Vegan Jamaican Ackee Patties

How to make a great Jamaican patty?

Let’s talk the anatomy of a “propa” (proper) patty.

1. The crust: gorgeous and flaky, not too thick and shouldn’t be dry and crumbly
2. The filling: not pasty, must be well seasoned with a good balance of herbs, spices and heat.
3. The crust to filling ratio: Don’t be stingy now. No potato chip bag tricks (all air no chips). Or as we say in Jamaica it shouldn’t look like “yu tan far and fling it”. (Translation: you stood at a distance and threw in the filling)

These in my opinion are the three keys to making a propa Jamaican patty; that said let’s talk about these Vegan Ackee Patties that hit all three of those nails squarely on the head.

Vegan Jamaican Patties by Amazing Ackee LLC

Update (October 31, 2018): I registered Amazing Ackee LLC in February 2018 and in April we made our first sale! It all started with the Bean @ 226 on Broad Street in Windsor, CT. We then added 21 Oak in Manchester and the Windsor & Bloomfield locations of Geissler’s Supermarkets.

For the summer we participated in the First Town Downtown Farmer’s Market series in Windsor. This was our first time being able to interact and get feedback directly from our customers. We were so humbled by the outpouring of love we received. Best of all, all the positive feedback as everyone really enjoyed our patties! In addition to our signature ackee patties; we cooked up new favorites: Jerk Spiced Eggplant, Curried Chickpea & Zucchini and Pumpkin in Tomato Crust.

We’re looking forward to even more growth. And are happy to announce that we are able to ship our patties across the States. If you are interested, check out our Square store.

And now back to the one that started it all: our vegan Jamaican Ackee Patties. First up, the choice of coconut oil in the crust:

Why use coconut oil?

Patty crust is similar to flaky pie dough and is usually made with shortening which I generally do not use. My go-to for flaky dough is butter. But since I wanted this recipe to be vegan I turned to coconut oil.

Now I’ve done many a variation of coconut oil pastry over the years. Tried many different methods. From chilling the oil and cutting it into the flour like butter; to treating the dough like blitz puff pastry with book folding and the like included. This time around however, the mantra “keep it simple” kept ringing in my ear. And am I ever happy I chose to listen.

This dough is truly a breeze to make! I did it in my stand mixer but you could mix by hand and achieve the same result.

For the sake of testing, I did work on a couple shortening dough variations; but trust me when I say the coconut oil dough was the clear winner!

Favouring natural additives over artificial dyes; I’ve used a combination of turmeric and annatto to give the dough it’s colour, but these are optional.

What kind of filling goes into Jamaican Patties?

Traditionally, when making the filling for beef or chicken patties, breadcrumbs are used. This serves two main purposes: the first is to absorb some of the excess moisture; the second is to thicken the filling. An additional reason for adding breadcrumbs  is to “lengthen” the filling but too much results in a pasty filling. I’ve opted to forgo breadcrumbs completely for these patties so the filling is simply well seasoned cooked ackee.

It can all be put together in a few hours allowing time in between to chill. Usually I do my dough and filling the day before. This way all I have to do is assemble and bake on the day I want them. The recipe will make a dozen fairly good sized patties. You can cut the recipe in half or make the full batch and freeze what you won’t use right away. Alternately, you could form the patties and freeze them unbaked.

One last note: the patties will puff up like balloons when baked especially if they aren’t pricked with a fork. I gently deflated mine once they had cooled but it’s not even that serious, they are delicious all the same.

What’s your favorite patty to eat?

As always feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below

If you make this or any of the recipes from the site be sure to @amazingackee and #amazingackee so that I can see your posts across social media.

Until next time, thanks for stopping by! ☺️

5 from 4 votes

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Jamaican Ackee Patties {Vegan}

Perfectly seasoned ackee in a flaky coconut oil pastry. All natural ingredients and fairly easy to make, it’s a taste of Jamaica in every bite!

Servings 12 patties

Author Chantal

Ingredients

For the Crust:

• 400 g All purpose flour
• 2 tsps Salt
• 150 g Coconut oil
• 200 g Cold Water

Optional

• 1/2 tsp Ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp Ground annatto

For the Filling:

• 2 tsps Coconut oil
• 1/2 Small onion finely diced
• 3 Cloves garlic finely minced
• 4 Cups Parboiled ackee
• 3 Green onions or escallion, finely chopped both white and green parts
• 1/2 tsp Ground pimento** Jamaican allspice
• Leaves pull from a few sprigs of fresh thyme about 1 tbsp
• Habanero/Scotch Bonnet pepper finely minced to taste (1 to 2 tsps should be good)
• Salt to taste

To finish:

• 1 tbsp Agave mixed with 2 tbsps Water for brushing optional

Instructions

To make the crust:

1. Combine the flour, salt and optional ingredients if using. Whisk well to combine (you may sift these together to ensure even distribution if desired).

2. Combine water and oil

3. If using a standmixer: with the mixer on low speed and the paddle attachment, start mixing then pour in the water combination in quickly in a steady stream. The dough should come together very quickly and clean the sides of the bowl, do not overmix.
4. If mixing by hand: pour over the water combination evenly over the dry ingredients and mix well with your hands or a spoon till the dough comes together. Do not overmix.
5. Remove the dough from the bowl and wrap in plastic. Chill for 15 minutes.

To make the filling:

1. Heat coconut oil in a non stick skillet over medium heat.
2. Add onions and cook till translucent (about 2 minutes)
3. Then add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.
4. Add the green onion, thyme and pepper and cook for a minute then add the ackees and pimento.
5. Add salt to taste.
6. If your ackees are a bit dry you may add about a tablespoon of water, let simmer for 3 to 5 minutes then turn off heat and let cool .

To finish:

1. Let the dough sit out for 5 minutes before rolling.

2. Roll out, re roll as necessary to make 12 rounds

3. Scoop about a third cup of filling onto one half of your circle leaving a little border. Spread it evenly on that half, then brush the edge with water and fold the dough over to make the patty shape.
4. Press out as much air as possible, then press around the edges gently to seal. You can use a fork to create a design along the edges if you like. Trim and neaten the edges as you like.
5. If desired, prick a few times with a fork on top to allow the steam to escape.

6. Repeat with the remaining portions putting the finished patties in the fridge while you work on the rest. Chill all the patties thoroughly before baking (at least 20 minutes)

7. While the patties are chilling, preheat oven to 400F and place the baking rack in the upper third of your oven (this is so the bottoms of the patties won’t brown too much before the top can cook and get colour).
8. Space patties evenly on trays (you may have to bake in two rounds if your oven isn’t big enough). Brush with agave and water if using.
9. Place in oven and reduce temperature to 375F. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes checking and rotating your tray(s) at the 10 minute mark.
10. When done, let cool on wire rack. If your patties have ballooned, press gently to allow some of the steam to escape.

11. Serve warm & enjoy!

Recipe Notes

**I keep my pimento whole until I need to use it then I’ll either pound them in a mortar or grind them with my spice grinder, measure what I need then keep the rest in a small jar.

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