These tasty festive treats are made using simple and affordable ingredients. They are gluten free (to help avoid that Christmas bloat), and the only sweetener used is honey, which is much more nutrient-dense than refined sugar.

You will need:

A muffin/bun tray with 12 holes

Cling film

Pastry Ingredients (for 12 pies)

100g rice flour (available from Morrisons or Abu Bakar for about 80p)

75g ground almonds

50g butter (fridge-cold and cut into cubes)

1 egg

1 tablespoon runny honey

Filling

1 orange (zest and juice)

1 lemon (just zest)

100g raisins/sultanas

50g cranberries

1.5 teaspoons cinnamon

1.5 teaspoons ground ginger

1 tablespoon runny honey

4 tablespoons water

Method

[1] Preheat your oven to 150 degrees.

[2] Put the rice flour, ground almonds and cubed butter into a bowl and rub the mixture together with your fingers, until the butter is fully incorporated and the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

[3] Stir in the egg and honey.

[4] Gather the mixture into your hands and form into a ball. Wrap it in cling film and put it in the fridge so it’s easier to roll out later.

[5] Grate the zest of the orange and lemon into a pan (just the orange/yellow surface layers, not the white bits) and then squeeze in the juice of the orange.

[6] Add the other filling ingredients and cook on a low heat, stirring regularly for about 10 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the fruit is plump and sticking together. Put it into a bowl to cool off.

[7] Line the baking tray by greasing the holes with butter and sprinkle with flour.

[8] Roll out the pastry to about 3mm thick between two sheets of cling film; it’s easiest to divide the pastry in half, keeping one in the fridge whilst you roll out the other. Use the rim of a mug to cut out circles and place them into the holes of the baking tray.

[9] Fill each pie with the cooled filling.

[10] Roll out the leftover pastry to cut out smaller circles for the pie lids. Place on top of the pies and make 2 little slits in the lids with a knife to let the steam out.

[11] Cook for about 25-30 minutes until lightly browned, and serve with a festive mug of mulled wine.

 

Patsy O’Neill