These Melt In Your Mouth Almondy Mince Pies are just what they says on the tin! Almond shortcrust pastry makes them simply irresistible and even more festive! They are so easy to make too!
It’s all in the pastry!
It’s that time of year again and here I am with my first festive recipe this season! I simply can’t imagine December without mince pie or two (or more like a dozen)! They are my guilty treats responsible for a roll or two added to my midriff by the time the New Year is here full of dietary resolutions. As much as I love regular mince pies, this time I decided to tinker with the pastry to see whether there is room for improvement and that resulted in my Melt In Your Mouth Almondy Mince Pies!
For somebody like myself who cannot stand Christmas Cake or Pudding (I quite like the idea of flambéing the latter but that really is it!), the love for mince pies might seem rather odd. It is and it isn’t… It’s all about the pastry you see. I’m a huge pastry fiend and the crumblier and more buttery the better. I also love almonds and use them in baking a lot so combining my love for all things pastry and almondy resulted in the best almond shortcrust pastry ever!
Sweet mince meat!
Make sure you use the best possible sweet mince meat with your pies! If you’ve got your own tried and tested recipe you’ve used for years – that’s even better!
They really are a doddle to make but the little effort you will put in will be rewarded by most crumbly, buttery, slightly almondy parcels of joy you could image! Would love to hear what you think!
Making ahead / freezing advice
Mince pies are perfect Christmas treats to make ahead. You can freeze them unbaked in their tray and covered tightly with clingfilm and some aluminium foil. Bake from frozen as per recipe below, allowing additional 5 minutes baking time.
You can also freeze baked pies (without icing sugar). Simply put them in a plastic container with a lid. If your container is quite tall, pop your mince pies in layers separated with some baking paper. When you are ready to eat simply defrost them on the counter top and warm them up in the oven heated up to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 for 5 minutes.
Whichever way you choose, your mince pies can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Melt In Your Mouth Almondy Mince Pies
Ingredients
- 225 g plain flour
- pinch of salt
- 50 g ground almonds
- 200 g unsalted butter chilled and cubed
- 70 g caster sugar
- 1 egg yolk
- Quality mince meat of your choice
- milk for brushing optional
- icing sugar to serve
shallow tart tray and plain round cutter approx 68mm
Instructions
- Put flour, sugar, salt and ground almonds in your food processor and press pulse button few times to combine.
- Add cubes of chilled butter and mix until texture starts resembling breadcrumbs. Add egg yolk and keep mixing until the dough comes together almost in a ball.
- Take it out onto the kitchen counter and flatten into a disc, cover in cling film and chill for about 10-15 minutes.
- If you don't have food processor simply mix all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, add chilled, cubed butter and mix with your fingers until you get to crumbs like consistency. Add egg yolk and keep on mixing with your hands until dough starts coming together. Flatten it into a disc, cover in cling film and chill as above.
- Butter shallow tart tray and preheat the oven to 180C/350F/gas 4.
- Roll out your pastry on a floured surface and cut out 12 rounds which you then press into each hole in your tart tray. Make sure you press gently on the sides of each pastry round to get rid of any air bubbles. Cut out another 12 rounds that will serve as lids.
- Put approx 1 heaped tsp of mince meat in the centre of each of the pastry cases and cover these with the remaining pastry rounds pressing gently on the edges to seal.
- Brush gently with some milk and using sharp knife make two tiny vents on the top of each pie.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden.
- Let the pies cool in a tray for a few minutes which will make them easier to remove. Pop them onto a wire rack to cool completely. Serve dusted with icing sugar or however your heart desires!
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Nutritional information is approximate, per serving and meant as a guideline only.
Nutrition
Make sure you stay up to date with all the latest recipes from Jo’s Kitchen Larder
Some more recipes you might be interested in:
Best Buttery Apple Pie with a Twist
Italian Plum & Almond Cake with Amaretti Crunch
Easy Chocolate Gingerbread Biscuits
Have you tried my Melt In Your Mouth Almondy Mince Pies? Leave a comment at the bottom of this post, I love reading them! You can also come and say hello over on my Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest
Pin Melt In Your Mouth Almondy Mince Pies For Later!
