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Sweet Shortcrust Pastry For Mince Pies
Melt in the mouth, all buttery mince pies made with sweet shortcrust pastry – hello Christmas! This foolproof recipe makes the best sweet pastry EVER perfect for mince pies.
Christmas without mince pies is unimaginable but making your own from scratch doesn’t have to be!
You can make the pastry in a food processor or by hand, either way it’s really simple and quick. For the filling, you can use shop-brought mincemeat! Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.
This sweet shortcrust pastry is light, buttery and great for holding mincemeat or any other filling.
There’s something special about homemade bakes at Christmas, and it helps when they look and taste amazing.
What Are Mince Pies?
Mince pies are little pieces of Christmas, the perfect addition to your Christmas dinner table!
They’re a sweet pie filled with mincemeat, which usually contain raisons, sultanas, currents and spices such as nutmeg and cinnamon. The mincemeat filling can contain alcohol or critic juice.
Watch How To Make It
Equipment Needed
You’ll need a 7.4cm or 7.5cm fluted cookie cutter to make the bases, and a 6.5cm to 6.8cm fluted cookie cutter for the lids. Don’t forget your mince pie tin!
To make the cutest mince pies ever, I use this star shaped cookie cutter (the second smallest star). They help create extra special mince pies for an extra special occasion like Christmas.
You can also use this snowflake cookie cutter to create a snowflake shape.
Mince Pie Shortcrust Pastry Ingredients
Below are the ingredients needed for this recipe:
- Plain Flour: Use plain flour and not self-raising flour.
- Butter Or Margarine: You’ll want to use block butter as opposed to smooth spreadable butter. You can choose between salted or unsalted butter (this is up to personal preference).
- Caster Sugar: I used caster sugar; you can also use icing sugar.
- Water: A few tablespoons of water is used to help bind the pastry together. You can also use milk instead of water.
Mincemeat
You can make your own homemade mincemeat, or you can buy a jar of it and add additional flavours like orange zest or chocolate. This will add even more flavour to your homemade mince pies.
Foolproof Shortcrust Pastry For Mince Pies
Sweet shortcrust pastry is best for making mince pies! Despite how scary making your own pastry can seem, it’s actually quite simple.
There are no complex steps in this recipe, I recommend chilling the dough in the fridge for at least 15 minutes before rolling it out and making mince pies out of them.
How To Make Sweet Shortcrust Pastry For Mince Pies
Below is a step-by-step guide on how to make foolproof sweet shortcrust pastry perfect for mince pies. Full recipe instructions are on the recipe card:
Step One:
Add flour and sugar to a food processor and process until evenly distributed.
By Hand: Pour flour and sugar into a large mixing bowl and mix until evenly distributed.
Step Two:
Add butter to the food processor and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
By Hand: Slice butter into small cubes, rub it into the flour and sugar mixture using your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.
Step Three:
Add a few tablespoons of water (or milk) and mix together until the pastry dough has formed. Use your hands to bind the dough together.
Wrap the sweet shortcrust pastry in clingfilm and leave to chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will make rolling the dough so much easier as it will be less sticky.
In this time, preheat your oven to 180°C (gas mark 4, 160°Fan) and grease a holed mince pie tin with oil or butter.
How To Make Mince Pies
Step Four:
Using a rolling pin, roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface. The pastry should be around 5mm (0.5cm) thick (they puff out in the oven).
Get a round fluted cookie cutter preferably 7.4cm or 7.5cm and cut out bases from the pastry. Place the bases into your holed mince pie tin and gently press them down.
Add a tablespoon of mincemeat to the centre of each base.
Step Six:
Add a little bit of egg or milk around the edges of the pastry and top with lids. For circle lids, I used a smaller 6cm to 6.8cm fluted cookie cutter. Press down gently to seal the lids to the bottom of the pastry.
Lightly brush the pastry with egg or milk for a golden colour, then sprinkle with demerara sugar (this is optional). Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden.
Leave the mince pies to cool down for at least 5 minutes, then dust with icing sugar and enjoy!
