These festive frangipane mince pies are the perfect treat to enjoy over the Christmas holidays.
Filled with sweet and fruity mincemeat and topped with a rich homemade almond frangipane cream, they make a lovely alternative to traditional mince pies.
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Best of all, thanks to store-bought shortcrust pastry and simple homemade frangipane, these pies are incredibly easy to prepare.
Simply roll out the pastry, fill with mincemeat, and top with the almond sponge mixture before baking until golden.
The almond topped mince pies are ideal for sharing at festive gatherings, buffets, and parties over the Christmas season.
You can also serve them as a festive dessert with custard, cream, or brandy butter.
👩🍳 Love mince pies? Try my easy crumble-topped mince pies next!
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✔️ Why you'll love this recipe!
- While they may look fancy, these mince pies are surprisingly easy to make using store-bought pastry and simple homemade frangipane.
- The combination of sweet mincemeat, rich almond frangipane, and buttery pastry makes for incredibly tasty pies that are a nice change from traditional pastry topped mince pies.
- They can be served as dessert, as part of a festive buffet spread, or packed up as Christmas gifts for teachers, friends, and neighbours.
- They're also freezer-friendly.
🛒 Ingredient notes
Shortcrust Pastry - I've used store-bought ready-rolled shortcrust pastry to keep things quick, but feel free to make your own.
Mincemeat - a good quality store-bought or homemade mincemeat.
For the Frangipane (almond cream) - butter, sugar, eggs, ground almonds, plain flour, and almond extract.
Flaked almonds - for the tops of the mince pies.
What is mincemeat?
During Medieval times, mincemeat originally contained minced meat along with fruit and spices. The modern version is a mixture of chopped dried fruit, spirits (brandy, rum, or whisky), and spices such as cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Why not try adding it to an apple crumble?
🔪 How to make frangipane mince pies
The recipe card with ingredient quantities and detailed instructions can be found at the bottom of the post
Making the frangipane
One: Cream together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.
Two: Beat in the eggs and almond extract.
Three: Fold in the ground almonds and plain flour and mix until combined.
Assembling the frangipane mince pies
Four: Using a 7cm fluted round biscuit cutter, stamp out 12 rounds of pastry and lightly press into the greased bun tin.
Five: Fill each pastry case with mincemeat.
Six: Top each mince pie with the almond frangipane and scatter over flaked almonds.
Seven: Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes until the tops are golden brown. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before carefully removing the mince pies to a cooling rack.
Top Tip - use any leftover pastry to make jam tarts!
Top Tips
- Lightly grease the bun tin with butter or vegetable oil to prevent the mince pies from sticking. Alternatively, place strips of baking paper into each hole of the bun tin (make sure the baking paper is overhanging the edges), before lining each hole with the pastry. Once cool, lift the mince pies out using the overhanging baking paper.
- To save time, make the frangipane sponge the day before and store it in the fridge.
- Put the frangipane mixture into a large piping bag with a wide nozzle and use this to pipe the mixture on top of the mincemeat.
🍴 Serving suggestions
The frangipane mince pies are a great addition to any festive buffet, bake sale, or Christmas party, along with air fryer sausage rolls, chocolate orange tiffin, Christmas fairy cakes, and cranberry white chocolate blondies.
You can also serve the mince pies warm for dessert, with custard, ice cream, or brandy butter! They make a nice alternative to Christmas pudding.
📖 Variations
- Add a handful of chopped walnuts to give the mince pies some crunch.
- Stir orange zest into shop-bought mincemeat for more flavour.
- Dust with icing sugar once cool.
🥡 Storage
Store - The baked mince pies will stay fresh in an airtight container for up to 1 week.
Reheat - You can eat mince pies at room temperature, but if you prefer to eat them warm, return the pies to a medium oven or air fryer for 5 minutes.
Freeze- Place the cooled baked mince pies into freezer bags and freeze for up to 3 months.
❓ Frequently asked questions
Frangipane is an almond filling that is usually made with butter, sugar, eggs, and ground almonds. It has a creamy, paste-like consistency and a sweet nutty flavor.
Frangipane is an almond filling, sometimes called frangipane cream. Marzipan, on the other hand, is an almond-sugar paste that's very dense and can be formed into decorative shapes.
😋 More easy mincemeat bakes
- Mincemeat Muffins
- Baked Apples with Mincemeat
- Apple and Mincemeat Crumble
- Puff Pastry Mincemeat Pinwheels
- Mincemeat Blondies
- Christmas Cake Muffins
Tried it? Let me know what you think and rate it ⭐️ below. Tag me @effortlessf00d-I'd love to see! Don't forget to subscribe for more recipes.
Recipe
Easy Frangipane Mince Pies
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Equipment
- Fluted Cookie Cutter
Ingredients
- 325 g Ready Rolled Shortcrust Pastry
- 200 g Mincemeat
For the frangipane
- 100 g Butter unsalted and softened
- 100 g Caster Sugar
- 2 Eggs medium
- ¼ teaspoon Almond Extract
- 100 g Ground Almonds
- 1 tablespoon Plain Flour
- 3 tablespoon Flaked Almonds
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (180 °fan/ Gas 6) and lightly grease a 12 hole bun tin with butter.
- Cream together the butter and sugar in a large mixing bowl.100 g Butter, 100 g Caster Sugar
- Beat in the eggs and almond extract.2 Eggs, ¼ teaspoon Almond Extract
- Fold in the ground almonds and plain flour and mix until combined.100 g Ground Almonds, 1 tablespoon Plain Flour
- Using a 7cm fluted round biscuit cutter, stamp out 12 rounds of pastry and lightly press into the greased bun tin.325 g Ready Rolled Shortcrust Pastry
- Fill each pastry case with mincemeat.200 g Mincemeat
- Top each mince pie with the almond frangipane and scatter over flaked almonds.3 tablespoon Flaked Almonds
- Bake in the oven for 18-20 minutes until the tops are golden brown. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before carefully removing the mince pies to a cooling rack.
Notes
- Lightly grease the bun tin with butter or vegetable oil to prevent the mince pies from sticking. Alternatively, place strips of baking paper into each hole of the bun tin (make sure the baking paper is overhanging the edges), before lining each hole with the pastry. Once cool, lift the mince pies out using the overhanging baking paper.
- To save time, make the frangipane sponge the day before and store it in the fridge.
- Put the frangipane mixture into a large piping bag with a wide nozzle and use this to pipe the mixture on top of the mincemeat.
- Add a handful of chopped walnuts to give the mince pies some crunch.
- Stir in orange zest to shop-bought mincemeat for more flavour.
- Dust with icing sugar once cool.
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