A mince pie is the British Christmas pastry traditionally filled with dried fruit, spices, and suet.
Modern mincemeat usually contains dried fruits such as raisins, currants, and sultanas, along with apple, citrus peel, sugar, spices, and sometimes suet. Despite the name, most modern mince pies contain no meat. Earlier versions of the dish did include minced meat, which explains the historical name.
Mince pies became strongly associated with Christmas in Britain and are commonly made as small individual tarts with shortcrust pastry. Brandy or another spirit may be included in some recipes, though it is not essential.
The filling is called mincemeat, and that term can cause confusion. It refers to the spiced fruit mixture in contemporary British baking, while older recipes used meat as one of several ingredients.