Christmas Baking: Homemade Mince Pies

Throughout the Christmassy season, mince pies are my downfall when it comes to healthy eating. Offer me all the chocolate in the world but I'd rather have a mince pie! There's just something so comforting about them, especially when they're served warm with a big dollop of ice cream or even better, brandy butter. Mmmmmm!!

Christmas is slowly creeping into our home - we haven't put the tree up yet because that's strictly for December 1st, but I've sneakily placed a few Christmas scented candles on various shelves and hung a few decorations here and there. I cannot wait to finally get the flat looking all festive!! Despite the lack of Christmas tree I was feeling in the Christmas spirit yesterday so I decided to bake some mince pies...

The kitchen smelt like Christmas and I had one very happy boyfriend... winning combo, no?!

This is quite simply the easiest recipe in the world. Thank you BBC Good Food, you're a gem.

You will need:

225g cold unsalted butter

350g plain flour, sifted

100g golden caster sugar

300g mincemeat

1 egg

1 x pinch of salt

icing sugar, to dust

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celcius.

Rub the cold butter into the sifted plain flour, before adding the golden caster sugar and a pinch of salt. (I just bung these all in the kitchenaid on a low speed using the flat beater, it should soon enough turn into a dough consistency). 

Knead the pastry ensuring all the ingredients are fully mixed and that the dough is quite smooth. Roll out the pastry onto a flour-covered surface, using a rolling pin. You want it to be about an inch thick. 

Using some round cutters, cut about 3/4 of the pastry into circles, and place these pastry circles into a pre-greased 12 hole patty-tin.

Then fill each pastry pie with mincemeat. Use a good dollop!

Using a smaller sized circular cutter, cut the the rest of the pastry to make circular lids for the mince pies, and place on top of the mincemeat. 

Break the egg into a bowl, whisk quickly with a fork and then glaze each mince pie using a pastry brush.

Pop in the oven and cook for approximately 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Dust with icing sugar and serve whilst still warm!

Enjoy!

 Let me know if you make these - you can find me on instagram @lydiasjmcm or Twitter @lydiasjmcm

Lydia xxx