Mince Pies - CookUK Recipes

Mince Pies Recipe

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Mince Pies Recipe

You can almost taste those mince pies looking at the picture on the left! Click on it for a larger version and you'll understand that they are so very, very tasty.

KEY POINTS

Preparation Time:	20 minutes	Cooking Time:	25 minutes
How Difficult	Medium	Freeze?	No
	Servings	12 Pies

INGREDIENTS
The basic ingredients are shown in the recipe picture below. Note that we show the shortcrust pastry already made. The ingredients and the method for making shortcrust pastry are fully shown below with lots of helpful pictures and advice.

SHORT CRUST PASTRY INGREDIENTS
The basic ingredients for the Shortcrust pastry are twice the amount of flour to fat. The recipe below will be enough to to make 12 mince pies with a bit left over for error.

Mince pies originally contained minced meat as their name implies. They date back to the mid 1500s as a traditional Christmas snack. The Victorians weren't so keen on the meat content so changed the recipe to use a sweet filling.

Metric	Imperial
55g Cooking margarine (e.g. Stork)	2oz Cooking margarine (e.g. Stork)
55g refined cooking fat / lard (e.g. Cookeen)	2oz refined cooking fat (e.g. Cookeen)
220g Plain flour	8oz Plain flour

NOTES
In our recipe we have used Cooking margarine and cooking fat / lard. It is quite possible to simply use Cooking margarine or a mix of butter and fat / lard. We have found our mixture produces the best pastry. Whatever is used the proportions of fat to flour should be maintained - twice the weight of flour to that of the fat.

The only other ingredients required are a 200g / 8oz pot of Mincemeat (not mince beef!!) and a splash of milk.

WHAT SPECIAL KITCHEN EQUIPMENT
Bun baking tin(s) for 12 pies (see pictures below for an example)
Two pastry cutters, one slightly larger than the holes in the bun baking tin (to cut the base of the mince pie) and one slightly smaller for the top.
A rolling pin.
A brush (see pictures below) to coat the pastry edges with milk - not absolutely necessary.

CLICK ANY PICTURE BELOW TO ENLARGE IT

Shortcrust Pastry Recipe. Click picture to enlarge. Copyright David Marks

Add the margarine and cooking fat to a large bowl (cut into lumps) and sieve in the the flour. Do this from as high as possible to incorporate air into the flour as it falls.

Incorporating air into the mixture will give you a lighter and better shortcrust pastry.

Gently rub the flour, and margarine / lard together with your hands lifting them and letting the mix drop back into the bowl. This will help more air into the mixture.

The mixture should end up as small crumbs although some larger bits may be present. Don't overdo this stage, it should only take two or three minutes.

Add 3 tablespoons of water to the mix and 'cut' the mixture together for a minute or so. Then use your hands to gently blend the mix together even further. If it won't hold together add another half tablespoon of water.

The mix is of the correct consistency when it is in a ball and can collect all the odd bits around the bowl into one single ball.

Wrap the mix in cling film and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes to 'rest'. After it has rested for 30 minutes it is ready to be rolled out. Dust the work surface and rolling pin with flour and roll out the pastry with a rolling pin. Turn round the pastry after every two rolls or so of the rolling pin to stop it sticking to the work surface

Turn the oven on, setting it to 200°C / 400°F / Gas 6 (or 180°C / 350°F / Gas 4 for fan-assisted ovens).

Cutting shortcrust pastry for mince pies

Using the larger of the two pastry cutters, cut out the base for 6 mince pies. Don't do it for all twelve at the moment in case there is not enough pastry for 12

Add a heaped teaspoon of the Mincemeat to each mince pie base.

Don't add more because it will rise up and dribble out during cooking spoiling the appearance of the mince pies.

Brush the edge of each of the mince pie bases with a light coating of milk.

If you don't have a brush just dip your fingers in the milk and run them round the edges.

The purpose of this is to help the the base and top of the pie stick together.

Cut out the tops of the mince pies with the smaller pastry cutter and place them on the top of the filled mince pies. Firm down the edges lightly to ensure top and bottom are firmly connected.

Brush the top of the pies with milk to help give them a golden colour when cooked.

Cut a small hole in the top of each mince pie with a knife.

This will help stop the filling from forcing itself out through the edges. It also helps to stop the shortcrust from becoming wet.

Repeat the above process for the remaining six mince pies or for a few less if there is not enough pastry.

Cook the mince pies in a pre-heated oven at 200°C / 400°F / Gas 6 (or 180°C / 350°F / Gas 4 for fan-assisted ovens). The mince pies should take 25 minutes to cook but check them after 20 minutes. They are cooked when the pastry is a light golden brown.

Do not open the oven for the first 20 minutes.

