Week 18 Dish 1: Vegan Christmas mincemeat crumble bars

Christmas is just around the corner, and I'm feeling really festive! We finally managed to put up the Christmas tree and of course I made a yummy Christmas bake. So now the house smells and looks as festive as I feel :D. The bake required mincemeat so I made homemade mincemeat, and lots of it! I've used half of it in my yummy recipe today - vegan Christmas mincemeat bars inspired by Mary Berry's mincemeat streusel. I'm sure you can guess what I'm going to make with the rest of the mincemeat! I used the same crumble recipe as in one of my very first recipes - vegan blackberry crumble bars and it turned out perfect. Can I say, homemade mincemeat is just so much better than the shop bought jars and it's so so simple - definitely worth it.

Makes 8-10 bars

Ingredients

For the mincemeat (this makes DOUBLE the mince necessary for this recipe. I used half (~500 g) for the bars and half for the next recipe which is coming soon)

450 g mixed dried fruit (or make your own with a mixture of raisins, currants, sultanas and dried cranberries)

50 g mixed peel

75 g dried apricots, chopped

50 g glace cherries, chopped

75 g candied mixed peel

1 large cooking apple, peeled and diced

50 g chopped nuts of choice (I used a mixture of wholenuts and walnuts)

100 g soft brown sugar

1 tsp grated lemon rind

1 tsp grated orange rind

1 tbsp orange juice

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp mixed spice

1 tsp cinnamon

100 g melted vegan margarine

4 tbsp vegan brandy, rum or sherry (I used Kingston black apple aperitif because that's all I had in the house)

For the crumble

2 cups oats
3/4 cup wholemeal flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbsp finely grated orange zest
1/4 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup coconut oil, warmed (I bought this from VB, too expensive in health food shops)

Method

1. Mix all the ingredients for the mincemeat together except the brandy in a large pan. Cook over a low heat for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool, then stir in the brandy.
2. Preheat oven to 180°C. Line a 9-inch square baking dish with grease proof paper.
3. In a large bowl mix together the oats, flour, brown sugar, orange zest, bicarbonate of soda and salt. Pour in the coconut oil and mix to blend well. Reserve 3/4 cup of oat mixture for the topping.
4. Transfer the remaining oat mixture to the prepared baking dish, pressing firmly to the bottom to form an even layer.
5. Spoon the mincemeat in an even layer on top and then sprinkle with the remaining oat mixture.
6. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes. Cool in the dish on a wire rack for 30 to 40 minutes before cutting into bars. Christmas in a bar and perfect for tea time!

Original recipes: Mincemeat streusel and vegetarian mincemeat