Morrisons The Best Deep Filled Mince Pies Review (2021)

We've tried numerous mince pies from Morrisons and this year their The Best Deep Filled Mince Pies are perfectly fine. Made with all butter pastry, these dense pies include brandy and cider-infused mincemeat for a less-than-traditional taste. While sitting at 33p per pie, these certainly won't break the bank this Christmas but also won't excite many, either.

However if you are looking for something that tastes a bit different without being too strange, these pies have an interesting apple cider mincemeat that might be just what you're looking for.

1. Mincemeat

As expected with The Best Deep Filled mince pies, there's a good amount of mincemeat. However the "fresh’" raisins/sultanas that burst takes away from the richness you expect from a Christmas mince pie, but does make it feel lighter.

What sets these pies apart from typical mince pies is the inclusion of apple and cider in the mixture. This combination makes them feel less stuffy and filling than regular mince pies, but does miss that traditional "mince pie" flavour you may be looking for. If you want a pie that has a different taste than the usual, these could be a good choice for you.

2. Pastry

The pastry on The Best Deep Filled Mince pies is extremely dense, to the point that the pastry nearly turns crunchy. We've certainly tried worse mince pie pastry, but this isn't all that great, either. Ideally you'd aim for a pastry that's light and complementary to the mincemeat, but this pastry feels way too dense.

3. Taste

Overall these are deep-filled mince pies are adequately fine. They are nicely topped and dusted with sugar which give them a distinctively Christmas feel. While the mincemeat has a less-than traditional taste with the addition of extra apple and cider-infused mincemeat, it might be something different that you're looking for.

Morrisons The Best Deep Filled Mince Pies: Final Verdict

Overall these pies are fine. As a side note, the flimsy tray that hold the pies means you can’t pick it up or pass it around at Christmas. It's certainly not vital, but also a tad annoying. The box is fine as well but doesn't scream Christmas. Tiffany blue? Morrisons, what were you thinking?

At the end of the day, these pies are densely filled, taste fine, extremely cheap and accessible just about everywhere. If you need some mince pies in a hurry, these are certainly acceptable but don't expect too much from them.

Fortnum & Mason Traditional Mince Pies Review (2021)

You've probably heard of Fortnum & Mason, but have you ever tried their Traditional mince pies? You really should.

These massive pies contain vine-ripened fruits and a wonderful mixture of subtle spices. Delicately mixed in is Fortnum & mason's very own cognac-infused mincemeat.

Many of us probably wouldn't bother with a fancy collection of pies from Fortnum & Mason, or make the special trip to pick these up. However, these densely-filled pies with hand-crafted, all-butter short crust pastry really needs to be tasted to be believed.

1. Mincemeat

At first glance, it's obvious these pies are big. At 83 grams per pie, these are the heaviest pies we've ever reviewed. But size isn't everything - is the mincemeat good, or just heavy filler? Not surprisingly, these traditional pies have a beautiful dense filling, soaked in aged brandy. They're boozy, but just the perfect amount.

The raisins have broken down and are gooey and soft, adding to a wonderfully textured mincemeat.

2. Pastry

Could there be a better pastry? It's hard to say. These Christmas traditional mince pies have an incredible pastry - it's crisp but still buttery and soft. It's also important that the ratio of pastry to mincemeat is perfect. Some mince pie pastry we've tried ends up being forgettable, but that's not the case with these.

3. Taste

One bite of these mince pies and we're certain that you won't be disappointed. The combination of buttery pastry with a beautifully spiced mincemeat is truly a Christmas miracle. All of the components of these pies work wonderfully together, making this pie a great Christmas treat.

Fortnum & Mason Traditional Mince Pies: Final Verdict

Some might think these pies could be outdated, but there's a reason why they've been around for so long. We believe it would be a difficult task to find a better tasting mince pie.

In addition, the pies come in an elegant refined box with no plastic. The pies are nicely arranged on thick card stock and the pies themselves are understated but large. While these are a bit more expensive at £2.16 per pie, we truly believe it's money well spent and offers incredible value. These specialty mince pies would impress even a non-mince-pie enthusiast.

Sainsbury's Short Crust Mince Pies Review (2021)

Tesco's Iced Topped Mince Pies Review (2021)

The amount of icing on display here is SUBSTANTIAL, the oozy kind of soft, and with almost no structure to the soft pastry that deformed and broke on all of the pies.

