Aren’t mincemeat tarts just one of the best Christmas pastries? I love the rich, spiced mincemeat, gloriously flaky pastry, and the dusting of icing sugar on top. 😋 What’s not to love, right?
Store-bought mincemeat on its own is great, but a few add-ins make it stunning. I’ve added the zest and chopped fruit of 4 mini mandarin oranges, the zest of a lemon, one chopped apple, and 100 grams of dried apricots. The orange adds a little bitterness to counteract the sweet mincemeat, plus adding a burst of lovely citrus flavor. 🍊🍋
One of the secrets to a really flaky pastry for mincemeat tarts is adding a little almond flour to the pastry. I’ve only used 25 grams of it in the pastry recipe below, but it really makes a difference! Since almonds are gluten free, they don’t have any gluten to hold the pastry together. This is great in small amounts, as it makes it more flaky, but be careful not to add too much, or the pastry will be very difficult to use.
It takes a little time to make these little mincemeat tarts, but the results are SO worth it. Just the smell of the mincemeat with all the fruit and zest will get you hungry!
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Mincemeat Tarts
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Prep Time: 1 hour 45 minutes -
Cook Time: 20 minutes
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Total Time: 3 hours 5 minutes (including 1 hr cooling)
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Yield: about 20 tarts
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Pin RecipeDescription
Mincemeat tarts are delightful little Christmas pastries packed with a rich filling of mincemeat, fresh apple, oranges, dried apricots, and citrus zest.
Ingredients
For the Flaky Pastry
- 3 cups all-purpose flour (375g)
- 1/3 cup almond flour (25g)
- 14 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cubed (200g)
- 3 1/2 tablespoons lard, chilled (50g)
- 2 tablespoons caster sugar (reserve 1 tablespoon for sprinkling)
- 1 large egg
- 1-3 tablespoons ice-cold water
For the Mincemeat Filling
- 29 ounces store-bought mincemeat (822g)
- 4 clementines or mini mandarin oranges, fruit and zest
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 3 1/2 ounces dried apricots, chopped (100g)
- 1 small cooking apple, like Granny Smith
For the Decoration
- 1/4 cup icing sugar, sifted (32g)
Instructions
Making the Pastry (15 minutes + 1 hour chilling)
- Combine the all-purpose flour, almond flour, and caster sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the chilled butter and lard and rub in the fats until the mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
- Add the egg and mix by hand until the dough starts to come together. Gradually add more water as needed until all the flour is picked up and a soft, but not sticky dough has formed.
- Turn out the pastry onto a lightly floured surface and knead gently with the palm of your hand just a few times to smooth the dough and finish incorporating the fat. Be careful not to overwork the dough.
- Shape the pastry into a flat disc and chill in the fridge for 1 hour before using.
Preparing the Filling (1 hour)
- While the pastry is chilling, pour the store-bought mincemeat into a large mixing bowl.
- Rinse, dry, and zest the oranges, then peel and segment them. Chop the segments into small pieces. Zest the lemon and chop the dried apricots into small pieces.
- Peel and finely dice the apple and stir it into the mincemeat.
- Add the orange fruit and zest, lemon zest, and dried apricots to the mincemeat and stir very well to combine. Set aside.
Assembling & Baking the Tarts (30 minutes prep + 20 minutes baking + 1-2 hours cooling)
- Preheat the oven to 400 F.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry to 1/8 inch thick. Cut about twenty 5-inch rounds and use them to line two muffin pans, making sure to get the pastry into the corners of the pan.
- Re-roll the scraps to 1/8 inch thick. Cut out 20 stars with a cookie cutter that will just cover each tart.
- Fill each tart 3/4 full of mincemeat. Top each one with a pastry star, pressing down its corners to seal it to the tart. Sprinkle the stars with the extra caster sugar.
- Bake the tarts for about 20 minutes at 400 F. The filling should be bubbling some, and the pastry should be fully cooked and a pale golden brown around the edges.
- Once the tarts are baked, run a knife around the edges of each tart and let them cool completely in the pan.
- To remove the tarts from the pan, run a knife around the edges of each tart again. Cover the muffin pan with plastic wrap and set a wire rack on top. Turn the muffin pan upside down and lift off the pan, revealing the tarts. Carefully turn each tart over, top with a dusting of icing sugar, and serve.
Notes
- If the pastry is too hard to roll out, let it soften on the counter for 5-10 minutes before rolling. Also, give it a few good whacks with the rolling pin to soften it.