Easy Mince Pie Recipe

INGREDIENTS:

• 12 oz/350g all purpose/plain flour
• Pinch of salt
• 8oz/ 225g butter, cubed or an equal mix of butter and lard
• 1 beaten egg + 1 cold water as needed
• 1 jar of mincemeat, shop bought or home made
• 2 tbsp icing sugar

COOKING METHOD:

To begin, heat the oven to 400°F/205°C/Gas 6
Make the Pastry for the Pies

• Place the flour, butter and salt into a large mixing bowl.
• Rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips until the mixture looks and feels like fine breadcrumbs, work as quickly as possible to prevent the dough becoming warm.
• Add the egg to the mixture and mix together, adding cold water a teaspoon at a time until the mixture binds but be careful to no make it too wet that it is sticky.
• Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for a minimum of 15 minutes, up to 30 minutes.

Making the Mince Pies

• Choose either a muffin or bun tin for the size of pie you want. Our preferred choice is a standard 12-cup muffin tin. The number of pies will depend on the size of cup you choose.
• Dust a work surface lightly with some plain flour and roll out two-thirds of the pastry to 1/8″/3mm thick. Cut circles to line the cups of your tin, don’t worry if the pastry doesn’t come to the top.
• Fill the pastry lined tins 2/3 full with mincemeat.
• Roll out the remaining pastry to the same thickness and cut smaller circles to fit as lids on the tarts or to be decorative, cut stars or other fancy shapes to add to the top even more.
• Dampen the edges of the pie bases with a little cold water and press the lids on. Make a small hole in the surface of each pie with a small sharp knife to allow the steam to escape.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 20 mins or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the icing sugar.

http://studentsalike.com/2012/12/10/easy-mince-pie-recipe/