The best mince pies are these frangipane Mince Pies with easy homemade pastry – serve warm or cold for a delicious traditional Christmas snack.
Lots of pictures and very few words today – I have my hands and mouth full of frangipane mince pies….
I was feeling a little rustic and old-school when I made these – so I actually made my own pastry! I’m usually fairly lazy when it comes to pastry – buying the pre-made and pre-rolled stuff. However this is an easy version and only takes a couple of minutes to pull together (plus a bit of chilling time in the fridge).
I did stick with the pre-made mincemeat though. I can’t believe I used to hate this stuff as a kid. I could eat it straight out of the jar now!!
The frangipane is an easy home-made recipe too. Similar to the one I use in my peach and almond tart, you don’t need a mixer – just whisk it together in a bowl before spooning on top of the mincemeat-filled pastry cases.
Serve them warm:
Maybe with a drizzle of cream?
Or eat them cold. However you eat them, they won’t last long (at least not with me around….).
More Baking Ideas To Try
Equipment
In order to make these delicious festive Frangipane Mince Pies you will need:
- Food Processor. This is not the exact one as in the pictures, this is the newer model.
- Shallow Muffin/Cupcake Baking Tin
- Cooling rack
- Rolling Pin
- Fluted cutter
- Measuring Spoons
- Zester
- Wooden or Silicon Coated Spoons. We have just bought these and love them!
Frangipane Mince Pies
Ingredients
For the Pastry (or you can use ready-rolled sweet shortcrust pastry):
- 240 g (2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour plus extra for rolling
- 3 tbsp confectioners’ (icing) sugar
- 125 g (1/2 cup + 1 tsp) unsalted butter chilled and cubed
- finely grated zest of 1 orange
- 1 medium egg
For the Frangipane:
- 90 g (6 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened
- 100 g (1 cup) golden caster sugar (or use superfine)
- 1 large egg
- ½ tsp almond extract
- 90 g (1 1/2 cup) ground almonds (almond meal)
Also:
- 410 g (14.5 oz) jar mincemeat
- 5 tbsp flaked almonds
- 2 tbsp confectioners’ sugar
Instructions
- First, make the pastry – Place the flour, confectioners' sugar, and butter in a food processor and pulse until fine crumbs form. Add the orange zest and egg and pulse again until it just comes together (add a couple of drops of cold water if it's still too crumbly to come together).240 g (2 cups) plain (all-purpose) flour, 3 tbsp confectioners’ (icing) sugar, 125 g (1/2 cup + 1 tsp) unsalted butter, finely grated zest of 1 orange, 1 medium egg
- Place the pastry on a piece of lightly floured baking parchment. Squash together to form it into a ball, then roll it out to 1/4 inch thick with a lightly floured rolling pin.
- Place in the fridge to chill for 30-60 minutes (cover with clingfilm if leaving in the fridge for longer – up to two days).
- Whilst the pastry is chilling, make the frangipane. Place the butter and sugar in a large bowl and beat it together with a wooden spoon or hand mixer for a couple of minutes – until it goes paler. Stir in the egg and almond extract until mixed, then stir in the ground almonds. Place in the fridge until you’re ready to use it.90 g (6 tbsp) unsalted butter, softened, 100 g (1 cup) golden caster sugar (or use superfine), 1 large egg, 1/2 tsp almond extract, 90 g (1 1/2 cup) ground almonds (almond meal)
- Preheat the oven to 190C/375F (fan).
- Once the pastry is chilled, cut out rounds using an 8cm/3" fluted cutter. Re-roll the pastry as necessary. You should get 18-20 rounds. Press each piece of pastry carefully into the hole of a 12-hole cake tin (a regular fairy-cake tin – not a muffin tin). You'll need two trays.
- Fill each pastry- hole with a tablespoon of mincemeat, then top with a tablespoon of frangipane and smooth the top slightly (it will spread as it cooks, so you don't need to be too neat). Be sure not to top with too much frangipane, as it will overflow. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.410 g (14.5 oz) jar mincemeat, 5 tbsp flaked almonds
- Take out of the oven and leave to cool before sifting over a little confectioners' sugar, then serve.2 tbsp confectioners’ sugar
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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I give your recipe 5 stars. I have made it. Many times & get complements galore! It’s one of my favourites, during the Summer months I cannot find mincemeat so I have made a cherry filling with the Frangipane topping ,this to is delicious too. Thank you for sharing. Faith
What a beautiful recipe this looks. I love to freeze rather than last minute Baking if possible. Will these freeze well fir a month or so?
Tastes like Christmas! We love marzipan, hence frangipane is right up our alley as well! I made these jewels yesterday and they turned out lovely. I am going to make some English custard today to pour over them and then my hankering for British comfort food will be satisfied!
Thank you for an excellent recipe that is easy to follow and the results are so satisfying!
Do you blind bake the shortcrust pastry before adding the filling?
Sounds fabulous will try next week hugs Loraine
These look delicious. Can I use a tart pan?
Thanks Bonnie
Hi, quick question, can you just confirm how many eggs to use for the Frangipane? You’ve written 1 but then “eggs” is written next to it (and in the instructions) suggesting more than one is being used. Excited to try this recipe and just thought I’d double check before I got started. Thank you 😊x
Ah thank you for letting me know Sophie. I’d recently updated the recipe to reduce the amount of frangipane a little, so I changed the quantity of eggs. I’ve updated now. It should be one large egg. Thanks again 🙂
Ah brill that’s really helpful thank you. Can’t wait to make these 😊x
What has happened to mine lol 😝 it spead all over the cake tin
Hi Kay,
Yes that has happened to me befor too. If you put a little too much frangipane on top of the mince pies then it will spread.
Thanks
Chris & Nicky
Just made these with plain shop bought pastry and they were really delicious. I preferred them to regular ones as they were lighter. Very quick and easy to make. I will definitely be making more.
Absolutely fabulous mince pies never tasted pastry like it. I put jam in half of them as my husband doesn’t like fruit and he adored them. Can I freeze?
Jo x