It’s the final week of VeganMoFo 2016! Can you believe that? In just a few days it’ll be December, nearly Christmas. Are you feeling festive yet? Or are you a bit of a Scrooge and wish we’d all shut up about Christmas? Well, I’m firmly in the former camp. Christmas is great! If I have to put up with the cold rainy months I am going to enjoy Christmas as much as I can.
Mince pies are something traditionally Christmassy here in the UK. If you’re not familiar with them, they are a dessert – small individual pies filled with “mincemeat” which has no meat but is actually a stewed spiced fruit mix. You can buy it in jars here in most supermarkets (these days it’s almost always vegan) but if you can’t access it, you can make your own. I like to change things up a bit, so in the past I’ve made Mince Pie Cupcakes using mincemeat, and this year I made cookies!
These are simple cookies to make, with added mincemeat and mixed spice. “Mixed Spice” is something that you can buy easily in jars here, but if you can’t, it’s a mix of cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, cloves, and ginger. If you’re in America, you could sub pumpkin pie spice, which I believe is a very similar thing.
I like to chill the dough for these cookies in the fridge for half an hour before baking. This makes it easier to shape the cookies onto the baking tray, but you don’t need to do this step if you are impatient.
Mince Pie Cookies
Ingredients
- 130g vegan butter (I use Vitalite)
- 80g brown sugar
- 150g mincemeat
- 1 tsp mixed spice
- 200g plain flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- pinch salt
Directions
- Cream together the butter and sugar in a large bowl.
- Add the mincemeat and mix well to combine.
- Sift in the mixed spice, flour, baking powder, and salt, and fold gently to combine.
- Place the bowl of cookie dough in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes (or longer if you wish). Preheat the oven to 170C/340F
- Place tablespoon sized bits of dough on a baking tray, slightly apart from each other.
- Put the cookies in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until lightly golden brown.
Walks, Talks & Eats 
Oh, yum! I’m feeling mega Christmassy, mostly because it means I get to go home for three weeks. Only 14.5 working days to go! Every year I make a big batch of mincemeat and use it for mince pies, but there’s always loads left over. Last year I made Caroline’s mincemeat loaf from Tea & Sympatico, so maybe this year I’ll try these cookies!
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That’s great! Not toooo long now. I’ve never made my own mincemeat (I’m lazy) but homemade must be soo nice.
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It smells gorgeous when it’s cooking!
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Ah Thank you Emma, I am always looking for different ways with mincemeat and look for a change from the pies, these are fabulous and so easy to boot – I am bookmarking to make this year. PS We put up the Christmas tree yesterday,…getting slowly into the spirit
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Oh, thank you! I hope you like them if you make them. We are holding off on the Christmas tree until December but that’s only a couple of days away… I’ve got my Christmas scented candle burning already!
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These look super super tasty!!
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Woah this is interesting. I have been reading this, trying to figure out what these would taste like and I haven’t figured it out yet. I guess I’ll have to give these a go then. Definitely a great choice for the holidays. Great post!
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