Easy Mince Pies Recipe - The Simpler Kitchen (2024)

This easy mince pies recipe is going to be incredibly useful during Christmas festivities and the Holidays. Mince Pies are such a huge part of Christmas for me. Sweet buttery shortcrust pastry encasing a sweet, spiced fruit filling. You can use homemade pastry or ready made, you can use ready-made mincemeat or again make you own. Whatever you choose to do, this is the recipe that wil help you get freshly baked mince pies on the table in hardly anytime at all. However you choose to eat yours, warmed, served with cream or rum butter or simply sprinkled with a little icing sugar, they are always amazing. Let the magic begin …

This easy mince pie recipe is a really simple but delicious one. Little pies filled with dried fruits and festive flavours. Baking them will fill the house with gorgeous aromas and the kitchen with a welcome warmth. Why not find yourself some time and cook a batch or two to freeze and get ahead in the rush up to Christmas.

It’s perfectly ok to buy commercially made pastry or/and mincemeat to make your mince pies if it makes the whole process quicker and less stressful for you. Do be sure to check out the ingredients though. A great many of them are suitable for vegetarians and vegans but it is best to check.

Features of this Recipe

• pastry – mince pies use pastry and the pastry used to make these is a sweet shortcrust pastry. There’s a recipe for this in the recipe card below to help. The alternative is to buy some ready made pastry. This will save you time and if you buy ready-made, pre-rolled pastry you don’t even need a rolling pin. All of these options will give you perfect mince pies.
  • Note: If you want to make your own pastry then this mince pie recipe includes a recipe for pastry. There is also a different pastry option in our post on sweet shortcrust pastry, if you’d prefer that.
  • Make it vegan – There is a recipe for pastry suitable for vegans in the recipe below. Also note that a great many ready-made pastries are suitable for vegans too. Just check the ingredients to be sure.
• Sweet fruit mincement – This is the delicious spicy, fruit filling for the pies. Again you have an option of making your own ias in this mincemeat recipe or buy a jar of ready-made sweet mincemeat. This saves you time if things are really busy and hectic.
• Difficulty – This easy mince pies recipe isn’t difficult particularly if you are using bought pastry and mincemeat. It’s more about cutting out the pastry, filling with mincemeat and baking them to perfection. So, having said that this is a recipe suited to beginners and I think it’s a nice one to make with children.

Ingredients in this Easy Mince Pies Recipe

• pastry – Whether you need a pastry suitable for vegans or not there is a recipe below to help you. Also, you’ll find lots of types of ready-made pastry for sale in the chiller cabinet which are great when time is limited. Just check the ingredients to make sure that it is right for you.

• sweet fruit mincemeat – This is a really easy fruit filling to make but again if time is a pressure, why not treat yourself to a ready made variety? As alays check the ingredients to make sure that it is right for you.

How to make Easy Mince Pies Recipe

Once you’ve decided which part of the mince pie you are making by hand and which parts you are buying ready made. You’re ready to start construction of these wonderful fruit pies.

How to be successful making pastry

If you are going to make your own pastry – whichever version – take a look at the points below.

• Measure all the ingredients accurately.
• Try and ensure that your hands are cold. This way the heat from your hands won’t begin to melt the butter making the final pastry tough.
• Sieve both the flour and the icing sugar to get rid of any clumps and to aerate the mixture. Helps make your pastry beautifully light.
• Resist the urge to overknead the dough. Bring it together just enough to form a nice ball and then stop. Overkneading will make the pastry chewy rather than delicate and light.
• If it is refusing to come together and there is still a lot of flour left in the bowl, add a teaspoon of water to the mix and see if that helps. Only add further liquid if it still doesn’t come together. It is surprising how little liquid it actually needs to form a dough, so take it slowly.
• If your dough seems too wet and your hands look as if they belong to a movie monster then you may need to add a little more flour. Be cautious as it is very easy to add too much. Just take little steps and you’ll soon have a nice soft pliable dough.
• Always allow it to rest for 1/2 an hour in the fridge before using it.

Making traditional mince pies

Traditionally, mince pies have a round lid that has a hole in the top to allow steam to escape whilst it is cooking. However, if you’re feeling the need for change you can use other shapes to make the tops. Perhaps think about stars, holly shapes or mini christmas tree shapes.

Gather together your rolling pin and two pastry cutters, with one of them just slightly smaller than the other. You need a size that will fit nicely inside the patty tin you are going to bake them in. So, just check that it fits.

How to cut out the pastry

Take the pastry out of the fridge and roll the it out to approximately 3mm thick, which is about the thickness of a pound coin. Use the cutters to cut out an equal number of tops/lids and bases. This number is variable depending on how large you make the pies and how thick you roll out the pastry. If you are making quite deep pies for example, or cutting out stars for the tops, you may not get as many as 12. Remember that you can pull all of the off-cuts together and re-roll to make more pies.

How to fill the pie cases

Now, it’s time to fill the pies , so using a teaspoon, fill the cases with your favourite mincemeat. (Why not try our recipe for an easy homemade mincemeat ? It’s quite simple to make.) Don’t fill the pie case right to the top, leave a little space so that filling doesn’t boil over whilst cooking. A couple of millimetres should do it.

Put some chilled water, or milk (dairy or non-dairy) and brush around the outside of the bases. Place your lids on the top and gently press around the edges to seal the tops.

Brush the tops with either water or milk (dairy or non-dairy) and if you are using a circular top make a hole in it using a skewer or the tip of a sharp knife. This will act as a steam hole as the pies cook and are part of their traditional look and charm.

Pop your baking tin of pies in the fridge for about 15 minutes to cool down from all this activity and pre-heat your oven.

Baking the pies

At the end of this time, your oven should be at temperature and you’re ready to go. Pop the mince pies in the oven, set the timer and wait.

They’re ready when the pies have taken on a little colour. Remove from the oven and let them cool. After about five minutes remove them from the trays, being careful in case the tins are still hot, and leave them to finish cooling on a cooling rack.

Dust with a little icing sugar and pretend that it’s snowing ….

How to be successful making mince pies

• Roll out the pastry dough to about 3mm thickness. Any thinner and you risk them being too delicate and splitting as they cook.
• Don’t skip sealing the lids on or they may get pushed off as the pies cook.
• Set the oven temperature accurately and keep on eye on the pies whilst they cook.
• Remember to make the holes in the tops if using a round lid, to allow any steam escape whilst they’re cooking.

How to serve Traditional Mince Pies

There are many ways to serve your lovely mince pies. These are just a few.

• warmed and served on plate.
• dusted with a little icing sugar.
• warmed and served with vanilla ice cream, custard or greek yoghurt.
• with single cream or soft folds of whipped double cream.
• a little rum or brandy butter melting into the warm mince pie.

How to Store Traditional Mince Pies

These homemade traditional mince pies will last for one week stored in an airtight container.

Can I freeze baked mince pies?

Mince pies freeze well and cooked mince pies will last up to 3 months in the freezer. Just store in a suitable container and pop them in the freezer and they’ll be great.

Can I freeze uncooked mince pies?

Yes, you can freeze ‘uncooked’ mince pies. Just freeze them in the baking tins that you would have cooked them in. This just helps the pies to keep their shape. Once they’re frozen add to a suitable freezer bag. They will keep for up to three months this way.

Cook them from frozen, in whatever size the original tin was. Heat the oven to 360F/180C/160 C Fan and bake for 25 – 30 minutes. They’re done when they’ve taken on a little colour.

If you like this … then you may like…

• Easy Vegan Blueberry muffins
• Easy Lemon and Poppy seed muffins
• Toasted Oat granola bars
• Easy Homemade Mincemeat
• Last Minute Christmas Cake

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