It seems they've changed this year, with the supermarket rating at only 3.8 out of 5 on the product page, down from 4.4 in 2020. We can't say we tried these last year, but had so many people reach out and recommend them, we felt like we had to!

What a disappointment.

If you're looking for an Iced Mince Pie this year, you may want to look elsewhere unless the very specific characterises of this pie is what you're interested in (but we respectfully suggest you perhaps try something else in any case).

Tesco's Ice Topped Mince Pie Cross Section 2021

1. Mincemeat

The mincemeat here is actually pretty good when we dissected the mince pie it and ate it on it's own. The trouble is it's so overwhelmed by the 'Iced Top' which is insanely sweet, goopy and out of proportion that you just can't taste it by itself.

The image above is a cross-section we made of the pie and we couldn't believe there isn't more icing in there. By some mysterious force of magic the icing seems able to coat your whole mouth in this tarry sweet paste the moment you start chewing rendering you unable to taste anything except the piercing highs of several tablespoons of sugar in every bite.

2. Pastry

Perhaps the only thing worse than the icing in the highly recommended Tesco's Iced Topped Mince Pie is the pastry case. It's soft and doesn't hold it's shape (the above image was taking from the third pie we tried to cut in half because they kept crumbling under the gentle sawing of our knife). It's not bad tasting, but I'm certain you could crumble the casing and reform it into a Christmas themed sandcastle should you wish which when it's trying to stand up to several bites renders the unsuspecting soul you've fobbed these off onto eating without any sense of grace or decorum.

3. Taste

Sickly is perhaps the only word that can adequately be used to describe such a mince pie. This blood sugar assassin does hit the highest of highs as far as sweetness goes, but in doing so renders the rest of the pie almost moot. As mentioned the filling and pastry are fine, taste-wise, but the iced top is enough to put grandad down for an immediate cat nap when his sugar crashes.

Tesco's Iced Topped Mince Pies: Final Verdict

The best thing going for these mince pies is the price, but give you'll also need a hoover to grab the casing after it disintegrates in your hands, it could actually be the most expensive mince pie on the site.

Avoid.

M&S Collection Mince Pies Review (2021)

These mince pies have maintained their modest price of 42p/ea for five years now, and only keep getting better. Similar to last year, but with toning down the boozey flavour in the mincemeat (too much if you ask me) they’re still our favourite pie that’s easily available and affordable.

M&S is always a staple of many ‘luxury’ goods but we certainly find the ratio of price to quality is especially high here, beating out every other similarly priced supermarket mince pie, and often some rarer more ‘artisan’ fare too.

If you’re hungry for a classic this Christmas, Marks and Spencer’s Collection Mince Pie is the one we recommend, scoring top marks in all categories.

1. Mincemeat

The M&S Collection mince pies have found that perfect ratio of mincemeat to pastry, making sure each bite is fulfilling. These pies do not bring anything new to the table, but maybe that’s exactly what you’re looking for. The boozy and fruity flavours of the mincemeat is classic, bringing back memories of Christmas.

However, don’t confuse these Collection pies with Marks and Spencers Classic mince pie. The Collection pies are in fact, much better in every category.

2. Pastry

Flakey, light and delicious, the Collection mince pie pastry is exactly as it should be. The pie itself is quite thick, but the buttery pastry is the perfect ratio for all the mincemeat. It doesn’t get lost in the mix but plays a vital role instead.

3. Taste

The Collection mince pies are downright beautiful. How could you eat one when it looks like that? Answer: you can. And they are delicious. These pies have beautiful snowflake designs on the top, raising them visually above other pies (but they also taste great, too)

The box itself is a step above regular mince pies, which really sets the scene. The navy and gold box elevates the product with a classic font on the front. It even has an open-panel window so you can see the pies and their intricate snowflake designs. Mouthwatering! If you need a pie to impress someone, these are the best option.

M&S Collection Mince Pies: Final Verdict

Marks and Spencers mince pies live up to the brand's reputation and we couldn't recommend the collection mince pies any higher. Dense gooey filling, not too boozy as to offend grandma or the kids, sweet buttery short pastry, and an excellent refined presentation make these a mince pie not to be missed this year.

Perfect for an indulgent snack, or for taking to a loved one's as a snack — anyone you share these M&S Collection mince pies with will duly be impressed.

Tesco's Finest Crumble Top Mince Pie Review

Us too. And we want to indulge in the most Christmassy of treats as hard and as often as we can without totally ruining our physiques and gaintaining over the whole advent period.

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