Unbelievably Easy Mince Pies

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Great pastry recipe from the BBC's Good Food website.  As it says in the blurb, you can throw the dough around and the mince pies still come out crisp and biscuit.  This recipe's a keeper.  I used homemade mincemeat made about 6 weeks ago from Delia Smith's recipe.

I made it in the food processor.  Pulse it until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, adding 1tsp of water at a time until it starts to come together.  You can tip it out on the worktop when it is at the breadcrumb stage, but I find it just goes everywhere.

It says it makes 18, taking a walnut sized piece of dough and squishing it into holes in the tin.  I rolled the pastry out to the thickness of a £1 coin, and put a star on top instead of a full 'lid' and made 34 of these yesterday for the Alresford Country Market.  They all sold so now I'm starting again!

Unused pastry, uncooked & cooked pies can all be frozen.  I didn't bother to brush with egg or dust in icing sugar.

Ingredients

225g cold butter, diced
350g plain flour
100g golden caster sugar
280g mincemeat
1 small egg
icing sugar, to dust

To make the pastry, rub 225g cold, diced butter into 350g plain flour, then mix in 100g golden caster sugar and a pinch of salt. Combine the pastry into a ball – don’t add liquid – and knead it briefly. The dough will be fairly firm, like shortbread dough. You can use the dough immediately, or chill for later.

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas 6/fan 180C. Line 18 holes of two 12-hole patty tins, by pressing small walnut-sized balls of pastry into each hole. Spoon 280g mincemeat into the pies.

Take slightly smaller balls of pastry than before and pat them out between your hands to make round lids, big enough to cover the pies. Top the pies with their lids, pressing the edges gently together to seal – you don’t need to seal them with milk or egg as they will stick on their own. (The pies may now be frozen for up to 1 month).

Beat 1 small egg and brush the tops of the pies. Bake for 20 minutes until golden. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then remove to a wire rack. To serve, lightly dust with icing sugar. They will keep for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, December 2002