If you only ever buy ready made mince pies from the shop then you really must try this. This mince pie recipe is incredibly easy, the pastry is amazing and the smells that fill the kitchen will mean you keep making these throughout the Christmas period without wanting to buy mince pies again.
It sounds like there is a lot of butter used in the recipe however don't be put off, the pastry is the best we've ever made, compliment the mincemeat perfectly and it's Christmas so let's not worry too much about the quantities.
We tend to double the ingredients and make twice as many mince pies as they don't last long! You can keep them for at least 4 days if you store them in an air tight container.
If you only ever buy ready made mince pies from the shop then you really must try this - they are easy and taste amazing!
Pre heat the oven to 180c
Put the flour in a large mixing bowl
Cut the butter into small squares and add to the flour.
Rub the flour and butter together using your fingertips and thumbs until there are no obviously large bits of butter left and you have a breadcrumb consistency
Add the sugar and salt to the bowl and bring the pastry together into a ball - this will seem like it's never going to work but keep at it and don't be tempted to add any liquid, it doesn't need it
Once it's together in a ball, knead for a short time
Rub some butter into 12 hole bun tins to help them be non-stick
Take ping-pong sized balls of pastry and press them into each hole. You can choose how thick you want to make it - I prefer thinner, my daughter like a thicker pastry. Obviously the thicker you go the less pies you'll get and the cooking time will need to be slightly longer.
Spoon mincemeat into the pies
Take a smaller quantity of pastry and flatten in your hands to make a lid. You don't need to stick them down as they will seal themselves. As I mentioned before I like to roll out the remaining pastry and cut out star shapes with a pastry cutter and simply lay them on top
Beat the egg and brush the top of the pies - this will help them go a lovely golden colour
Bake for about 20 minutes. Again, you might want to adjust the cooking time depending on the thickness of the pastry. You may also want to adjust the temperature of the oven depending on how hot yours it - I've worked out that mine is 165c for 17 minutes for example.
Once you've taken them out of the over and left to cool for 5-10 minutes you should take the pies out and place them on a wire rack to cool completely
Just before you plate them up, dust the pies with icing sugar.
Enjoy!
Our nine year old daughter makes these mince pies completely on her own - we just help with getting them in and out of the oven. In fact she adjusted the design of the pies from my version - she prefers a complete covering of pastry at the top and I prefer to make star shapes!
If you want to be really organised, instead of baking them, you can freeze these mince pies in their trays (for up to three months) and they can then be defrosted or cooked straight from frozen. We don't have a huge freezer so we freeze them in the trays then pop them out into freezer bags instant banking. Then I always have some on stand by!! - https://www.cpaymentmethods.com/payment-methods/instantbanking-casinos.html
Ingredients
Directions
Pre heat the oven to 180c
Put the flour in a large mixing bowl
Cut the butter into small squares and add to the flour.
Rub the flour and butter together using your fingertips and thumbs until there are no obviously large bits of butter left and you have a breadcrumb consistency
Add the sugar and salt to the bowl and bring the pastry together into a ball - this will seem like it's never going to work but keep at it and don't be tempted to add any liquid, it doesn't need it
Once it's together in a ball, knead for a short time
Rub some butter into 12 hole bun tins to help them be non-stick
Take ping-pong sized balls of pastry and press them into each hole. You can choose how thick you want to make it - I prefer thinner, my daughter like a thicker pastry. Obviously the thicker you go the less pies you'll get and the cooking time will need to be slightly longer.
Spoon mincemeat into the pies
Take a smaller quantity of pastry and flatten in your hands to make a lid. You don't need to stick them down as they will seal themselves. As I mentioned before I like to roll out the remaining pastry and cut out star shapes with a pastry cutter and simply lay them on top
Beat the egg and brush the top of the pies - this will help them go a lovely golden colour
Bake for about 20 minutes. Again, you might want to adjust the cooking time depending on the thickness of the pastry. You may also want to adjust the temperature of the oven depending on how hot yours it - I've worked out that mine is 165c for 17 minutes for example.
Once you've taken them out of the over and left to cool for 5-10 minutes you should take the pies out and place them on a wire rack to cool completely
Just before you plate them up, dust the pies with icing sugar.
Enjoy!
