Pear & Almond Crumble Mince Pies
A batch of classic mince pies, with a pear & almond crumble baked on top instead of a lid! Serve these warm, with custard & you’re in for a real festive treat.
These are some seriously tasty homemade mince pies! There’s crisp almond pastry, boozy mincemeat, pears stewed in butter & vanilla & a crunchy, lightly spiced almond crumble topping. Serve them warm with a generous amount of homemade custard & you’ve got yourself something rather special!
If you’re a fan of both mince pies & a fruit crumble, this is the festive recipe for you! These make a fantastic edible gift & are super easy to prepare. And if you’re not a fan of pears, you can swap them out for apples, cherries or even quinces.
Check out our collection of Christmas recipes, for more festive cooking inspiration! There’s lots to choose from here, from classic mince pies, to Christmas pudding & everything you need to make the ultimate Christmas dinner.
Ingredient Notes
- Sweet Shortcrust Pastry – We’re making an almond shortcrust pastry for these mince pies but feel free to swap this out for regular shortcrust or ready rolled.
- Mincemeat – I used my homemade brown butter mincemeat but a good shop bought one will work as well!
- Pears – Conference pears work best for crumbles because they have a sweet flavour & will keep their shape once cooked.
- Cornflour – Used to thicken the pears up once cooked (they’ll release a lot of juice!).
- Almonds – You’ll need 3 types of almonds for these mince pies; ground, flaked & extract.
- Sugar – We’re using icing sugar for the pastry, caster sugar for the pears & demerara and caster sugar for the crumble topping (the demerara sugar is for extra crunch!).
How To Make Pear & Almond Crumble Mince Pies
The full, printable recipe card for these mince pies can be found at the bottom of this post! Here’s a quick rundown of the recipe…
Almond Shortcrust Pastry
These are pear & almond mince pies so it just makes sense to make them with an almond pastry! This is made the same way as regular sweet shortcrust pastry but we’re substituting some of the flour with ground almonds & also adding in a splash of almond extract. There’s some fresh orange zest in there as well, for extra flavour. Here’s how to make it…
- Sift plain flour & icing sugar into a large mixing bowl then add in ground almonds, salt & orange zest.
- Cut cold butter into small pieces, add into the flour, then rub in with your fingers until the mix resembles breadcrumbs with some large pieces of butter still visible.
- Add egg yolks & almond extract into the flour then mix with your hands until the pastry starts to come together. Tip out onto a clean work surface & gently knead until you have a smooth dough (be careful not to overwork).
- Shape the pastry into a disc, wrap in clingfilm then chill in the fridge for at least 2 hours before rolling out.
Vanilla Pears
These vanilla pears are cooked the same way as a crumble filling. They’re sweet, flavoured with vanilla beans & cooked in butter until tender. It’s key to stop cooking the pears as soon as they are soft, so that they keep their shape. Otherwise you’ll end up with a pear puree. Although this would be tasty, it’s not what we’re after for this recipe!
To make our vanilla pears, we peel, quarter & core the pears then chop them into 1 cm chunks. The pear chunks then get cooked with butter, caster sugar & vanilla until tender then we thicken up the sauce with a cornflour slurry (cornflour mixed with cold water). Once cooked, the pears need to be cooled down completely before using (I like to make them the day before).
Almond Crumble Topping
This almond crumble topping is sweet, crunchy & nutty! This is a scaled down version of the topping from my pear, apple & blackberry crumble recipe but I’ve used caster sugar instead of brown sugar, for a more neutral flavour, to let the flavour from the pears & mincemeat shine through.
This stuff’s super easy to make, simply mix plain flour with ground almonds, ginger & salt, rub in cold butter then mix in porridge oats, demerara sugar & caster sugar. We squeeze the mix together with our hands, to form small clumps then we chill the crumble mix in the fridge for at least an hour.
Assembly & Baking
To assemble crumble mince pies, you make them the same way as regular ones but instead of a lid, you sprinkle crumble topping on top. We’re going to be adding a layer of mincemeat on the bottom of each pie, then a spoonful of pears on top followed by a sprinkle of crumble. Easy stuff right!? Once assembled, we bake the mince pies until they’re golden brown & crisp.
How To Assemble & Bake – Step By Step
- Roll the pastry out to a thickness of 3mm then cut out circles with a 9½ cm cutter.
- Gently press the circles of pastry into a buttered muffin tray, making sure that the pastry reaches the top of each hole then place the tray in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Add a heaped teaspoon of mincemeat into each pie case, followed by the same amount of cooked pears.
- Sprinkle a generous amount of crumble topping on top of each mince pie.
- Bake the pies at 180°c/356°f for 20-25 minutes, until the pastry & crumble topping are both golden brown & crisp.
- Let the mince pies cool in the tin for 15 minutes or so then use a palette knife to lift them out of the tin & onto a cooling rack. Leave to cool then serve!
Tips & Tricks
- Make your own sweet shortcrust pastry, for the best flavour & texture.
- Use either a homemade mincemeat or a really good shop bought one.
