Cinnamon mince pies recipe

Mince pies combine with a spiced crumble topping in these festive cinnamon mince pies.

When mince pies were first invented in the middle ages, the pastry sides and lids probably weren't eaten at all. It's thought they were a simple flour and water paste designed to encase the filling, keeping it moist and delicious. Thankfully, we've come a long way since then. For this mince pies recipe (opens in new tab), the lids are half the fun. Instead of plain pastry they are topped with an orange and almond crumble, infused with the sweet, woody flavour of cinnamon.

Ingredients

• 375g shortcrust pastry
• 250g good quality mincemeat
• 50g plain flour
• 4 tbsp demerara sugar
• 40g butter
• finely grated zest of ½ orange
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Method

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas Mark 6.
2. Thinly roll out the pastry and using a 7.5-9cm pastry cutter, cut out as many disks as you can, re-rolling the trimmings as you go. Press the disks into the holes of one or two 12 hole tart tins.
3. Spoon a couple of teaspoons of mincemeat into each pastry case and set aside.
4. To make the crumble topping, rub together the flour, demerara sugar, butter, orange zest and cinnamon until you have a chunky crumble mixture. Scatter over the top of the mincemeat and place in the oven for around 15 minutes or until the mince pies are golden and the tops are crisp.
5. Remove from the oven and leave to cool for a few minutes before taking out of the tins. Cool on a wire rack and dust with icing sugar to serve.

Top tips for making cinnamon mince pies

This crumble topping doesn't only work with mincemeat - you could use it over any fruity base to give a pudding a bit of a wintery, festive feel. And you don't need to limit it to individual portion pies - use it over a big crumble bake.

You don't need to rub together the topping together by hand. Put it in a mixer and give it a few short blasts (not too long or you may form a dough).

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