A healthy twist on the classic mince pie

Enjoy your Christmas with a Healthy Twist!

In the spirit of Christmas I've come up with a cheeky, but healthy recipe for mince pies!

Makes 24:

For the Pastry:

200g Ground Almonds

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda

4 Large Dates (heat in 50ml of water and then blend to make a syrup, add additional water if needed)

15g butter (can use a dairy free alternative)

1 egg

For the Mincemeat:

2 Apples (approx 200g finely chopped)

40g raisins

40g sultanas

40g mixed currants

40 goji berries

Zest and juice of half lemon

Zest and juice of half orange

1 tsp ground mixed spice

1 tsp of ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground nutmed

25g coconut oil

pinch of salt

(you can add brandy if you want, I'd suggest no more than 2 tbsp)

Method:

Preheat the Oven to 180°C

For the Pastry just mix it all together until it forms a dough. Once done, let it chill in the fridge whilst you get the mincemeat ready.

Mincemeat:

Add all the mincemeat ingredients together into a large saucepan and cook on a medium heat for 10-15 min until soft. If there is any liquid left leave it to evaporate on a low heat.

Back to the Pastry:

Roll out the pastry between greaseproof paper until a few millimetres thick.

Use a pastry cutter (around 6cm) to cut your discs of pastry.

Place these in you cupcake tray (if you want to you can use cupcake cases to prevent it sticking or add a little coconut oil)

Bake these for 5 mins before filling to prevent the dreaded soggy bottom!!

Fill each shell with mincemeat and place your pastry lid on top (use whatever shape you would like, I usually put hearts)

Brush the tops with egg yolk and bake for 10 minutes until golden brown.

Enjoy! and have a wonderful Christmas