My Top Tips
Keep any dough you’re not using in the fridge! After manipulating the dough, the warmth of your hands softens and slightly melts the butter. You want the butter to be as cold as possible for a delicious crumbly texture.
Making pastry can get really messy, especially if you’re making the dough by hand! Use a pastry cutter if you don’t want to get your hands messy and to keep the dough cool.
Don’t go overboard with the egg or milk wash, lightly coat the pastry for a golden colour.
Add extra flavour to this shortcrust pastry recipe by adding orange zest, the mince pies will taste amazing! You could also add vanilla, caramel or almond extract to give the mince pies a unique taste.
Worried about your mince pies sticking to the baking tray? Lightly grease the baking tray with butter or oil. You could also line the bottom of the cupcake tin with parchment paper. Make sure the tin you’re using is non-stick.
How To Serve Mince Pies
Eat them on their own, with brandy butter or this homemade honeycomb ice cream (you don’t need an ice cream machine to make it!). You could also serve it with luxurious Biscoff ice cream. Below are even more ideas:
- Custard
- Chocolate Orange Hot chocolate
- Biscoff Hot chocolate
- Mulled Wine
- Whipped Cream
How To Store And Freeze Mince Pies
To Store: Keep in an airtight container at room temperature and eat within a week.
To Freeze The Pastry: Carefully wrap the pastry in clingfilm and keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. Defrost the pastry thoroughly before using it.
To Freeze Mince Pies: Wait for the mince pies to cool down then place into a freezer-safe container. Keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you’re ready to eat them, simply defrost then reheat in the oven.
More Christmas Dessert Recipes
- Puff Pastry Mince pies
- Chocolate Orange Cookies
- Chocolate Orange Mousse
- Terry’s Chocolate Orange Fudge
- Terrys Chocolate Orange Cake
- Mary Berry Pavlova Wreath
Sweet Shortcrust Pastry Mince Pies
Ingredients
Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
- 350 g Plain Flour
- 230 g Butter
- 100 g Sugar Or Icing Sugar
- 2 tbsp Water Or Milk
Mince Pies
- 400 g Mincemeat
- 1 Egg Or Milk (To Wash Pastry)
- 3 tsp Demerara Sugar (Optional)
Instructions
To Make Sweet Shortcrust Pastry
- Add flour and sugar to a food processor and process until evenly distributed.By Hand: Pour flour and sugar into a large mixing bowl and mix until evenly distributed.
- Add butter to the food processor and process until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.By Hand: Slice butter into small cubes, rub it into the flour and sugar mixture using your fingertips until it resembles breadcrumbs.
- Add a few tablespoons of water (or milk) and mix together until the pastry dough has formed. Use your hands to bind the dough together.
- Wrap the sweet shortcrust pastry in clingfilm and leave to chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will make rolling the dough so much easier as it will be less sticky.
- In this time, preheat your oven to 180°C (gas mark 4, 160°Fan) and grease a holed mince pie tin with oil or butter.
To Make Mince Pies
- Using a rolling pin, roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface. The pastry should be around 5mm (0.5cm) thick (they puff out in the oven).
- Get a round fluted cookie cutter preferably 7.4cm or 7.5cm and cut out bases from the pastry. Place the bases into your holed mince pie tin and gently press them down.
- Add a tablespoon of mincemeat to the centre of each base.
- Add a little bit of egg or milk around the edges of the pastry and top with lids. For circle lids, I used a smaller 6cm to 6.8cm fluted cookie cutter. Press down gently to seal the lids to the bottom of the pastry.
- Lightly brush the pastry with egg or milk for a golden colour, then sprinkle with demerara sugar (this is optional). Bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until golden.
- Leave the mince pies to cool down for at least 5 minutes, then dust with icing sugar and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Music in video from Uppbeat, License code: 08VBCZFHCZBZDBBY
Leonora
Thanks for the recipe tips Michelle, I really like the pastry.
Michelle
No worries Leonora, glad you liked it.