I love a mince pie or ten at Christmas time! It helps when your mum makes hundreds of the little buggers leading up to the big day. I haven’t tried making gluten free mince pies as yet…so I did what any modern woman would do…I headed straight to the supermarket and thought I would share who makes the best gluten free mince pie this Christmas!
Marks & Spencer Gluten Free Mince Pies – can’t find a link to the M&S website
First impressions were pretty good and I loved the star shape design lid however there was a downside, they started to crumble as soon as I took them out of the box…now this could be okay if you plan to pass these pies off as your own baking as they look less than perfect once you remove them from the packaging and then from their little foil knickers.
Cutting into them just lead them to crumble more so expect to find some mince pie in your bra…a little bit of late night snacking thanks to Mark or who knows maybe Spencer depending on how much they crumble. Taste wise they were okay however they left a very gritty dry after taste in your mouth…similar to what you get from using Doves Farm flour which I dislike a lot.
Overall rating 2/5
Tesco Gluten Free Mince Pies – £1.75 per packet
First impressions were wow that is a bloody lot of sugar on top of that mince pie however the colour looked good and it wasn’t crumbly, even when I got the mince pie out of it’s little foil knickers…but I was rather concerned what was hiding under all that sugar and for a bloody good reason!
I started on this gluten free journey four years ago and let’s just say these gluten free mince pies were like a trip down memory lane…as soon as I took a bite all the saliva just disappeared from my mouth…they were bloody awful…even G agreed with this observation. They may be free from gluten, wheat and milk but that should also include taste! I was desperate for something to eat the next day so decided to give them another go…they were okay however I think I would have said the same thing about a dog turd.
I will say that I find the Tesco Gluten Free range really upsets my IBS and these were no different…if you heard rumbling in Bedfordshire it was because I had two of these mince pies. Come on Tesco, you need to lift your game…it’s not 2012 anymore!
Overall Rating – 1/4
Sainsbury’s Gluten Free Mince Pies – £2.25
G picked up these mince pies and was desperate to try one (he’s not even gluten free!) hence why the box was opened when I went to photograph them. First impressions were good, nice colour and no crumbling as you remove them from the packaging or their foil knickers.
Taste wise, G was right in his observation…if you like your gluten free mince pies to have a crunch to them then you will love these pies from Sainsbury’s. Overall the filling was tasty however the pastry was just too hard…a tad disappointing really as they looked so promising.
Overall Rating 3/5
Waitrose Gluten Free Mince Pies – £2.50
Call me a snob but I love shopping at Waitrose so I was looking forward to seeing how their gluten free mince pies were going to fare in this gluten free bake off! First impressions were good; nice colour, not a huge amount of sugar on top, thicker lid than bottom and no crumbling as you removed them from the packaging or their foil knickers.
Taste wise these gluten free mince pies are truly amazing and I will definitely rate them as the best gluten free pies in the shops at the moment! Now to make sure that I stand by this rating, I’ve purchased a few boxes and can say with my hand on my heart that every single gluten free mince pie that I’ve eaten from Waitrose was amazing…my mince pie number may now be in double digits. There is no gritty after taste, just the right amount of crumble (that pastry looks moist compared to the pies above!) and the mince is rather scrummy and they go perfectly with a cup of tea.
Okay they may be the most expensive on the market at £2.50 per packet however I’m happy to pay some extra pennies for a gluten free mince pie which is eatable!
Overall Rating 5/5
Apologies for the lack of pretty plates…our house tried to kill both G and I a few years ago…the cupboard which held all our plates fell off the wall narrowly missing me but landed on the dishes that I had just finished washing, breaking almost every plate and bowl that we owned hence I’ve refused to buy new dishes as pay back (we currently live off 4 dinner plates and 3 bowls!). A few days later, G fell off a ladder breaking his arm and nose…right before our visit to Claridge’s for Afternoon Tea…I have a love / hate relationship with this house!. I’ve totally digressed from mince pies haven’t I?!?!
So which gluten free mince pie is your favourite?
xx
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