Mince pie on a plate with a forkful taken out

Mince pies

By Paul Hollywood
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(114 ratings)
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Prep: 45 mins Cook: 15 mins

Easy

Serves 16

Paul Hollywood prefers melt-in-the-mouth pastry for his fruity mince pies, so this recipe is nice and short

Nutrition and extra info

  • Freezable

Nutrition: per serving

  • kcal319
  • fat16g
  • saturates9g
  • carbs44g
  • sugars26g
  • fibre1g
  • protein4g
  • salt0.05g
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Ingredients

  • 1 large jar mincemeat (about 600g)
    Deep-filled mince pie cut up

    Mincemeat

    mins-meet

    It's a classic ingredient at Christmas in small covered tarts, but mincemeat can be…

  • 2 satsumas, segmented
  • 1 apple, finely chopped
    Apples

    Apple

    ap-pel

    Grown in temperate regions, apples are one of the most widely cultivated tree fruits. There are…

  • zest 1 lemon
    Lemon

    Lemon

    le-mon

    Oval in shape, with a pronouced bulge on one end, lemons are one of the most versatile fruits…

  • little icing sugar, for dusting

For the pastry

  • 375g plain flour
  • 260g unsalted butter, softened
  • 125g caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
  • 1 large egg, plus 1 beaten egg for glazing
    Eggs

    Egg

    egg

    The ultimate convenience food, eggs are powerhouses of nutrition, packed with protein and a…

Method

  1. Place 375g plain flour and 260g softened unsalted butter in a bowl and rub together to a crumb consistency.

  2. Add 125g caster sugar and 1 large beaten egg, and mix together.

  3. Tip out onto a lightly floured surface and fold until the pastry comes together, be careful not to over mix.

  4. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for 10 mins.

  5. Scoop the large jar of mincemeat into a bowl and add 2 segmented satsumas, 1 finely chopped apple and zest of 1 lemon.

  6. Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.

  7. Roll out the pastry to 3mm thick.

  8. Using a round cutter (about 10cm), cut out 16 bases and place them into muffin trays. Put 1½ tbsp mincemeat mixture into each. Brush the edge of each pie with a little beaten egg.

  9. Re-roll out the pastry to cut 7cm lids and press them on top to seal. Glaze with the beaten egg, sprinkle with the extra caster sugar, then make a small cut in the tops.

  10. Bake the mince pies for 15-20 mins until golden brown. Leave to cool before releasing them from the muffin trays and dusting with a little more icing sugar before serving.

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Comments, questions and tips

