Mince puffs recipe

Crisp, golden flaky pastry, oozing with dark and delicious mincemeat and a creamy twist at the center.

These mince puffs use readymade puff pastry which makes them lighter and crisper than a traditional mince pie recipe (opens in new tab) using crumbly shortcrust. Adding cream cheese to the filling before cooking might sound like an unorthodox idea but it's actually a well-known trick. Cookery writer Jocelyn Dimbleby uses a similar method in her mince pies. Think of it more as a rich cream layer - a bit like in a cheesecake - rather than adding any cheesiness. The cream cheese melts down as it cooks and its slight tartness augments the sweetness of the mincemeat.

Ingredients

• 320g ready-rolled puff pastry
• ½ jar mincemeat
• 10 tsp cream cheese
• 5 tsp flaked almonds
• 1 egg, beaten

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas Mark 6.
2. Unwrap the pastry and use a cookie cutter to cut out 10 large and 10 slightly smaller rounds.
3. Put the larger rounds in the bottom of a muffin tray and then put 1 tsp of mincemeat in each, followed by 1tsp of cream cheese and a few flaked almonds.
4. Top with the smaller pastry circle, brush with beaten egg and place in the oven for 20-25 minutes until brown and puffed.
5. Leave to cool and then dust with icing sugar before serving.

Top tips for making mince puffs

These little bites use puff pastry as the base and lid of the pie, which means they can be prone to soggy bottoms. To prevent that, use full-fat cream cheese (low fat has a higher water content), and ensure your oven is well preheated before putting the puffs in to cook.

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