Simplest Homemade Mince Pies

‘Aaaahhh’ I’ve nearly finished my present shopping.  The tree has been flung up and is pimped and twinkling.  And although I don’t have enough cards for a string yet, my surfaces are glittering with happy tidings, next Simplest Homemade Mince Pies.

To reinforce this fuzzy Christmasy feeling yesterday evening I made Simplest Homemade Mince Pies with the boys. Although they don’t much care for them themselves – so where I put mincemeat in the adult one’s I substituted jam in theirs.  I enjoyed them so much, that I thought I’d post my recipe, in case anyone else would like to have a go.

Simplest Homemade Mince Pies Ever!

This makes 12 mince pies and 12 jam tarts.

Preheat oven to 200c/gas 6/fan 180

Ingredients;

1 411 gram jar of mince meat for adults and (strawberry) jam for children.  I am using Robertson’s, but you can use your supermarket’s own if you wish.

The rind of 2 oranges

The rind of 1 lemon

1 320 gram packet of short crust pastry – I am using Jus rol – but again the brand is upto you

One egg

Icing sugar for dusting

 

Mix the mincemeat and rind in a bowl and leave to infuse for a while at room temperature

On a floured surface roll out your pastry

Using a metal cutter or a cup, cut out the bases

Line two 12 holes of two patty tins with these bases

Spoon a good dollop of mincemeat into each base

Cut out your lids smaller than your bases.  I have put stars on mine – just because they look pretty, but you can do do flat lids

Top the pies with their lids, pressing the edges gently together to seal

Beat the egg and brush the top of the mince pies

Pop them in the oven for 20 minutes until pastry is golden and mincemeat is bubbling

To serve; lightly dust with icing sugar

With the jam tart; line the two patty cases and put a dollop of jam in each

The jam tarts don’t take as long as the mince pies – probably more like 12 minutes

‘It’s beginning to taste a lot like Christmas!’

Thanks to my Simplest Homemade Mince Pies ever.

Happy eating! 

And of course the perfect accompaniment to mince pies is mulled wine.

For those who do not like cooking click the photo …