Eyes on THE PIES

Here’s our top picks of these tasty treats…

Free From Mini Mince Pies, Sainsbury’s, £2.50 for nine These are bite-sized, which meant we could eat more. The gluten- and milk-free pastry didn’t fall apart at the first bite, and the kick of the brandy really came through. A vegan dream. HHHH Black Forest Mince Pies,

Morrisons, £2 for six A re these really mince pies? The morello cherry filling and chocolate pastry with choc chip crumble make it more of a fruit pie. Did it make us feel Christmassy when we ate it? Well, yes. Did it taste good? Hell, yes! HHHHH Maple & Pecan Mince Pies,

Sainsbury’s, £2 for four A buttery, short pastry with a festive design, so you can see the inside filling peeking out. These weren’t overly sweet, but we found that the maple and pecan flavour was lacking a little. They were well filled, though, with no pockets of nothing. HH

Mince Pies, Birds, £2.75 for six We loved the buttery pastry with a light dusting of sugar on the top for extra sweetness, and the pastry to filling ratio was excellent. A true classic and great with a cuppa. HHH

Speciality Mince Pies,

Bettys.co.uk, £15 for 12

Nobody does mince pies like Bettys, and these are “Speciality” ones for a reason. All-butter pastry filled to the brim with fruit soaked in sherry and topped with sweet frangipane for a magnificent crunch – what more could you ask for? We ate the entire box in one go. Sorry, not sorry. HHHHH Extra-special Salted Caramel,

ASDA, £2 for six Basically a traditional mince pie with a cheeky salted caramel layer on top of the mincemeat. It made for a much sweeter treat, which went down really well with our younger testers. They definitely tasted better after a few minutes in the oven. HHHH All Butter Classic Mince Pies,

Aldi, £1.49 for six If you’re after the classic mince pie, these tick all the boxes. Thick, crumbly pastry, juicy mincemeat and a whiff of booze from the cognac filling gave us all the festive vibes. HHHH Luxury All Butter Mince Pies,

Iceland, £1.89 for six A budget option but still tasty. The pastry was buttery and thick, and packed with filling. We loved the chunky raisins, which added great texture and helped prevent dry pie syndrome. HHH Finest Mince Pies, Tesco, £1.75

for six The thick buttery pastry was filled to the top with sweet yet punchy cognac-flavoured fruits – but not so much that you feel like you’ve glugged the whole bottle. The snowflake design made them feel all sorts of fancy, too. HHH Deep Filled Mince Pies,

Morrisons, £2 for six The pastry was lovely and thick, but the filling wasn’t as juicy and plentiful as some of the other pies. The booze flavour was much more subtle (so better for families), and we’d recommend a dollop of brandy butter to give this one a bit of oomph. HH Collection Mince Pies, M&S,

£2.50 for six The buttery shortcrust pastry melted in our mouth before the zesty kick of the filling came through, thanks to the addition of clementine among the vine fruits. Best served warm with cream. HHHH Plant Chef Mince Pies, Tesco,

£1.25 for six The filling was well flavoured and not overpowering, but we found the vegan pastry a little dry and flaky. Served warm and slathered in some animal-friendly custard, they were quite tasty. HH