Vegan Filo Mince Pie Parcels
These crisp and light filo mince pie parcels are a twist on a Christmas classic
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With a classic sweet mincemeat filling and a light filo pastry case, these mince pie parcels are the best of both worlds!
Serve up a tray of these on a festive buffet table, enjoy one with a steamy mug of tea, or leave one out for Santa before the big day. Whatever you do with these filo mince pie parcels, they’re sure to be a hit.
What is filo pastry?
Filo pastry is made of layers of flaky pastry, but it’s very different from puff pastry. Where puff pastry is made by rolling out the dough with layers of butter, filo pastry uses a little oil instead of butter, and the layers are stretched out by hand to create a paper-thin dough.
When cooked, filo pastry is incredibly crispy and can be very delicate. Tarts made with filo pastry can shatter easily if not handled with care, but the flaky texture is oh-so satisfying to bite into.
Are mince pies vegan?
Traditionally mince pies were not vegan. Although it contains no meat as the name might suggest, traditional mincemeat filling contains suet which is a type of rendered animal fat. Additionally, most pastry doughs are traditionally made using butter.
These days, however, you’re much more likely to find that almost all ready-made mincemeats and mince pies use vegetable suet or no added fat at all. Many shop bought mince pies still contain butter in the pastry, but increasing numbers are becoming accidentally vegan with the rising use of vegetable fats.
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 14
Total Time: 1 hour
Servings: 14
Ingredients
Method
Ingredients
(Servings: 14)
- For the parcels
- 0.071428571428571 0.071428571428571 270g pack Filo pastry, at room temperature
- 28.571428571429 28.571428571429 g vegan mincemeat, storebought jar
- 0.14285714285714 0.14285714285714 Tbsp dried cranberries, roughly chopped
- 0.14285714285714 0.14285714285714 Tbsp whole almonds, roughly chopped
- 8.9285714285714 8.9285714285714 g marzipan
- 0.21428571428571 0.21428571428571 Tbsp non-dairy butter, melted
- You will also need
- a baking tray or muffin tin
- a pastry brush
- icing sugar, for dusting
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C (Gas Mark 4, 350°F). Roll the marzipan into 14 small balls and set aside. Mix the chopped cranberries and almonds through the mincemeat.
- Lay out the sheets of filo in a pile. Cut into quarters through all the sheets so you have 56 equal squares. Cover the pastry with a damp piece of kitchen paper to stop it drying out.
- Take 4 squares of pastry, brush each with the melted butter and layer them up to create a star shape.
- Place a generous spoonful of mincemeat into the centre of the pastry and top with a ball of marzipan.
- Bring up the sides of the pastry around the filling to form money bag shaped parcels and pinch together.
- Brush the baking tray or muffin tin with melted butter and arrange the parcels on top. Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes or until golden and crispy.
- When they are cooked, dust with icing sugar and leave to cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Want more festive fun? Here are our favourite vegan Christmas recipes.