In the U.K., mince pies are a Christmas custom. I adore the little mince pie recipe that my brother taught me, therefore I’ve decided to share it with you.
| Prep Time: | 25 mins |
| Cook Time: | 15 mins |
| Total Time: | 40 mins |
| Servings: | 18 |
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar, divided
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 2/3 cup butter, softened
- 2 tablespoons grated orange zest
- 1/4 cup ice water
- 3/4 cup prepared mincemeat pie filling
- 1 large egg, beaten
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).
- Sift together flour, 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar, and cinnamon. Use a pastry cutter or two forks to mix in butter until mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in orange zest. Sprinkle with ice water and gather dough into a ball. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/4 inch thick. Cut out approximately 18 (3-inch) diameter circles, and 18 (2-inch) circles, re-rolling dough as needed.
- Line muffin cups or mini tart tins using the 3-inch pastry circles. Fill each pastry cup with about 1 tablespoon of mincemeat filling. Top with 2-inch pastry circles, pinching circles together to seal the edges. Brush the top of each pie with egg.
- Bake pies in preheated oven until tops are golden brown, 15 to 20 minutes. Cool slightly on wire racks. Dust with remaining 1/4 cup confectioners’ sugar just before serving.
Nutrition Facts
| Calories | 145 kcal |
| Carbohydrate | 18 g |
| Cholesterol | 28 mg |
| Dietary Fiber | 1 g |
| Protein | 2 g |
| Saturated Fat | 5 g |
| Sodium | 79 mg |
| Sugars | 8 g |
| Fat | 8 g |
| Unsaturated Fat | 0 g |
Reviews
Delicious!
They were a hit. Definitely a keeper for the holiday specials
work in progress, wonderful . I did double it
Since all I had was a 3″ circle cutter, I decided to go topless (with the pies of course!) After filling a muffin tray of 12, I had lots of filling left over, and dough trimming. I got out the mini-muffin tray, and pressed 1″ balls of dough into them and added a teaspoon of filling. The mini-muffins turned out really cute and tasty with just the right proportion of dough to filling. Much easier than rolling out the dough, so I think next time I will just do the mini-muffins.
I’ve made this so much that it has become a holiday tradition. The only change I made is I bake these without a top crust. I make cutout stars from the dough, bake them separately and then add to baked tarts before they cool completely.
great pastry that is different from the norm. everyone loved it!
Served with whipped cream and they were PHENOMINAL!
i was not a fan of mince pies until i baked and tasted these….best mince pies ever
These little pies were a hit at our Christmas celebration! I used my home canned mincemeat, which was a special treat. Instead of dusting with confectioners sugar, I used sanding sugar for a sparkling presentation. Will make this recipe an annual happening.
Super easy, delicious and really tasty. It was a lovely surprise, I did not expect this recipe to work for me that much. The orange zest is a must. Enjoy!
Fabulous crust recipe!!!I will have to triple what I made last Christmas as my British husband eats these pies like pop corn!!
I enjoyed the crust on these tarts but my hubby didn’t care for it as he found it too crunchy and because it was mini, it didn’t have enough mincemeat. I liked it but he didn’t care for it.
I decided to try to make these when I saw all the positive reviews by Brits. They are the mince pie experts! Made it as is and they came out fantastic. Keeping all crust ingredients chilled and handling the dough as little as possible is key. Mini pies like this are much better, in my opinion, then a large slab of pie. Too much filling in those, which can be overwhelming. Thanks for the recipe!
Perfect for the mince filling I made! I used cold orange juice instead of water as other people suggested, and added 1/4 tsp cloves. I forgot to buy oranges, though, so I only had one to zest and had to share it with the filling, so the orange flavor wasn’t as strong as it probably should have been. Still very good and easy dough to handle. It baked up perfectly. I made mine with star-shaped top crusts as in the photo (some with one large star and others with three small stars) and the result is a delicious, festive treat. I didn’t roll out as thin as I should have so I only got twelve tarts.
Loved these and so did the family and bunco girls.. fun to make also
These are delicious! I added more cinnamon & added clove. They were a huge hit! I will make again.
These went down a treat at Christmas! The pastry with the orange zest is outstanding & buttery! Will make again next year.
I really liked these. Yummy! In fact, I couldn’t stop eating them! I used fluted rings to cut the dough and I didn’t really seal them, I just let the tops sit like little hats. Great recipe!
I made these for my husbands family who love mince meat. They all loved them. My husband wants me to make him more for his birthday. This really was a wonderful recipe. Thank you!
Great recipe…I also used orange juice in place of water in the pastry. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
These were fantastic! Great flavour with the pastry. I also topped some with a streusel topping (one I use for blueberry muffins on this site) and that was good too as it complimented the cinnamon in the pastry. All eaten very quickly!