Christmas Mince Pies Recipes

Steps:

• Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Add butter and shortening; rub in with cold fingers until mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Mix in sugar and orange zest thoroughly. Mix in vanilla extract. Stir in enough orange juice to bring dough together.
• Knead dough briefly to form a smooth ball. Wrap in plastic wrap; refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Roll dough out on a lightly floured work surface to a thickness of 1/8 inch. Cut out 12 circles using a 2 1/2-inch cutter and 12 circles using a 1-inch cutter.
• Line 12 mini tart pans or a muffin tin with the 2 1/2-inch dough circles. Cover dough with about 1 tablespoon mincemeat filling. Lay 1-inch circles on top.
• Bake in the preheated oven until tops are pale golden brown, 17 to 21 minutes. Cool slightly on wire racks, about 10 minutes. Dust with confectioners' sugar before serving.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. First, make the mincemeat. Tip all of the ingredients into a large saucepan and cook over a low-medium heat for 10 mins, stirring frequently until sticky and combined. Remove from the heat and set aside.
• Lightly brush the holes of a 12-hole muffin tin with melted butter. Cut the filo sheets into quarters to make small squares, then use one square each to line the holes. Brush with more butter, then top with a second filo square, turning it to form a cross shape. Fill each pastry case with a heaped tablespoon of mincemeat, then loosely fold the overhanging filo towards the middles.
• Shred any leftover filo into small, thin strips and top each pie with filo nests. Brush the exposed pastry with melted butter, then bake for 25 mins until golden brown. Leave to cool completely in the tin, then dust with icing sugar before serving.

Steps:

• QUICK FRUIT MINCEMEAT:.
• Combine all ingredients and set aside for flavours to infuse.
• PASTRY:.
• Sift flour, cornflour, and icing sugar.
• Rub in the butter.
• Beat egg and vanilla together then add, mixing well.
• Knead into a ball without overhandling the pastry.
• Roll out thinly on a floured board and cut into 3" rounds.
• Reroll offcuts until all the pastry is used.
• Place rounds in a patty pan, place a heaped teaspoon of filling in the middle of each pastry round and cover with second pastry round.
• Press edges together with the prongs of a fork and prick each top twice.
• Bake at 350F for 18-20 minutes or until pale gold.
• Leave to cool slightly before removing to cooking rack.
• Dust lightly with icing sugar.
• COOKS NOTE - If you don't have a patty pan, place the pies on a cookie sheet rather than in a muffin tray, which is too deep.