Mince pies sound like they’d be pies of crumbly meat, right? They aren’t. They’re a sweet concoction of raisins, dried cranberries and apples. They’re pretty Christmas-y, and pretty effing awesome.
| Individual Mince Pies |
- Frozen pie dough
- 1/2 cup dark raisins
- 1/2 cup golden raisins
- 1/2 cup dried sweetened cranberries
- Juice and zest of 1 lemon
- Juice and zest of 1 orange
- 1 cup apple cider (I forgot to use apple cider, so I mixed all-natural apple sauce with 1 cup water and it worked out just fine)
- 2 tart apples (i.e. Granny Smith) peeled, cored and chopped into half inch cubes
- 2 sweet apples (i.e. Braeburn or Gala) peeled, cored and chopped into half inch cubes
- 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
- Hint: you can eliminate the above 4 ingredients and replace with an apple pie or pumpkin pie spice blend. It’s the same damn thing and it’s cheaper – just make sure it has all those ingredients, and toss in a little extra cinnamon for good measure)
- 4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
- Egg for egg wash
- Bourbon or cognac if you’re feeling frisky
- Combine all ingredients except for the butter and alcohol in a large saucepan and cook over medium-high heat until the mixture boils.
- Reduce heat to low and simmer for 1.5-2 hours. Add a few tablespoons of cognac or bourbon, and bring the mixture back up to a boil. Cook while stirring constantly until all the liquid has evaporated and the mixture is very thick (about 10 minutes).
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the butter.
- Reserve until ready for use or allow to chill before putting into pie crusts.
- Preheat the oven to 350.
- Roll out the pie dough and cut 12 circles with the 6-inch cutter and 12 circles with the 4-inch cutter.
- Spray nonstick spray onto your muffin pan, and fit the 6-inch pie crusts into the bottoms of the muffin pan. Fill generously with filling and place the 4-inch pie crusts over the top.
- Seal the tops and bottoms with the tongs of a fork, and poke a few holes in the top to vent.
- Brush egg wash over the tops of the pies, and lightly sprinkle a little cinnamon sugar mixture for good measure. And because that extra crunch is always pleasantly surprising.
- Bake for 1 hour, rotating the pan halfway through.
It’s easy, just slice up the apples and zest.
If you don’t have a zester, slice the zest off the citrus by holding the knife flat against the skin and applying pressure every so slightly. If the knife is sharp enough, it should come right off. Once you slice off the big chunks, just mince them up.
Toss all the shizz together in a pot
and boil the heck out of it for a few hours…
And voila. You can bake it in premade (or homemade, if you prefer) pie dough, or you can serve it in phyllo cups.
If you opt for the phyllo cups, cut a 5-inch by 5-inch square and fit it into the muffin slot. Fill immediately and brush with egg wash and/or butter. You’ll come out with this:
