Frangipane Mince Pies

Name: Frangipane Mince Pies
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 20 min
Total time: 80 min
Ingredients: 250 g plain flour; 50 g ground almonds; 150 g cold cubed butter; 50 g icing sugar; 1 large egg; 1 orange zested; 510 g jar of mincemeat; 2 tbsp cranberry sauce; Extra flour for dusting pastry; 150 g butter (room temp); 150 g caster sugar; 125 g ground almonds; 80 g plain flour; 2 large eggs

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Easy frangipane mince pies made completely from scratch with a few basic store cupboard ingredients. The homemade frangipane topping is soft and spongy with a sweet almond flavour. This is surely one of the best ways to enjoy mince pies and amazing with a bit of brandy cream! The pastry can be mixed by hand in just 10 minutes and the pies themselves need just 20 minutes in the oven.

Single mince pie on a plate with a frangipane topping and sprinkles of icing sugar falling down on top.

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👩🏻‍🍳 Why make this recipe
🍽 Equipment notes
🥘 Ingredients
🔪 Step by step instructions
❓ Frequently asked questions
🎄 Other Christmas recipes
📖 Recipe

👩🏻‍🍳 Why make this recipe

The only thing better than mince pies is frangipane mince pies. With just a thin layer of pastry for the base and soft almond flavoured sponge for the lid these mince pies will definitely have you coming back for seconds.

The pastry is easy to mix together by hand and the frangipane can be whizzed up in a food processor in just 5 minutes. This simple, tried and tested recipe will ensure a perfect batch every time.

🍽 Equipment notes

Useful bits of equipment for making this recipe:

To shape the mince pies: shallow mince pie tray
For the base: 8cm round fluted cutter or a round fluted cutter just slightly bigger than the holes in your baking tin.
For the frangipane: Food processor (this is an updated model from the one that I have).

🥘 Ingredients

To make 24 frangipane mince pies you will need:

Ingredient notes for the pastry and filling

Butter: this should be as cold as possible, so leave in the fridge until the last minute. Cold pastry is easier to work with.

Orange zest: To make these mince pies extra festive, I like to flavour the pastry with orange zest. This could be substituted with clementine or tangerine zest or completely left out if preferred.

Cranberry sauce: Cranberry sauce can be added to the mincemeat filling for a mince pie with extra Christmas flavour. Again this is completely optional but if you would like to give this a go just stir a couple of tablespoons of cranberry sauce into the mincemeat.

Ingredient notes for the frangipane

Butter: This should be room temperature so it can be easily creamed with the sugar.

Ground almonds: This is essential for making frangipane, which has a distinctive almond flavour, so don't leave this out.

Flaked almonds: These are to add as a topping but are completely optional.

🔪 Step by step instructions

Add the flour and cold butter to a large mixing bowl. Use your finger tips to rub the butter into the flour until a breadcrumb consistency is reached.
Next add the ground almonds, icing sugar and orange zest to the bowl. Stir into the crumb until evenly mixed.
Whisk one large egg then gradually add to the mixture. Mix well between each addition and stop adding the egg when the pastry starts to come together. TIP: If you have added all the egg and the pastry hasn't come together, add small spoonfuls of a second egg or cold water until it does come together.
Turn the pastry out onto a clean, floured work surface and shape into a ball. Wrap in cling film and place into the fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes. The colder the better!
Whilst the pastry is in the fridge, the frangipane can be made. Set up your food processor with the blade attachment and then add the butter and caster sugar.
Turn on and blend together until creamy and lighter in colour.
Next, crack one of the eggs into to processor and add a tablespoon of the ground almonds. Turn on and blend until the egg is fully combined. Repeat with the second egg.
Remove the mixer bowl from the processor and take out the blade. Add the remaining ground almonds and the flour to the mixture. Fold in well using a spatula until fully combined. Store the frangipane in the fridge until ready to use.
Once the pastry is well chilled, roll out on a floured work surface into a rough circle around 2-3mm thick. Use an 8cm round, fluted cutter to cut out circles for the base of each mince pie. TIP: use a size of round cutter that is slightly larger than the holes of your mince pie tray.
Lightly grease your mince pie tray and sprinkle with flour, tapping off the excess. Then carefully place the pastry circles into the holes of the tray and add a teaspoon of mincemeat filling to each one. (Optional: Stir cranberry sauce into mincemeat first for an extra festive twist).
Add a teaspoon of frangipane on top of the mincemeat. No need to spread out the frangipane or make it look neat - it will spread and settle evenly during baking. TIP: only add a teaspoon of frangipane. More than this will be too much and will spill over the edges.
Add a few flaked almonds to the top of the frangipane, if desired, then place in the centre of a pre heated oven and bake at 170℃/340℉ for 20 minutes or until the frangipane is golden brown around the edges.

❓ Frequently asked questions

What is the best way to work with the pastry?

To make this recipe easier and to keep the pastry colder for longer I suggest making half to begin with. This means halving the chilled pastry and returning one half to the fridge and rolling out the second half to make 12 mince pies. Once these have been filled and placed in the oven the rest of the pastry can be rolled out to make the rest of the pies.

How to stop the pastry from breaking when placing in the tray holes?

Pastry is a lot easier to handle when cold. Once made, make sure it is well chilled for at least 30 minutes. Leave it for longer if you can. Then roll out quickly and try not to over handle the cut out circles before placing in the tray.

How should mince pies be stored?

Allow the mince pies to fully cool then wrap in foil or cling film and store in an air tight container for up to 1 week.

Can frangipane mince pies be frozen?

Freezing mince pies is a fantastic way to have homemade mince pies on hand whenever you want them. Allow the pies to fully cool then stack in a sealable container and freeze for up to 3 months. To defrost, pop out as many pies as you need then leave on the side to fully defrost for a couple of hours. To reheat, place defrosted pies in a warm oven for 5 minutes.

What can I add to a jar of mincemeat?

This recipe suggests adding cranberry sauce to the mincemeat for a bit of extra Christmas flavour. Other additions could include orange zest, crushed hazelnuts, splash of rum or brandy, tinned cherries (chopped), dried apricots or some christmassy spices such as cinnamon or nutmeg.

Frangipane mince pies lined up on a wire cooling rack with more pies in background on a plate.

This post was first published in December 2017. Updated in December 2020 with an improved recipe and new images, step-by-step photos and recipe tips.

Frangipane mince pies