A Gluten-Free Christmas – Mince tarts !

So after a weekend of hauling boxes out of the attic and turning the inside of our house into our own mini winter wonderland with Christmas trees, candles, holly wreaths, and a holiday express train that chugs in circles around our tree, carting trailers of miniature presents while shooting out little puffs of smoke… I realized there was only one thing left to do. Sit down in our twinkling surroundings and enjoy the fruits of our winter labor. But then of course only one thing could make the moment complete… one thing central to the Irish Christmas Diet… the crumbly, fruity, sweet festive deliciousness of  freshly baked mince tarts.

My only problem was I hadn’t practiced making gluten-free pastry very much so I was a little dubious as to how they would turn out. But as I just replaced normal flour with a gluten-free blend, and followed the tips of rolling the pastry between two sheets of cling film, the pastry, while a little more delicate than it’s original wheat created cousin  (it no longer contains the gluten which binds it together), turned out crumbly, buttery and a worthy treat at any special get together over the festive season.

So here is the recipe

First to make the shortcrust pastry;

Use 200g Gluten free flour blend

100g organic butter

2 tbsp water

(*for a sweeter dough, add 1/3 cup coconut palm sugar, or demerara sugar)

Put the flour in a bowl and cut the cool butter into it. Work the butter into the flour using your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the water and form into dough.

Let dough rest for 20-30 minutes.

In this case I used a jar of good quality mincemeat but it really is even nicer to make your won if you have the time. Before the holiday season is up I will post up a recipe for my own mincemeat!

Divide dough into ¾ and ¼ piece.

Roll the dough out on a floured surface between two sheets of clingfilm.

Cut out the base of the mince pies and carefully press them into cupcake liners. (the GF pastry is much more delicate and can break easily, but don’t despair, just press bits of the dough together and once cooked it will be just fine!)

Bake the GF pastry in a hot oven (180 degrees Celcius) for about 5 mins.

Remove from the oven and fill the cases with a heaped tablespoon of mincemeat mixture.

Cut out little star toppings from remaining ¼ of dough.

Cook in the oven for 25-30mins or until the pastry begins to turn a golden brown.

Sieve a light layer of powdered sugar on top for that snowy christmas effect!

**I really do recommend letting the tarts cool down almost completely before serving as they stay together perfectly, but if you just cannot wait (because I couldn’t) just be ready for crumbly deliciousness!

Eat and Enjoy with a lovely mug of healthy hot chocolate in front of the twinkling tree and roaring open fire!

ELAA approved treat!

Christmas wishes,

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