Mini mince pies

One Christmastime treat that I really miss now that I no longer live in the U.K. are mince pies.

They are a total guilty pleasure of almost everyone, young and old (that and hot-cross buns on Easter!)

I spied a jar of Robinson’s mincemeat (yes, back in the day, it was traditionally made with meat, now, it’s an intoxicating mix of fruits, nuts, and spices) in Fairway a few months ago and got excited. This made it even easier to whip up enough mini mince pies to treat myself, my friends, and neighbors.

To my taste, the mince pies are best bite-size to have with tea or cocoa.

These are traditionally topped with a star, but I made little Christmas trees/leaves because those were the smallest cookie cutters that I had and they turned out quite festive!

Mince pies

(makes about two dozen)

You’ll need:

• your favorite pate brisee recipe (this is always my standard)
• 1 jar of mincemeat
• 1 egg for eggwash
• 2 T raw or Demerara sugar for sprinkling on top
• equipment: cookie cutter or round ring mold about 2.5 inches in diameter  + a small shaped cutter (for example, a star, or a Christmas tree)

1. Make the pastry dough, roll it out to about 1/8 inch thickness on a piece of parchment and refrigerate. You want it to be easy to cut into all these delicate small shapes!

2.  Preheat oven to 425F. Note: I used a lightly greased mini muffin baking tin to help the pies keep their shape, so I would recommend doing that or using baking paper cups.

3. Flour the cutters very lightly and cut out one round pie “shell” and one shaped topper for each pie.

4. Fill the shells with generous half a tablespoon of mincemeat, top with your star or tree and sprinkle with sugar.

5. Bake for 15 minutes, rotating once.

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