Can you freeze mince pies?

There’s nothing better than biting into a deep, crumbly mince pie with festive aromas from the mincemeat and gloriously flaky pastry. Of course we can’t all be blessed with the cooking skills of Nigella Lawson, so plenty of Brits prefer to head to the shops for their fill of Christmassy goodness. Whichever camp you fall into, Express.co.uk has some tips on what to do with your mine pie left overs – if you don’t end up scoffing the lot!

Can you freeze mince pies?

Yes you can – both cooked mince pies and uncooked.

If you want to freeze uncooked mince pies, leave them in well-greased or lined cake tins and put in your freezer.

After a few hours, remove with a palette knife and stored in foil containers or in a sealed box or bag.

To cook after being frozen, return the mince pies to the cake tins and bake in the oven at 220C for about 30 minutes.

Not everyone has the time to make mince pies from scratch each Christmas.

And there’s nothing wrong with buying a box – or ten – from your local supermarket or grocery store.

With restrictions now changing over Christmas this year, you may have bought a tad too many for your small Christmas gathering – and these, too, can be frozen.

Just simply box in the freezer! Then when you want to eat them, simply let them defrost and pop them in a warm oven to warm up.

How to make mince pies

TV chef James Martin shared a simple mince pie recipe you can try this Christmas if you fancy turning your hand to some festive baking.

Showing off his skills on ITV’s This Morning, the expert revealed his favourite method.

Ingredients:

  • 400g plain flour
  • 200g butter
  • Salt
  • 2 eggs
  • Water if needed
  • 1 x 450g mincemeat
  • 1 egg to egg wash
  • Icing sugar to dust

Method

Preheat the oven to 160C. Place the flour, butter and salt into a bowl and rub the ingredients together between your fingertips.

When the mix looks like breadcrumbs, add the eggs and mix – again, using your fingers.

Turn the mixture out onto a floured surface and and knead until smooth.

Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, grease or line some muffin tin.

When the pastry is suitable chilled, roll it out onto a lightly floured surface and cut out 24 circles.

Then use a smaller cutter and make 24 smaller circles for the top.

Fill the pastry circles with mincemeat, add the top circle then brush the edges of the pastry with egg wash.

Bake for 30 minutes or until golden and dust with icing sugar.

SOURCE

The Editor