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Homemade Mince Pies with Cream Cheese Filling Recipe

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★★★★★

4.4 from 109 reviews

Delicious homemade traditional British mince pies featuring a rich and fruity mincemeat filling combined with a buttery pastry crust, topped optionally with a creamy lemon-vanilla filling and baked to golden perfection. Perfect for festive occasions and holiday celebrations.

Ingredients

Scale

Mincemeat

  • 50g currants
  • 50g sultanas
  • 30g raisins
  • 30g dried cranberries
  • 30g dried apricots
  • 1 lemon (zest)
  • 1 orange (zest and juice of 1/2 orange)
  • 15g suet
  • 1 apple (peeled and diced)
  • 50g brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground ginger
  • 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
  • Pinch of salt

Pastry

  • 150g butter (cold, grated)
  • 240g plain flour
  • 70g golden caster sugar

Cream Cheese Filling

  • 70g cream cheese
  • 70g icing sugar
  • 30g butter (room temperature, chopped into small cubes)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
  • 1 lemon zest

Additional

  • 1 egg (whisked for egg wash)
  • Icing sugar (for sprinkling)
  • Butter (for greasing the baking tin)

Instructions

  1. Prepare Mincemeat: Place a small saucepan on low heat and add currants, sultanas, raisins, cranberries, apricots, lemon and orange zest, chopped apple, suet, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, brown sugar, and a pinch of salt. Cook gently for 10 minutes until the sugar and suet have melted. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed. Optionally stir in 30ml of brandy after cooking. Leave the mixture to cool.
  2. Make Pastry Base: While the mincemeat cools, grate cold butter into a large bowl. Add plain flour and rub the butter into the flour using your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
  3. Add Sugar to Pastry: Stir in golden caster sugar and combine fully with the breadcrumb mixture.
  4. Form Dough: Using your hands, scrunch and press the mixture together to form a firm, buttery dough. No additional water is needed. The dough should hold together well.
  5. Prepare Cream Cheese Filling: In a bowl, whisk cream cheese with icing sugar until smooth. Add room-temperature butter cubes, vanilla essence, and lemon zest. Whisk again until fully incorporated and adjust seasoning to taste.
  6. Divide Dough: Using a kitchen scale, weigh out 45g portions of dough and split each portion into 30g and 15g pieces. Repeat until you have 9 30g pieces and 9 15g pieces.
  7. Preheat Oven and Prepare Tin: Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan or 390°F). Grease a cupcake or mince pie baking tin with butter.
  8. Form Pie Cases: Press a 30g dough ball into each hole of the greased tin using your fingers, pushing the dough up to the sides to form a pastry case. Repeat for all 9 holes.
  9. Fill Cases: Spoon a heaped teaspoon of the cooled mincemeat into each pastry case. Optionally, add a teaspoon of cream cheese filling on top of the mincemeat in each case.
  10. Create and Place Lids: Using a flat-bottomed glass, press each 15g dough piece into a flat circular lid and place it over each filled case, sealing the edges gently.
  11. Egg Wash and Bake: Brush the top of each pie with whisked egg wash to enhance browning. Bake in the preheated oven for 18 minutes or until the pies turn lightly golden.
  12. Cool and Serve: Once baked, remove the mince pies from the oven. Sprinkle icing sugar on top while still warm or once cooled. Serve and enjoy your festive mince pies!

Notes

  • You can add 30ml of brandy to the mincemeat after cooking for extra flavor.
  • Make sure the butter is cold and grated to ensure a flaky pastry.
  • The cream cheese filling is optional but adds a lovely tangy contrast.
  • Use weighing scales for uniform mini pies for even baking.
  • Store mince pies in an airtight container; they can keep well for up to 5 days.
  • These mince pies can be frozen after baking for up to 1 month.

Keywords: mince pie, traditional British dessert, festive dessert, holiday recipe, mincemeat pie, Christmas baking

Find it online: https://topreci.com/homemade-mince-pies-with-cream-cheese-filling-recipe/