- Chill the pastry, pears & crumble topping for at least an hour before assembling so that everything is completely cold. This makes assembling the pies a lot easier!
- Cook the pears until they are just tender, so that they keep their shape.
- Place a baking tray inside your oven as it preheats then set the tin of pies on top, to bake. This helps crisp the bottom of the pies up.
- Let the mince pies cool in the tin for 15 minutes or so. This makes it easier to remove the pies from the tin.
Frequently Asked Questions
Crumble mince pies should be stored in the fridge because they contain fresh fruit. They are best eaten within 3 days & can be served warm, cold or at room temperature.
Yes, the pears can be swapped out for a different fruit. Apples, cherries & quinces would all be good alternatives.
The pastry, crumble topping & vanilla pears can all be made up to 2 days in advance & stored in the fridge before being used to make pies.
Sweet shortcrust pastry is best for mince pies. This type of pastry has a crisp, slightly crumbly texture & a rich, buttery flavour. If you like, you can flavour your sweet shortcrust pastry with vanilla, orange & lemon zest or almond extract.
To cook crumble mince pies in an Aga, cook the fruit on the simmering plate & bake the mince pies in the baking oven, on the second from bottom set of runners.
More Christmas Recipes To Try!
- Baileys Basque Cheesecake
- Mince Pie Panettone Treacle Tart
- Deep Fried Mince Pies
- Baileys Gingerbread Loaf Cake
- Leftover Christmas Pudding Flapjack
- Classic Mince Pies
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Pear & Almond Crumble Mince Pies
Equipment
- 12 Hole Muffin Tin
- Saucepan
- Mixing Bowl
Ingredients
Almond Pastry
- 220 g Plain Flour
- 50 g Icing Sugar
- 30 g Ground Almonds
- ½ tsp Table Salt
- 1 Orange (Zested)
- 140 g Unsalted Butter (Chilled)
- 35 g Egg Yolks
- ½ tsp Almond Extract
Almond Crumble Topping
- 40 Plain Flour
- 15 g Ground Almonds
- ¼ tsp Ground Ginger
- A Pinch Of Table Salt
- 40 g Unsalted Butter (Chilled & Diced)
- 20 g Porridge Oats
- 20 g Demerara Sugar
- 20 g Caster Sugar
- 15 g Flaked Almonds
Vanilla Pears
- 4 Conference Pears
- 20 g Unsalted Butter
- 40 g Caster Sugar
- 1 tsp Vanilla Paste
- A Pinch Of Salt (Or Use Salted Butter)
- 2 tsp Cornflour
- 2 tsp Cold Water
Filling
- 300 g Mincemeat
Instructions
Almond Pastry
- Sift the flour & icing sugar into a large mixing bowl then add in the ground almonds, salt & orange zest.
- Cut the butter into small pieces, add into the flour, then rub in with your fingers until the mix resembles breadcrumbs with some large pieces of butter still visible.
- Add the egg yolks & almond extract into the flour then mix with your hands until the pastry starts to come together. Tip out onto a clean work surface & gently knead until you have a smooth dough (be careful not to overwork).
- Flatten the pastry into a disc, wrap in clingfilm & refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
Almond Crumble Topping
- Place the plain flour, ground almonds, ginger & salt into a mixing bowl then whisk to combine. Add in the butter then rub in with your hands, until the mix resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
- Next, stir in the oats, both sugars & flaked almonds then squeeze the mix together to form small clumps. If the pieces are too big, break them up with your fingers.
- Place the crumble mix into the fridge & leave to chill whilst you make the filling.
Vanilla Pears
- Peel, quarter & core the pears then chop into 1 cm chunks. Add the pears into a small saucepan with the butter, sugar, vanilla & salt then set over a medium heat.
- Cook the pears, stirring frequently until they're soft but still holding their shape. This will take 5 minutes or so.
- Next, add the cornflour & cold water into a mixing bowl then stir to make a paste. Stir this into the pears then cook out for 1-2 minutes, until thick.
- Transfer the cooked pears to a bowl, leave to cool then refrigerate until completely cold.
Rolling Out The Pastry
- Take the pastry out of the fridge & leave to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. This makes the pastry more pliable.
- Brush a 12 hole muffin tray with melted butter then set aside.
- Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of 3 mm then cut out 12 circles using a 9½ cm cutter.Gently knead together the pastry trimmings & re roll if necessary.
- Gently press the circles of pastry into the muffin tray, making sure that the pastry reaches the top of each hole then place the tray in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
Assembly & Baking
- Preheat an oven to 180°c/160°c fan (356°f/320°f). Place a large baking tray in the oven at same time.Baking the pies on a preheated tray helps crisp up the pastry on the bottom of each pie.
- Spoon an equal amount of mincemeat into the bottom of each pie, followed by an equal amount of the pears.
- Sprinkle a generous amount of crumble topping on top of each mince pie then carefully place the tin onto the preheated tray & bake for 20-25 minutes, until the pastry & crumble topping are both golden brown.
- Once cooked, let the mince pies cool in the tin for 15 minutes or so then use a palette knife to lift the pies out of the tin & onto a cooling rack. Leave to cool then serve!