Take the cooked mince pies from the oven and dust them with a little icing sugar. They are delicious hot or cold and will keep for three or four days.

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6 RATINGS GIVEN - AVERAGE

From: Kerrty
7 December 2009

It's ok but it's not easy.
Thanks for the comment. I think you are correct, we have changed the difficulty level to medium.

From Anneke
12 December 2009

My mince pies are in the oven right now. I used butter and lard for my pastry, as this gives pastry which won't be too crumbly. Very simple recipe, very tasty result!

From Stewart Harwood
11 December 2009

Instructions are very easy to follow and come out perfect every time. Many thanks, Stewart.

From Carmel Parakh
8 December 2009

I am going to try this mince pies recipe as I would like to make my own and hopefully the pastry will turn out well, like melt in your mouth. Thank you.

From Dylan Mayer
14 December 2009

These mince pies are soooooo small but
sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo tasty, you need to try them. mmmmmmmmmmm:).

From Fred Lee
18 December 2009

So easy to do and I used half butter and half lard for a better pastry. I will be making more. Thanks for a simple recipe.

From Alec
18 December 2009

Worked well. Easy.

From Ellie
18 December 2009

Thanks a lot for the instructions! very much appreciated x.

From Ed Goulding
19 December 2009

I used only cooking margarine and used a star-shaped cutter for the tops. They turned out lovely- thanks!!

From Lisa
22 December 2009

I loved this recipe, best yet!

From Mark Godding
24 January 2010

Very easy instructions to follow, perfect every time.

Not Given	25 September 2010	From: Stephen
Why try and be clever and use what no doubt is simple jargon? What do you mean by: 'cut' the mixture together for a minute or so. If you use simple English and all will be clear.

Not Given	25 September 2010	From: Marie
I have never made mince pies before and thought I would give these a go and came out perfect first time made the mince pies on Saturday 23 Oct 2010. Thanks for step by step instructions will be making these mince pies for Christmas!

Not Given	23 November 2010	From: Christine Conreen
A tip I learned, put your pastry on cling film then roll out, the surface it's much easier to clean afterwards. I will be trying these mince pies thanks.

Not Given	30 November 2010	From: Jane Tennick
Worked well; I used freshly squeezed orange juice instead of the water to bind the pastry and it tasted great! Pastry made 15 pies, rolled thin. Still found the mince meat gunged out tho - maybe half a teaspoon is enough, or a very meagre spoonful

Not Given	14 December 2010	From: Deena
Just made some mince pies and they're nearly all gone, looks like I will have to make more they were delicious.

Not Given	19 December 2010	From: Helen Small
Really easy instructions to follow. I liked the pictures, they helped. Thank you, gorgeous mince pies. I'll be making loads more!!

Not Given	19 December 2010	From: Jo
Amazing! Never made pastry before and just turned out 8 perfect mince pies! Will roll a bit thinner next time to try for a few more. Thanks for the recipe.

Not Given	20 December 2010	From: Lauren
My grandad swears by this mince pie recipe and has been using it for years! It's very important to let the pastry rest!

	29 December 2010	From: Janis
I always add some brandy to my mincemeat a day or so before using, they taste so much better and the mince remains very moist. Lovely site with some great recipes, thank you.

	9 December 2011	From: Pip
Great recipe but please could you add the fan oven temperature? I assume it would be about 180 but it does help to have it confirmed :-) Thanks! Answer: Thanks, the recipe has been updated.

	21 December 2011	From: Bob
To pip regarding fan oven temp... its the same temperature, a fan oven just makes pre-heating quicker.

	22 December 2011	From: Kate
I like Delia but the oven timings and temperatures for her mince pies never work for me and they end up rock hard or soggy when I try to tinker with them. I followed this recipe yesterday and the mince pies were gorgeous. Really simple recipe too.

	23 December 2011	From: Ben
My (24) pies are in the oven now. I thought I would type this up whilst I wait for them to do their thang! I would suggest checking on them around 20 mins. They may be done by this point if you have a well-regulated oven. Checking after this MAY be too late! I think you missed Pip's gist. 180 sounds good Pip. Experiment at this temp (poss a wee tad higher?) on fan assisted. Again, always take a check before it is too late! The recipe above is fine...just go easy on the stork and cooken (yuk!). Also, you might want to correct the sentence under the 10th photo...'their' should read there AND I think you should change it back to mince pies...poor mice!! Merry Mince pie Making! Answer: Thanks for those comments Ben, they are much appreciated. We have corrected as per your comments and also added the fan temperature as Pip requested.

	23 December 2011	From: Fiona
The fan oven setting is almost always 20C below the "normal" oven setting, so 180C. I know because mine came out perfectly - thank you for easy recipe!

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