Air Fryer Mince Pies
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Air Fryer Mince Pies. How to make delicious homemade British mince pies in the air fryer. An easy to follow recipe with only a small amount of ingredients. Easy to freeze and reheat later and ideal for Christmas.
We originally shared mince pies in the air fryer back in late 2016 in the build up to Christmas 2016. Today is the updated mince pies recipe.
Air Fryer Mince Pies
Many people that visit Recipe This assume we are American. After all we have instant pot dirty water hot dogs, many game day recipes such as air fryer frozen chicken wings or air fryer frozen onion rings. We also have recipes with imperial measurements as well as metric.
But we are not American born, instead we are British born. Over the years we have made more and more American friends and been educated more and more on American cuisine and culture.
The TV we watch is American and rather than calling me mummy, my kids call me mommy.
I suppose in a similar way to how a British expat would be if they lived in America. That they would still love their British food culture that they grew up on but would also embrace American food too.
Living in Portugal, many Portuguese people are taught US culture and US English rather than British, yet the British Expats are always excited to introduce the Portuguese to the mince pies at Christmas time.
Our local British supermarket sells mince pies and I always comment that they have over bought them again. But they are soon sold, and it amazes me how many Brits will buy mince pies when it is the Christmas season.
Of course, that includes me.
I claim that I am stockpiling for Santa, but I don’t think Santa eats that many mince pies!
I also make a batch of mince pies in the air fryer each Christmas and this is the EXACT air fryer mince pies recipe I follow.
Why Mince Pies?
If you are not British, the chances are you are probably thinking “why mince pies?”. What is the big deal about mince pies and why are they consumed in their masses at Christmas????
Well mince pies to the Brits is what cookies at Christmas are to the Americans. Think of all those American Christmas movies you watch, that is centred around Christmas Eve.
Movies like Jingle All The Way, will show the mum in the kitchen on Christmas Eve making way too many cookies.
They will be the Christmas Eve snack and often saved for Santa too.
Well that is what a British mum will be doing on Christmas Eve. A big batch of homemade mince pies, some reserved for Santa and some for eating after your Christmas dinner.
Mince Pies On Christmas Day
As a kid I always remember my mum making mince pies for Christmas Day. She would cook an enormous feast, and I never understood how people had the room for mince pies too. But there would never be a mince pie left.
The tradition is often to make mince pies for Christmas on Christmas Eve. But I always have everything else to prep on Christmas Eve, so why not make them earlier?
You could make mince pies 5 days ahead and they would still be good for Christmas Day. Though I don’t have the willpower to keep mince pies in the fridge for that long!
Can Mince Pies Be Frozen?
Yes mince pies can be frozen. In fact, at the time of writing this, I have a batch of mince pies in the freezer. You could be making your mince pies in September for Christmas and getting the job out of the way.
Then get your mince pies out of the freezer on Christmas Eve and you will have a smile on your face that due to your making ahead skills, the mince pies are one less job to do.
How To Cook Mince Pies In Air Fryer?
The quick version of air fryer mince pies goes as follows:
- Make your shortcrust pastry.
- Roll out your dough into muffin tins.
- Add mincemeat.
- Add the lid to your pies.
- Add mince pie egg wash.
- Air fry + enjoy!
There is a little more to it than that, but those are the simple basics!
Air Fryer Mince Pies Q&A
I have had lots of questions about mince pies and about other pies in the air fryer and here is some quick Q&A for you:
- Mince Pies Filling? Grab any standard mince meat filling from the supermarket and use this in your mince pies. The mince pie filling we used we got from our Portuguese version of Iceland.
- Mince Pies Hot Or Cold? I love my mince pies warm, but they also taste good cold. It comes down to personal choice as to how you have your mince pies. You can also make ahead mince pies and then reheat them later on for your guests and then sprinkle them with icing sugar.
- Mince Pies With Self Raising Flour? It is tradition to make your shortcrust pastry with plain flour, but you can use self raising too. Self raising flour will make the mince pies puff up a little and will look thicker, but the taste and texture will be the same.
- Mince Pies In Muffin Tin? We used a muffin tin because our old muffin cups we have, went missing. You can use muffin cups, muffin tins or even silicone moulds. All does a good job.
- Mince Pies With Shortcrust Pastry? My mince pie dough recipe is my shortcrust pastry recipe, also called pie crust in America. It only has butter, plain flour, and sugar on its ingredients list, and is so easy to make at home. Alternatively, you can use just roll shortcrust pastry instead.
Can you Bake A Pie In An Air Fryer?
I often get asked if you can bake a pie in the air fryer and answer is always a huge YES. The air fryer does an incredible job of cooking all kinds of different pies.
In the old days, I would always make mince pies in the oven, but with the air fryer they are easier to cook perfectly, without being overdone.
You also don’t have to limit yourself to mince pies. Other pies we have made in the air fryer include:
Air Fryer Mince Pies
Ingredients
Kitchen Gadgets:
Mince Pies Ingredients:
- 500 g Air Fryer Pie Crust
- 350 g Jar Mince Meat
- 1 Small Egg beaten for egg wash
- 50 g Icing Sugar optional
- Plain Flour
Instructions
- Add the pie ingredients into a mixing bowl. Rub the fat into the flour and stir in sugar. Add a little extra virgin olive oil and mix with a little water at a time until you have shortcrust pastry.
- Flour a rolling pin and flour a clean worktop. Roll out your pastry and using pastry cutters, cut out to the ideal size.
- Load the pastry into muffin tins and add a dollop of mince meat in each one.
- Add another layer of pastry over the top and use your hands to press down and seal so that no mince meat will escape during cooking.
- Add an egg glaze to the top of your mince pies with a pastry brush and add into your air fryer. Air fry for 15 minutes at 180c/360f in your air fryer oven.
- Eat warm or save for later. You can also add a sprinkling of icing sugar over your pies.
Notes
Nutrition
Can’t make it now? Then pin it for later!
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love your mince pies they are amazing. 5/5
OMG the best ever mince pies and never thought of doing pie in the air fryer before. The pastry is amazing.
I love mince pies, takes me back to my English upbringing. Adfter finding your recipe i went straight out and bought some mince meat. So yummy.
Thanks so much il be trying those in my new air fryer here in UK 🇬🇧. I was wig you knew how long to steam my Xmas pudding for in the AF ??
Hi Beverley,
We have not cooked a Christmas pudding yet in the air fryer or any other gadget but we will be doing it soon now they are back in the shops 🙂
hi what fat do i use in the shortcrust pastry please it doesn’t say in the recipe
Hi Tracy,
The fat used was butter 😊