How to make mince pies

If you're keen to try your hand at making mince pies for Christmas this year, follow our step-by-step guide.

And once you’ve mastered the basics, keep reading. We have some fancier, alternative mince pie recipes for you too.

Eat well, live better and stay healthy – sign up for our Food & Health newsletter, it's free monthly

How to make easy mince pies

For 12 pies, you will need:

• 200g plain flour
• 100g fat (butter or spread) or 50g butter and 50g spread
• 300g jar of mincemeat
• Splash of milk to glaze
• Sugar to sprinkle on top (optional)

Method:

1. Set your oven to 200°C/190°C fan/gas mark 6. Grease a 12-hole bun tin with butter.
2. To make the pastry, gently rub 100g fat into 200g plain flour until you have crumbs.
3. Add icy cold water splash by splash until you get a dough.
4. Once you have your ball of dough, rub it around the sides and bottom of the bowl to pick up any loose bits that remain, so you end up with a clean bowl.
5. Made your pastry too wet? Just add a little more flour to bring it back to a dough-like consistency.
6. Store the pastry in the fridge for 10 minutes.
7. After this time, lightly flour a table top and roll the pastry out on it.
8. Cut out 12 circles using a large pastry cutter and 12 stars using a small pastry cutter.
9. Place the 12 large pastry circles into the bun tin. Add a teaspoon of mincemeat to each bottom – don't overfill or they'll spill over. Then place one of the stars on top of each.
10. Brush each top with a little milk and then dust with a sprinkling of sugar if you wish.
11. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes until lightly browned.
12. Lift out onto a wire cooling rack and serve once slightly cooled.

Get the best results every time you bake with the best kitchen scales

Getting the perfect bake

While you’re baking your mince pies do keep an eye on them. There are plenty of oven variables that can affect how your food is cooked. Through our rigorous oven lab tests we've found that some models don’t evenly spread heat, causing uneven browning. If this seems to be the case with your mince pies, rotate the baking tray a couple times while cooking.

Are you thinking of buying a new oven before Christmas? In our tests, we check everything from the heat supply to how easy it is to use – read our oven reviews to find out more.

See our best food and drink guide for the inside scoop on this year’s best festive food, including mince pies, red wine and much more

What type of pastry makes the best mince pie?

Over the years the core ingredients of mince pies have been tested, altered and adjusted to bring new twists to the classic recipe. And one of these interchangeable ingredients is the pastry casing. 

Typically baked with a shortcrust pastry, the mince pie (as most of us know it) has a slightly biscuit-like, crumbly texture and is pretty sturdy. Shortcrust is the easiest type of pastry to make, too – see our recipe above.

But some bakers now also use puff pastry for their pies. The main difference is the fat content (puff pastry has more fat) and how simple it is to prepare. Puff pastry requires the baker to layer butter into the pastry to allow for puffing, thus creating a lighter, flakier casing. That's why many at-home cooks tend to buy shop-bought puff pastry rather than make their own.

Puff pastry Christmas recipe tip: Always end up with leftover Christmas pudding? Or experts suggest crumbling it in between two circles of shop-bought puff pastry to make Christmas pudding Eccles cakes. Read our reviews of the best Christmas puddings.

Jamie Oliver also suggests another option – filo pastry mince pies. Using a mixture of homemade or shop-bought filo and puff pastry, the British chef says they are ‘super easy’ to make. If you fancy giving them a go, check out Jamie Oliver’s perfect mince pie recipe.

You could also try your hand at Austrian pastry, which incorporates ground almonds and lemon rind for added flavour, and enriches the pastry with egg and sugar.

What can you add to your mince pie pastry?

We talked to our baking experts to find out what their top tips were for mince pie pastry additions. Suggestions included lard in the pastry, marzipan balls and icing sugar in the flour. But our favourite was tangerine rind. This citrus twist tastes delicious and makes for a ‘zingy outer shell’.

The mince pie filling

Mince pies were once known as mutton pies or Christmas pies and were filled with meat, such as lamb, beef and game, rather than the dried fruit mix they are today.

Nowadays, the classic mincemeat ingredients are a lot sweeter and include a variety of fruits, such as apples, dried raisins, lemon and currants, as well as a dash of brandy. But like all long-serving recipes, they can be open for interpretation. Here are some tasty additions to jazz up your shop-bought mincemeat...

• Nuts Depending on what your tastes are, adding almonds, Brazil nuts and hazelnuts will all work with your mincemeat. If you’re a real nut lover, then why not add all three?
• Orange/lemon zest Some people find that shop-bought mincemeat can be a too sweet. Try adding some orange or lemon zest to balance out the flavours.
• Mascarpone Add some indulgence to your pies by stirring through a spoonful of mascarpone.
• Chocolate If you really want to experiment, then try stirring in a little grated chocolate or melting it into the mincemeat.
• Rum Give your pies a little Caribbean twist with rum instead of brandy.

Mince pie recipes from top chefs

How to get the best from your mince pies

Every year, we assemble a panel of brilliant baking experts to help judge which supermarket mince pies are the tastiest. While we have them, we like to quiz them for top tips on making mince pies extra special, and baking tips if you're having a go at making your own. Here's what some of our experts have told us:

Dan Lepard, award-winning baker

What do you like to serve mince pies with?

A food writer friend suggested putting a slice of the best cheddar on top. It's like apple pie and cheese… so good. You also can't go wrong with double cream whisked into soft peaks with brandy, a little sugar and vanilla.

Hot or cold mince pies? 

When you serve them warm the flavour is much more pronounced and sweeter. Pop them back in the oven on a baking tray for a crisp pastry.

Is it best to freeze mince pies cooked or uncooked?

You will get the best results if you freeze puff pastry mince pies uncooked, whereas shortcrust pies can be frozen either cooked or not.

What to serve with mince pies

Patrick Moore, award-winning artisan bread maker

Mulled wine, port, hot chocolate (family friendly or with a splash of rum), sloe or damson gin are always well received with mince pies – as is a nice cup of refreshing Earl Grey tea. I prefer mine served with clotted cream or Cumberland rum butter – a combination of dark brown muscovado sugar, butter, rum and a hint of nutmeg.

Another of my favourites is to take 150g of double cream and lightly whip it until it’s the consistency of shaving cream. Then add two to three tablespoons of rum, whisky or cognac.

On the cold front, it’s hard to beat a scoop of soft vanilla ice cream, with the lovely black seeds from the pod visible. 

Always serve mince pies slightly warm and not hot – molten mincemeat burns are never appreciated.

Of course, you could always simply dust them with icing sugar and serve with a sprig of holly.