Gluten free and low FODMAP mince pies

Gluten free and low FODMAP mince pies! With melt-in-the-mouth golden pastry and a delicious mincemeat style filling that tastes just like the real deal. Facing my first Christmas on the low FODMAP diet was tough. I longed for all of the things I couldn’t eat and mince pies were up there at the top of the list. It turns out though, after much glorious testing, that mince pies can be gluten free, low FODMAP and still absolutely delicious. I feel SO strongly that if you do have IBS or a sensitive gut that eating at Christmas can still be a wonderful thing. It might just take a little planning and a few simple swaps, but I promise is so doable. I’m here for you and you’ve got this!

Traditional mincemeat is high FODMAP due to its high dried fruit content and often added apple etc, so I’ve used beautiful bright clementines (which only have trace amounts of FODMAPs) for the base here, along with toasted pecans. There’s still 100g of dried fruit, of the raisin variety, which really helps make these mince pies taste like the real deal. Split between 12 however, it’s within limit for those on the elimination phase. These low FODMAP mince pies are also packed full of spices, dotted with stem ginger and finished with a vanilla and whisky kick.

Don’t need this recipe to be lower FODMAP and just gluten free instead? Sub in a good quality jar of mincemeat for the filling and follow the recipe in exactly the same way.

Gluten free and low FODMAP mince pie recipe notes:

This gluten free pastry recipe is a slight adaptation of one I learnt at Leiths Cooking School. It’s brilliant and I swear by it for making easy pastry
This recipe hasn’t been tested for FODMAPs, but uses FODMAP friendly ingredients and divided between 12, should fit in with FODMAP limits. I follow the Monash University app data to create FODMAP friendly recipes – if unsure as always, please ask your dietician or GP!
Resting the pastry in the fridge overnight sounds like a faff, but it allows the gluten free flour to hydrate, makes the pastry much easier to roll out and makes for an even better texture
The raisins and the pecans are the higher FODMAP components in this recipe, but split between 12 they’re within limit for the elimination phase of the diet 🙂

Serves 12

Ingredients

For the gluten free pastry:
200g gluten-free plain flour (I always use FREEE)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
100g butter, cold from the fridge and cut into cubes
1 tablespoon caster sugar
1 large egg
15ml milk

For the mincemeat:
50g pecans
250g (roughly 5) peeled clementines, roughly chopped
100g dried raisins
30g stem ginger, finely chopped
30g butter
75g light soft brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon all spice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 lemon, juice and zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon whisky, or water

1 egg, whisked, to glaze
crunchy brown sugar, to top

Method

Start the pastry the day before making the mince pies (or at least 5-6 hours). Sift the flour and salt into a bowl with the xanthan gum. Add the butter to the flour mixture and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Alternatively, use a food processor and pulse the ingredients to reach this stage (I find this so much easier as I have hot hands!) Stir in the sugar. If you’re using a food processor, tip the ingredients out into a large bowl at this stage.

Whisk the egg and milk together and stir the liquid into the flour mixture, little by little, distributing as quickly as possible with a cutlery knife. You might not need all of the liquid, so see how you go. Too much liquid is often the culprit for tough pastry! Use the flat of the knife to bring the dough together, then pull the pastry together with your hands, tip out onto cling film and shape into a disc, touching the dough as little as possible, but making sure the dough is cohesive and there are no cracks. Wrap tightly and chill in the fridge overnight.

To make the mincemeat, toast the pecans in a pan over a low heat, until just turning golden and fragrant (about 5 minutes). Allow them to cool slightly and then finely chop.

Place the chopped pecans into a big saucepan, along with the clementines, raisins, stem ginger, butter, sugar, spices, salt and the juice and zest of half a lemon. Cook over a low heat, for about 25-30 minutes, stirring every so often. You’re looking for a gooey, condensed and combined mixture that smells delicious.

Remove the pan from the heat and stir through the vanilla extract and whisky. Allow to cool, then decant into sterilised glass jars and store in the fridge until using.

To make the mince pies, preheat your oven to 200°C, 180°C fan, gas mark 6. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to 3mm thick. Using a round cutter (about 8cm) and small star cutters, cut out 12 bases and 12 or so stars for decoration. Place the bases into a muffin tray and put a heaped tablespoon of mincemeat mixture into each. Top the mincemeat with a pastry star or two, then glaze the tops with the beaten egg, or a splash of milk. Sprinkle with crunchy brown sugar.

Bake the mince pies for 20 minutes, or until golden brown and the pastry feels sandy underneath to the touch. Leave to cool before removing from the muffin tray and dusting with a little icing sugar.