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SueLorne
21st Nov, 2019
5.05
Best Mince Pies I've ever made, crispy and delicious! Came out of tin easily which was a pleasant surprise (I did line them with butter and flour first). Only problem I had was dough was so soft it kept sticking irrespective of amount of flour dusted on surfaces, so used silicone rolling sheet which made a big difference.
Creditgirl
11th Feb, 2019
5.05
Love this recipe, used homemade mincemeat as I find shop bought too sweet, careful handling required for rolling as pastry is soft but really easy to remove from tin after baking, buttery crisp pastry. These don’t last long!
Jonathan Skinner's picture
Jonathan Skinner
4th Jan, 2019
This is a great recipe the mince Pies are delicious and they were easy to get out of the tin!!!!!!!! I have used this recipe multiple times and it hasn’t gone wrong yet!!!
jacquis
23rd Dec, 2018
Impossible to remove from tin! Pastry so short it just disintegrates before you can release them. Disappointed.
Rebecca's picture
Rebecca
23rd Dec, 2018
5.05
Fantastic recipe! I used this recipe to make mince pies for the regulars at the bar I work at and they scoffed the lot! The pastry literally melts in your mouth and the pies are so light.
Nibbletoes
23rd Dec, 2018
5.05
This is my new favourite pastry recipe. I always used to make Delia's shortcrust pastry with lard, but I feel like sweet shortcrust is more to my taste for mince pies. Very forgiving pastry; came together very easily but took a lot more kneading than I anticipated to get to a workable flexible dough, so I was expecting it to be tough but it wasn't at all, and I re-rolled the scraps several times. Needed at least 30 mins in the fridge not 10. I really think an hour would be fine. I split my dough into two batches for ease of working and chilled them in flattened rounds to make rolling out easier. Great stuff. I also used homemade mincemeat but from experience I'm sure the recipe here would be very nice too.
serendipity7000
23rd Dec, 2018
4.05
I usually use my bog standard pastry recipe of many years (half fat to flour and water to mix) but decided to try another pastry recipe for the mince pies this year. I made the pastry from this recipe but without the sugar (we're not keen on sweet pastry). The extra butter and the egg did make it lighter and crumblier. I also used a bit of water when mixing it. I had no problems rolling it out but did have a few problems getting the mince pies out of the tin without breaking them, at first - they need to cool down before trying to remove them! They are lovely and light and buttery and better for mince pies than the standard pastry - although my other half may not agree - he likes the standard pastry! Only comment I would make about having so much butter is, when rubbing it into the flour by hand it takes absolutely ages! I still prefer to make pastry by hand though - not difficult and a lot less washing up. Gave four stars for the pastry because I don't think the sugar is necessary at all - there is plenty of sweetness in the mincemeat (I just used Robertsons mincemeat without the extras).
pplcella
18th Dec, 2018
5.05
Lovely result delicious mince pies my husband says the best he has ever tasted. Pastry a challenge as we have underfloor heating and I have hot hands, just put it in the fridge for longer and its fine.
broadhaven
17th Dec, 2018
5.05
Sorry that should have been 5 stars not 4 PS Hubby says they are the best also!!
broadhaven
16th Dec, 2018
5.05
Just made my first batch of mince pies of the year and having used several recipes on here previous years decided to give this one a try. Well having taste them I can say they are the nicest I’ve ever made. I had no problem getting them out of the tin and the pastry is so light and flaky. Would definitely recommend these.

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gary james
2nd Dec, 2018
first time baker, mixed my flour and butter as recipe,turned out a runny mess.looked at other recipes for pastry and it says roughly 2 flour to 1 butter.what am I doing wrong ??
Jonathan Skinner's picture
Jonathan Skinner
4th Jan, 2019
Rub the flour and butter together (the butter isn’t ment to be melted it just needs to be soft ) it shouldn’t go runny but like bread crumbs!!!! Hope this can help.
Arthur Smythe
15th Dec, 2017
Can I cook the pies halfway, remove them, freeze them, and then finish them off in the oven later?
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
15th Dec, 2017
Thanks for your question. We would suggest freezing them once assembled and then cooking from frozen. You'll need to add another 5 - 10 mins to the cooking time.
bajespana
26th Nov, 2017
Can I freeze these before cooking
goodfoodteam's picture
goodfoodteam
27th Nov, 2017
Thanks for your question. Yes you can. You'll need to increase the cooking time and cook to ensure they're piping hot in the centre.
dchearnden
22nd Dec, 2015
Do you put one segment of satsuma per pie?
dchearnden
21st Dec, 2015
Do you just put one segment of satsuma per pie?
barbbakescakes
23rd Nov, 2015
Was going to make these and use mini muffin tins and after cooking and cooling was going to pipe icing and decorate them. Something different for a Xmas nibble.
hayash
19th Nov, 2015
Can you freeze these mince pies once cooked

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Juliet Gormley
22nd Nov, 2014
5.05
I made these mince pies using Gluten free plain flour and although the pastry was a bit tricky to deal with,they were absolutely gorgeous....at long last ....a lovely gluten free pastry recipe. I did not put a pastry lid on them but just placed a pastry star on top to allow some of the moisture to evaporate from the pies. I can't recommend this recipe enough....gorgeous !
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