Freeze-ahead Mince Pies
Easy to make and far too easy to eat with their crumbly, buttery pastry. Keep a batch of these in the freezer during the festive period for a simple and quick seasonal treat.
Hands-on time 20min, plus chilling and cooling. Cooking time about 20min. Makes 12
FOR THE PASTRY
175g plain flour, plus extra to dust 75g icing sugar, plus extra to dust 125g unsalted butter, chilled and cubed 1 medium egg, separated
1/2tsp vanilla extract FOR THE FILLING
400g Easy Mincemeat, or shop bought
1 For the pastry, put the flour, icing sugar, butter and a pinch of salt into a food processor; pulse until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Alternatively, rub butter into the mixture using your fingertips. Add the egg yolk (reserve the white for glazing), vanilla and 3/4tbsp ice-cold water; pulse/mix until pastry just comes together (add a drop more water if the pastry looks dry). Tip on to a work surface, bring together into a disc, wrap and chill for 1hr.
2 Lightly flour a work surface and roll out pastry until it’s 3mm thick. Stamp out 12
rounds using a plain or fluted 8cm cutter (re-rolling trimmings as needed and reserving any remaining pastry). Use rounds to line a 12-hole bun tin and divide the mincemeat between the cases.
3 Re-roll pastry trimmings and stamp out 12 x 6cm stars or 6.5cm circles to lay on top of each pie. Brush a little reserved egg white over pastry tops to glaze. Chill for 15min, to firm up.
4 Preheat oven to 190°C (170°C fan) mark 5. Bake pies for 20min, or until nicely golden. Leave to cool in tin for 5min, then carefully transfer to wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with icing sugar. PER MINCE PIE 243cals, 2g protein, 10g fat (6g saturates), 36g carbs (25g total sugars), 1g fibre FREEZE AHEAD Prepare to end of step 3, then open-freeze until pies are just firm. Keep in the tin or pack into a freeze-safe container, layering between sheets of baking parchment. To serve, return pies to the tin if removed. Complete recipe, baking for a little longer if needed.