Nothing says it's almost Christmas more than a mince pie! Treat yourself to this delicious vegan version from Lauren Melissa Baker that uses dried fruit, apple, and a sprinkling of our Niulife coconut sugar for sweetness, much healthier and tastier than the regular kind.

Makes 11 mince pies

Ingredients

Fruit Mince

200g dried fruit mix

150g peeled and diced into small cubes pink lady apples

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg

⅛ teaspoon ground ginger

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

zest of ½ orange

180ml fresh orange juice

Short Crust Pastry

1 cup (160g) plain all-purpose flour

⅛ teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons (30g) Niulife Coconut Sugar

½ cup (100g) Niulife Coconut Oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 tablespoon (15ml) ice cold water

Method

1. Make the fruit mince first. Combine all the ingredients in a large saucepan and simmer over a low heat for 10-15 mins, stirring every now and then until the liquid has absorbed. Allow to cool and it will be ready to use, however if you can leave it overnight do so as the flavours will intensify.
2. Make the short crust pastry. Grease a 12-tin muffin tray or tart tin and set aside. In a medium sized bowl, mix the flour, salt and coconut sugar together. Rub the coconut oil in using your fingertips, the pastry should resemble bread crumbs or wet sand. Add in the vanilla and water and mix to form a soft pliable dough.
3. Bring the pastry into a ball using your hands and place on a lightly floured surface. Using a rolling pin, roll to ½ cm thick. Using a 7cm round cookie cutter, cut as many circles out as you can and gently place them into the greased muffin tin. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until you have 11 circles. With the remaining dough, cut out shapes for the tops of the tarts, I cut out stars. Place the tops of the tarts on a baking tray lined with baking paper and place them and the tart shells into the fridge to chill for an hour. This is essential.
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C / 350°F.
5. Once they have finished chilling, begin to assemble. Add a generous amount of the fruit mince to each tart shell. Gently place the tops onto each tart and press down lightly to make sure they’re flat and even. Brush the tops with a little plant based milk and sprinkle a little coconut sugar over the tops.
6. Bake in preheated oven to 30-35 minutes or until golden. Cool completely before removing them from the tin. Store covered in the fridge for up to 5 days.