Our guide to the very best tasting mince pies on sale this Christmas

Mince pies are a staple on the traditional Christmas table and with festive season preparations frantically under way we are ready to crown our favourite mince pies of 2019.

Moreish, crumbly and sweet yet zesty with a touch of spice – that’s how we like our mince pies, or should we say, adore.

This year the supermarkets are brimming with new innovations, from crumble-topped offerings to croissant-style mince pies, but sometimes you just want the classics.

You can keep a stash of mince pies in the freezer for when unexpected guests pop over for a festive chat, just defrost in the microwave and serve with your choice of accompaniment.

Who better to put the mince pies to the test than the team at The North Coast Courier who are a good mix of foodies and lovers of good food in general.

Ranging from mince pie connoisseurs to complete mince pie sceptics, our team of volunteers kept it simple, rating the pies from six local stores, with marks out of 10, based on appearance, texture and taste.

In the blind taste test, the team did not know which retailer the pies were purchased from. In the end the top three were separated by a mere crumb, here they are in no particular order.

The top three:

Woolworths R39.99 for a pack of six. Our judges loved the crispy pastry and the texture of the pies, saying it was not too crumbly. There was a good balance of flavour and the pie was not too spicy.

Pick n Pay R39.99 for a pack of six. A number of our judges scored this pie as their favourite. A tasty butter flavoured sweet pastry. The texture was a clear winner for all the judges but a few rated it as too sweet.

Foodlover’s Market R36.99 for a pack of six. The tasters liked the star decoration on top of the pie and raved about the classic shortbread-type pastry, which was soft and not too crumbly and rated high among the judges. A few felt the pastry was slightly too doughy but the fans outnumbered the critics.

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