Can You Freeze Mince Pies? – Preserving the Sweetness: A Guide to Freezing Mince Pies

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Can You Freeze Mince Pies?: Mince pies are a sweet English-origin dish filled with savory Mince meat, fruits, and spices that are loved worldwide generally during the Christmas season. Now let’s come to why you are here.

You have too many Mince pies left over from last night’s party or maybe you want to preserve the dough ahead of time for your future pies and are wondering whether you can freeze them for that, right? In this article, we will cover all the important factors that you need to know to freeze Mince pies properly. So without wasting any more time let’s jump straight into it.

Can You Freeze Mince Pies

Can You Freeze Mince Pies Either Cooked or Uncooked?

Yes, Mince Pies do freeze amazingly well if kept well-protected and covered inside the freezer. When you plan to freeze your Mince pies, then there are two basic options you get to choose from. You can freeze your Mince pies either baked or uncooked, but both of them have their own benefits and drawbacks pertaining to your consumption style. Following this section, we have covered step-by-step guides on how to freeze Mince Pies uncooked and cooked.

How to Freeze Uncooked Mince Pies?

Freezing Mince pies uncooked is going to be a great option for you if you want to have freshly baked Mince pies where you can enjoy the benefits of homemade pies as well as cut short the time of preparing the whole mix again.

Here are the steps:

  1. Prepare your Mince pies according to your recipe and just before you usually plan to bake them, turn off the heat and let it cool down completely to room temperature.
  2. Once your Mince pies are completely cooled down, wrap the pan on which you usually bake them with a sheet of cling film or plastic wrap to protect it from the dry freezer air.
  3. Next, pop the entire set-up into the freezer and flash-freeze for a couple of hours there.
  4. Take a baking tray out of the freezer and transfer each of your Mince pies into a freezer-safe bag or container. You May find your Mince pies have stuck to the bottom of the tray, don’t worry just take a thin butter knife, grease it with some oil, and gently remove it from below.
  5. Now label your freezer bag or container with the current date and set of contents and finally pop it back inside the freezer.

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Steps on How Can You Freeze Cooked Mince Pies

Now, you can also freeze your Mince pies cooked if you do not want to spend time cooking them and want to consume them readymade just by thawing them out from the frozen. Here are the steps that you can follow to reheat and consume your cooked Mince pies from the frozen:

  1. First, pop your cooked Mince pies onto a baking sheet making sure you are leaving enough space so that they don’t touch each other, and put them inside the freezer to flash freeze for a couple of hours.
  2. Next, take the tray out from the freezer and transfer each of the Mince pies into a suitably sized freezer-safe bag or container.
  3. Finally, label this container with the current date and contents and put it back into the freezer. At this point, you can also layer it up with a second layer of the baking sheet to give extra protection from moisture and bacteria.

Method To Freeze Iced Mince Pies

Yes, if your Mince pies have a layer of decoration on them like icing, frosting, or cheese then you can also freeze them, but, we will not recommend you do it that way. Froztings generally don’t freeze that well and might dry out and turn your Mince pies soggy.

This is because the frostings will solidify when frozen and then condense to liquid once thawed, which in turn will make the texture of your Mince pies soggy. Also, you will not be able to heat them up to combat the sogginess. The same thing applies to Sugar icings as well.

If you have a Mince pie that is dusted with icing sugar, then you might see that the icing has disappeared as soon as you have thawed your frozen pie which will need you to again reapply a fresh sprinkle of sugar when you defrost them.

Hence, we recommend you freeze your Mince pies as it is plain and then add any type of decoration on top after you have thawed and defrosted them for consumption.

Do Check:

How Long Can You Freeze Mince Pies?

You must be wondering how long you can preserve your Mince pies if you are freezing them. Well, Mince pies, either cooked or uncooked can stay fresh for up to 3 months if stored properly in a good quality air-tight container.

If you follow all the steps mentioned, then you can keep your ready-to-go batch of Mince pies inside the freezer and thaw it, defrost it, top it with some sugar frosting, and consume it as and when required.

If you are keeping your Mince pies in an airtight container inside the refrigerator, then it is going to last for 4-5 days. Make sure you are keeping your uncooked Mince pies inside the fridge, then try to cook them up within the first three days to avoid any degradation in the texture or taste.

Best Tips To Freeze Mince Pies

In the previous section, you have learned about the basic storage techniques that will allow you to preserve your Mince pies for a significantly long period of time. Now, we are going to share with you some amazing tips that you can follow if you want to get the best results while freezing your Mince pies:

  • Avoid any icing- Although you can freeze your Mince pies along with the Icing, it is not something that we will advise because in general, frostings and cream icing don’t freeze well. Instead, add your icing or any other decoration after thawing your Mince pies from the frozen or simply sprinkle with some icing sugar if you have fallen short of time.
  • Opt for freezing your Mince pies unbaked- Freezing your Mince pies unbaked will allow you to get the freshly baked ones with their original aroma and taste and also cut short the effort of making the dough all over again.
  • Grease the pan before adding your Mince pie to it- If you are freezing your Mince pie unbaked directly in a pan, then ensure to grease the pan with oil, butter, or ghee, before putting them in a freezer-safe bag for later preservation process.

This will ensure that your Mince pies don’t stick to the bottom of the pan when frozen but will also ease up the cleaning process even if they do. Alternatively, you can also try dusting the tray or the pan with plain flour to prevent your Mince pies bottoms from sticking.

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How To Defrost Mince Pies?

Defrosting your Mince pies is super easy but one thing you need to give special attention to is not causing your pastries to turn soggy due to the dry freezer temperature. The defrost procedure is similar for both baked and unbaked pies.

To defrost your Mince pies properly take each of the pies out and remove them from the packaging and the wrapping bags you have used. Now place each of your Mince pies on a wire rack and leave it at room temperature for about 2 hours to thaw down completely. Once thawed you can reheat or warm them using your oven if they are already cooked.

If you are defrosting uncooked Mince pies then simply brush them with beaten eggs or you can also bake them at the same time as you normally would as per your respective recipe. If you want to thaw them overnight, place them inside the refrigerator from the freezer itself.

Can You Refreeze Mince Pies?

Now, if you wonder whether refreezing your Mince pies is a good idea or not then it is not something that we would recommend. Generally, pastries change in texture when placed in the freezer so the more times you freeze the more you are increasing the chance for them to turn soggy.

However, if you have previously frozen unbaked Mince pies and will now bake them once defrosted then it would be fine to refreeze the dough as many times as you want.

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FAQs on Can I Freeze Mince Pies Cooked or Uncooked?

1. Why are mince pies not suitable for refreezing?

Freezing once is okay but refreezing mince spice will lead to a dull pastry that is soggy and lacking in taste.

2. How do you reheat mince spice?

To reheat mince pies remove them from the freezer, brush their top with milk or beaten egg, and finally put them inside an oven preheated to 200 degrees C.

3. How do you freeze homemade mince pies?

To freeze homemade mince pies first, put them inside the freezer uncovered until their crusts turn firm and then wrap it with plastic wrap or cling film followed by aluminum foil and then put it back in the freezer.

4. Does mince spice freeze well? 

Yes, mince pies do freeze well if kept sealed in proper airtight containers but may turn a little mushy and tasteless if re-frozen.

Closing Lines

Generally, Mince pies do freeze well and you will notice a very minimal change in their texture if you compare a frozen one with a freshly baked one. However, if you are freezing unbaked pastries then by the time you bake and consume them they would be delicious as a normally freshly made pastry would taste. We hope you found this can you freeze mince pies informative article enough. Stay tuned to read more of these.

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