The FastDay Forum

I usually make my mince pie pastry with half butter/margarine and half lard ( cookeen). Wondering whether to substitute coconut oil for the lard this year. Anyone got any helpful tips?

Haven't actually tried it myself Lil but have seen recipes for pastry using solid coconut oil in pastry making. I'd give it a go just rubbing it in with the butter as you would normally. Should give your mince pies that little extra yumminess!

I tried using coconut oil in a crumble topping, it was a disaster. The oil was one that didn't have a lovely coconut flavour, the crumble tasted awful. It might have tasted better mixed with butter - or vegan margarine in my case.

Have only tried it grain free:

2.5 cups ground blanched almonds
1 tbspn coconut flour
1 large cold egg
5 tspn a ice water
.75tspn salt
3.5 tbspn coconut oil

Process the first five ingredients for 30 seconds and add the oil in small spoonfuls. Pulse 4 or 5 times to bring the dough together.

I Googled and found this

http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/index ... -pie-crust

I might give it go for my mince pies and I will probably add Stevia or Splenda just to sweeten it slightly.

Thanks for all replies and suggestions. I have swapped to using butter instead of margarine in my cooking so might give it a try. May do 2/3 butter 1/3 coconut oil. I usually make the pastry and my (adult) children construct the pies when they arrive home for Christmas so I could be in trouble if it's not workable!

Sounds interesting. I imagine you have to take care not to overwork it.

Can any of you tell me if coconut flour is the same as unsweetened dessicated coconut or is it finer?

How marvellous using coconut oil in pastry I didn't think that it could work but I have saved the recipe link & will try it out when I next make some pastry. Thank you for the link sylvestra.

I use it all the time in biscuits so it should be fine for pastry, you need to be careful with the amount of dry ingredients you use though as the dough comes out quite sticky, I would suggest adding the butter/lard and maybe half of the amount of coconut oil you'll need and adjust from there. The first time I tried I used the same amount of coconut oil as the recipe suggested for butter and the dough was far too sticky so I had to keep adding flour, the results weren't great, but if you add a bit at a time and chill your pastry it comes out with a lovely, fine texture.

@Rawkaren that sounds lovely. Do you roll it like conventional pastry, or press it into a baking tin/tins and fill then bake? What temperature would you bake it at? I have a smidgen of coconut flour in the fridge, I might just try a batch. Thank you.

Hi @izzy. It doesn't roll that well so just press the dough into your tins. Cook on 325F for 15-20 mins.

@miffy49. Coconut flour is very different to dessicated coconut. Yes it is expensive, but you need very little as it is highly absorbent. I find you typically need a third of what you would use of other flours. So actually after the initial outlay, it represents good value for money.

I'm making a sugar free filling for mine based on my Hairy Dieters sugar free, fat free tea loaf. Here it is if anyone is interested:

500g dried fruits. I use a mix of vine fruits, dried cherries, dried cranberries.
250g prunes, chopped. I use the semi soft ones.
Zest and juice of one orange
3 tsp ground mixed spice
400ml just boiled water
1 teabag

Add the water to the teabag. Steep for 5 mins. Add the liquid to dried fruits and add the zest and juice and mixed spice. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook until the liquid is absorbed, stirring occasionally. Sugar free, fat free mincemeat. voila!

I used an old coffee grinder and blitzed the desiccated coconut and it came out a flour consistency @miffy49 it worked in the recipe I needed it for.

Great thread @rawkaren and thanks for your recipe request @izzy. I have a 1kg bag of dried fruit and was wondering what to do with it and fruit mince pies fit the bill especially with a wheat free pastry

Thanks all for the advice on coconut flour. I had a feeling that it might be finer.

Gillymary, I have tried blitzing desiccated coconut but got what I assume to be coconut butter rather than flour!

Ah well, I don't bake that often with being low carb as well as gluten free. Its just at times like Christmas that it would be nice to eat like other people! I've tried various gluten free blended flours but they always seem to put in a fair proportion of rice flour which I fine gritty and unpleasant.

Well, I made the pastry using half and half butter and coconut oil. I put it in the fridge for about 20 mins after I'd combined everything and then I rolled it out between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper. This let me roll it really thin.

I had added a tablespoon of Splenda to the dry ingredients to make a sweeter pastry for my mince pies.

I can report that the pies came out light, crispy and delicious.

There was no discernible taste of coconut but the mincemeat taste would have hidden that.

Glad they turned out well for you, they sound yummy!

Think I'll definitely give it a go. Won't be making mine till the weekend