I’m linking my Melt In Your Mouth Almondy Mince Pies with the following pages:
Cook Blog Share hosted this week by Kirsty at Hijacked By Twins and by Jackie at Recipes Made Easy
Brilliant Blog Posts hosted by Vicki at Honest Mum Blog
Recipe of the Week hosted by Emily at A Mummy Too
Cook Once Eat Twice hosted by Corina at Searching for Spice
Bake of the Week by Helen at CasaCostello and Jenny at MummyMishaps
Kat (The Baking Explorer) says
The pastry look perfect and I can just imagine them melting in my mouth!
Jacqueline Meldrum says
Those look really good. *heads into the kitchen for a mince pie and it’s all your fault* : )
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Julia Frey says
I can never resist a pastry made with almonds! These look absolutely scrumptious. Worth gaining a couple of pounds for!
anna says
oh this sounds so lovely!! love the idea that you added almonds to the pastry
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Anna! 🙂 I love the pastry with added almonds!
Mandy says
I am SO ready for my first mince pie of the season and I love the idea of adding almonds to the pastry.
joskitchenlarder says
Ha ha, I’ve already had, let’s say “a couple” lol 😉 Mince pies season has officially begun in our house! 🙂
Cat | Curly’s Cooking says
I absolutely love mince pies and although I technically make my own, I cheat and use shop bought pastry! These look so delicious and I love the addition of the almond to the pastry.
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Cat! Ground almonds really make all the difference here and make the pies feel that bit more luxurious too! 🙂
Anna | Once Upon A Food Blog says
I totally agree, it is about the pastry in mince pies! Adding almonds to it looks lovely, almost like frangipane, and that can’t be a bad thing!
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Anna! 🙂 I absolutely love the flavour ground almonds give to the pastry and like you say it does have almost frangipane like look and definitely taste!
Cat says
These sound delicious, I love almonds with mincemeat x
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Cat! 🙂 Flavours marry together really well! x
Angela / Only Crumbs Remain says
Ooh I love the sound of these – melt in the mouth mince pies! Yes please! I’m a huge fan of mince pies too and I completely agree pastry has to be lovely and buttery and crumbly! Delicious! Thank you so much for linking up with #BakingCrumbs Jo :=D
Angela x
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Angela! 🙂 I thought this sort of title is not only very accurate but also very enticing 🙂 I think I was right! lol 😉 x
Jacqui says
Oh how lovely almond pastry is so delicious
joskitchenlarder says
Thanks Jacqui! 🙂
Karen, the next best thing to mummy says
I will definitely be trying these #[email protected]_karendennis
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Karen! I hope you enjoy them! 🙂
becca farrelly says
Ooh these look lovely and I love the almond twist to them! I have never made mince pies myself but we make Christmas cake, stollen and a gingerbread house every year. I would love to give these a go! 🙂
#brillblogposts
joskitchenlarder says
Oh wow Becca, that’s a lot of lovely Christmas bakes! I think you would enjoy these, ground almonds really make the pastry here and go so well together with mince meat!
Corina Blum says
I love buttery crumbly pastry and these sound perfect! In our house we all like mince pies and so would love these. Thanks so much for sharing with #CookOnceEatTwice x
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Corina! 🙂 It’s two for and two against in our house, but hey at least there is less competition when it comes to eating them lol x
Jenny Paulin says
ooooh these sound very nice indeed! I adore mince pies too ad have often eaten them for breakfast over the festive period (even with clotted cream on Christmas morning!).Yours look so melt in the mouth too -perfect.
thank you for linking to #Bakeoftheweek x
joskitchenlarder says
Thank you Jenny! 🙂 Oh yes, I’m not a stranger to eating these for breakfast myself. The closer it gets to Christmas the more inclined I am to eat these at any point during the day and night! lol x