Homemade Mince Pies

A traditional English spiced fruit pie that has been eaten during the Christmas season for several centuries, and throughout much of the English-speaking world. It has become unimaginable to have Christmas without mince pies in our household.

Many people choose to buy them ready-made, but shop-bought always seem to never quite hit the spot, if you ask me. I recommend making a large batch of mincemeat at the beginning of the festive season, and you can quickly whip up fresh mince pies for every social occasion.

Sprinkle a little icing sugar over the mince pies once you've plated them up for that extra Christmassy look. These go wonderfully with some brandy butter or a dash of cream.

Prep 20 mins

Cook 15 mins

Total 35 mins

Serves 12

Ingredients

225g all-purpose flour
100g cold cubed butter
1 large egg
400g homemade mincemeat
dash milk

Method

To make the pastry, put the flour and butter into a food processor and blitz until the consistency of breadcrumbs, then add the egg and blitz once more until combined and a dough is formed. Add a dash of cold water if the dough needs loosening up a bit.
Wrap the dough in greaseproof paper and place it in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes. While the dough is resting, preheat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry dough out and cut 12 circles with a 7cm pastry cutter and 12 stars with a 6.5cm star cutter.
Place the circles into a shallow muffin tray or mini tart tins. Spoon the mincemeat evenly between the pies.
Dip the corners of the stars in a little milk, then place them on top of the pies, ensuring the points of the star stick to the edges. Brush the tops with milk.
Bake the pies for about 15 minutes until ever so slightly golden, then leave to cool down on a cooling rack.