There’s just something nice about eating mince pies at Christmas time.
A bit like Turkey Stuffing and Cranberry Sauce – Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without them!
It’s the only time I make them – and this mince pie recipe will take you around ten minutes to prepare.
They are scrumptious eaten hot out of the oven – especially with a dollop of ice-cream and/or thick cream on the side. Yum 🙂
Mince Pie Recipe
Here goes:
Mince Pie Recipe – Ingredients
- Jar of Fruit Mince (I use Robertson’s)
- One slice of frozen shortcrust pastry – defrosted (will make around 12 mince pies)
- Milk to baste pastry
- Spray Oil to spray the tin
- Icing sugar to dust on top (optional)
Mince Pie Recipe – Method
- Spray a 12 cup baking tray with oil (smaller than muffin size – more like party pie size)
- Roll out the pastry until quite thin
- Using a pastry cutter, cut out 12 circles big enough to line each ‘cup’ – use a suitably sized cup or glass if you don’t have a pastry cutter
- Add a heaped teaspoon full of fruit mince to each pie
- Cut out 12 slightly smaller circles to use as the mince pie tops
- Dab edges of smaller circles with water and place on top
- Use your fingers to seal the edges – the water will help the bottom and top pastry stick together
- Using a fork, prick holes in each mince pie
- Baste the top of each pie with a little milk
- Bake in a moderately hot oven for around 15 minutes – they are ready when the pastry looks cooked
- Dust each mince pie with a little icing sugar
- Serve immediately if you want them hot, or put aside to cool and serve later
Serving Suggestions
- As mentioned earlier, delicious served hot with ice-cream and/or cream
- Also delicious served cold with ice-cream and/or cream
- Just serve as they are, with a cup of tea (also nice with a glass of champagne 🙂 )
Handy Hints
- Rolling the pastry thin will ensure you taste more of the fruit mince and not the pastry – also better for the waste-line
- Make sure you seal the edges properly, otherwise the fruit mince will escape and the high sugar content can burn
- Make sure you prick the tops with a fork before cooking, otherwise the fruit mince will definitely escape
- You can let mince pies cool in the tin if you like
- Be careful if children are eating them hot for the oven – the fruit mince can stay very hot for a long time and could burn their mouths. Maybe cut them in half to let the steam out
- There’s really no need to use sweet pastry. The fruit mince is quite sweet enough, so just use shortcrust pastry
No need to buy mince pies this year – just make your own. They are so much nicer than the manufactured ones.
Thank you for visiting my website.
Here’s wishing all my readers a Happy Christmas and a successful and healthy new year.
As always, I’ll look forward to reading your comments.
Jan Littlehales
You might also enjoy:
Easy Christmas Cake Recipe
Easy Cranberry Sauce Recipe
Christmas Ice Cream Pudding
Hello Jan,
The mince pies look so yummy and the recipe sounds so easy to make…better even eating them!! I so love Christmas time with huge family get together, yummy food and good cheer
Cheers
Lisa
Jan, what a treat. My favouite at Christmas are the mince pies but they need a little brandy butter to top them off!
Have sampled these in the flesh (so to speak) I can highly recommend them !!
Thanks Lisa – yummy food with family and friends – I couldn’t agree more.
I have to admit, I really don’t like brandy butter, but for those who love it I believe it does go well with mince pies.
Glad you enjoyed them Helen – quite a few more have been made since last weekend 🙂
These fruit mince pies look absolutely delicious and so easy to make. Who says we can only eat them at Christmas time, these look great to eat any time.
Quick and easy recipe, just what we need a Xmas time, thanks Jan.
Cheers
Belinda
Happy New Year Jan. I love mince pies, and that photo you posted! Am going to have to see if I can make some–even though I missed them at Christmas time. Better late than never.
I couldn’t stand mince tarts up until about 2 weeks ago. Then I had my first home made mince tart made by my aunt. It was delicious. Not sure what her mince pie recipe was, but I’m sure having great fruit would have helped.
Incidentally I think ‘mince tarts’ is a horrible word. Growing up I thought these were spaghetti bolognese-like pastries, which really didn’t sound appetising. I would have called them Christmas tarts. I think this name would also help them sell better.
Hi Jan.
I love mince pies, though I prefer more mince than fruit in the pie.
Now that I think of it, they would probably go pretty good in the pizza oven in the backyard 😉
Thanks for the great recipe.
Cade
well done nice quick & easy recipe, must try this as mince pies are a big hit in our house, have bookmarked your recipe
Hi Food Wine Sleep,
Mince pies are a favourite in our house too. We like them for Christmas breakfast, along with a glass of champagne and orange juice – nice 🙂