Home made mince pies are truly delicious and an absolute Christmas essential in this house! They can be made ahead, frozen and baked as required. Get ahead and be prepared by having your mince pies in the freezer and you can have freshly baked, warm mince pies in 30 minutes whenever you fancy. Serve your mince pies along with some home made shortbread, another festive treat that is easy to make and keeps well for several weeks.
You can buy jars of ready-made mincemeat but it is quick and easy to make your own and it tastes so much better, full of real Christmas flavour.
Make the mincemeat at least a day before you make your mince pies – it can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for several days – no need to sterilise jars. Once you have your Bramley apples peeled, cored and chopped and an orange rinded and juiced you simply put all the ingredients in a large pan and heat gently until the suet melts. Once it has melted, remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool completely then stir in the brandy and store in an airtight container in the fridge.
To make the pastry, simply place the flour and icing sugar in a large mixing bowl, cut the butter into small pieces and rub the pieces of butter into the flour and icing sugar, using your fingertips. Keep rubbing until no lumps of butter remain and the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Then add the egg and water and stir until you have a firm dough. Leave this dough aside for a few hours to rest or you can pop it in the fridge overnight.
When ready to make your home made mince pies, lightly dust the work surface and top of the pastry with flour then roll out with the rolling pin until the pastry is an even thickness of a couple of millimetres. Cut out circles of pastry – you can use the plain or fluted side of a round pastry cutter, whichever you prefer and gently press these circles into the bun tin. If your bun tin is non-stick you don’t need to grease or flour it.
Place a spoonful of mincemeat in your pastry-lined bun tin and smooth the top – it should be just below the top of the pastry, do not overfill.
Then cut out some pastry stars and press gently on top of the mincemeat. Place the entire tray in the freezer and freeze overnight until the mince pies are solid. Once frozen, they should pop out of the tray – you may need to bang it on a solid worksurface to release the mince pies. They can then be stored in a bag or airtight container to save space in the freezer for up to three months.
When you want to bake your mince pies simply pop them back in the tray you made them in and bake for 30 minutes. Quick, easy and hassle-free delicious home made mince pies when required.
Christmas Mince Pies
Equipment
- 1 large heavy based saucepan a preserving pan or stock pot is ideal
- 1 fine grater
- 2 12 hole bun tins
- 1 circular pastry cutter plain or fluted, I used an 88mm round
- 1 star pastry cutter
- 1 Rolling Pin
Ingredients
Mincemeat
- 225 g Bramley apples prepared weight
- 100 g shredded suet
- 500 g prepared dried fruit soaked in brandy if you can't get pre-soaked fruit use dried mixed fruit and soak in 1 tablespoon (15 ml) brandy overnight
- 170 g soft dark brown sugar
- 1 orange rind and juice
- 2 teaspoons ground mixed spice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) brandy
Pastry
- 450 g plain flour plus extra for rolling
- 30 g icing sugar plus extra for dusting
- 250 g butter
- 1 egg
- 30 ml water
Instructions
Mincemeat
- Peel and core the Bramley apples and chop into small pieces.
- Remove the rind from the orange and squeeze out all the juice.
- Place all ingredients except for the brandy into the large pan and heat gently over a medium heat, stirring constantly until the suet has melted completely.
- Remove the pan from the heat and allow to cool, stirring occasionally until completely cold.
- Stir in the brandy and transfer the mincemeat to an airtight container. Store in the fridge until ready to make the mince pies.
Pastry
- Place the flour and icing sugar in a large mixing bowl.
- Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the bowl. Using your fingertips, gently rub the butter into the flour and sugar until there are no lumps remaining and the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
- Crack the egg into a jug and add the water then stir this into the flour/butter mix. Stir gently until the mixture starts to bind together, adding a little extra water if necessary. Turn the mixture out onto a work surface and bring together with your hands until you have a smooth ball of soft, but not sticky dough.
- Transfer the dough to a plastic bag and leave aside to rest for a couple of hours, or place in the fridge overnight.
To make the mince pies
- Roll out the pastry to an even thickness of a couple of millimetres. Cut out circles and gently press them into your bun tin.
- Spoon in some mincemeat until barely level with the top of the pastry – don't overfill otherwise it will spill out when baking.
- Cut out stars and place on top of the mincemeat.
To freeze
- Place the entire bun tin in the freezer and freeze overnight until solid.
- Remove the tin from the freezer and gently tap or drop onto a solid work surface to release the mince pies. Place the mince pies in an airtight container or bag and seal and return to the freezer for up to three months.
To bake
- Preheat the oven to 160C (fan). Remove the mince pies from the freezer and place in the bun tin. Bake for approx 30 minutes until very light golden in colour.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly, dust with icing sugar and serve!