes, I remove the silicon case from the pie/tart and cook the pastry as shown above for 2 minutes to crisp and remove any moisture left. I manage to make 8 from this recipe.
More healthy Christmas recipes
For more low carb Christmas recipes, take a look at the following pages for more ideas:
- Top 20 Low Carb Christmas Recipes
- Spiced Almonds
- How to cook an easy roast turkey - with a cooking schedule
- Frozen white Christmas
- Walnut & brandy truffles
- Buttery bacon Brussels sprouts
Top 20 Christmas recipes Sugar-free spiced almonds Walnut & brandy truffles
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📖 Recipe
Low Carb Christmas Mince Pies
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Ingredients
Flourless Pastry Cases
- 150 g (1 ½ cups) almond meal/flour
- 1 eggs - medium
- 1 tbsp coconut flour
- 2 tbsp granulated sweetener of choice or more, to your taste
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp ground nutmeg
Christmas Mince Pie Filling
- 1 small apple grated/shredded (approx 150g / 5oz)
- 55 g (½ stick butter) butter
- 2 tbsp granulated sweetener of choice or more, to your taste
- ¼ tsp ground mixed spice
- ¼ tsp ground cardamon
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 75 g (¾ cups) almond meal/flour
- Brandy to taste
Brandy Whipped Cream
- double/heavy 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
Wishing you all a very happy Christmas and a healthy new year.
Sarah Bacon
Hi Libby
Is the carb count per mince pie?
thanks
Sarah
Libby www.ditchthecarbs.com
Yes 🙂
Sam Crocker
Hi Libby,
I’m just wondering you mention to cook the cases. I’m 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 🙂 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 🙂
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 😉
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.