Easy Peasy Mince Pies

I am a crazy Christmas person, but lockdown 2.0 is raining on my Christmas parade. So it’s time to start building up that buzz and what better way to start than homemade mince pies!

These mince pies are simple to put together. Sweet shortcrust pastry with no rolling required. And I promise homemade pastry really is worth the extra effort!!

A lot of people get freaked out by the idea of making pastry. But it’s really not difficult. Just keep it cold. Pastry is the exception to my room temperature ingredients rule. You want it chilled. And it doesn’t like to be handled too much. If it feels sticky then put it in your fridge/freezer.

I really hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I do. Happy Festive Baking!

Print Recipe

Easy Peasy Mince Pies

Classic mince pies with homemade sweet shortcrust pastry and a crunchy sugar top without any rolling!

Prep Time30 minutes mins

Cook Time20 minutes mins

Chilling time1 hour hr

Total Time1 hour hr 50 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Keyword: christmas, pastry, sweet pastry, traybake

Servings: 14 pies

Equipment

• Two muffin trays

Ingredients

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

• 350 g plain flour
• 225 g cold unsalted butter cut into cubes
• ¼ tsp salt
• 100 g golden caster sugar or white/icing sugar
• 1 large beaten egg or two yolks for richer pastry
• 1-2 tbsp cold water

Filling

• 400 g store bought mincemeat

Topping

• 1 beaten egg or milk to glaze
• 2 tbsp demerara sugar optional
• icing sugar for dusting

Instructions

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry

• In a bowl breadcrumb the cold butter into the flour. This means you rub the butter and flour between your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs. Can be a bit of a forearm workout, but keep with it. A few small lumps of butter is absolutely fine!
• Mix through your sugar and salt. Add your beaten egg and mix through.
• We now need to bring the dough together, but you only want to add enough water so that the dough just sticks together. Add a teaspoon of your cold water and lightly knead your dough. Repeat until the dough forms a ball. Stop kneading immediately. Kneading anymore will make your pastry tough and we want flaky pastry!
• Wrap in cling film and put in the freezer for 20 minutes or the fridge for 45-60 minutes to allow the butter to harden again.

Mince pies

• Remove your pastry from the freezer. It should be firm now. If it still feels sticky, then put it back in. You'll use ⅔ of the dough to form the cases of the mince pie and the remaining ⅓ to form the lids.
• Take a piece of dough the size of a ping pong ball and press into your muffin tin. The pastry doesn't need to come all the way up to the top. Repeat this until ⅔ of the pastry dough has been used.
• Spoon the mincemeat evenly between the cases.
• Finally, take half the amount of dough as before and press it into a rough circle that's big enough to cover your pies and place on top. No need to seal with water or egg. If there was any dough left up the sides of the muffin hole, I folded it down to meet the lid. Repeat for the remaining mince pies.
• I now like to put them back in the freezer for 20 minutes. Help to make sure the pastry is flaky.
• Preheat your oven to 200°C/180°C fan.
• Remove from the freezer and brush the tops with beaten egg and a sprinkle of demerara sugar.
• Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 mins, then remove to a wire rack. To serve, lightly dust with the icing sugar. Easiest to do this using a sieve.

Notes

1. Will keep for three to four days in an airtight container.

Enjoy, R x