Star-topped mince pies

I never really liked mince pies, until I made those- with my own, homemade cranberry mincemeat and this delicious almond shortcrust pastry (found on www.bbcgoodfood.co.uk).  Great combination of fresh cranberries, dried fruit and spices, so delicious!


Ingredients (for 14-15 mince pies):

For the pastry:

• 200g plain flour
• 40g caster sugar
• 75g ground almonds
• 125g unsalted, cold butter
• 1 egg

For the filling:

• about 320g mincemeat (half of the cranberry mincemeat from THIS recipe or if you are using shop-bought, make sure it is good quality)

Additionally:

• icing sugar for sprinkling

To make the pastry combine flour, sugar and almonds in a bowl, add cold, diced butter and rub with you fingertips until the mixture is crumble-like.  Add an egg and knead quickly on a floured surface to bring the dough together.  Chill in the fridge for about an hour. 

Lightly butter a 12-hole muffin tin and set aside.  Roll out the dough (not too thick and not too thin) and cut out circles big enough to go half-way up the tin (about 8cm in diameter). Place the circles of the dough in the tin and prick with a fork.  Cut out enough stars from the remaining dough to cover all the pies.  Fill each pie with a spoonful of filling and top with a star.  

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 200C for about 20 minutes until golden brown.  Leave to cool in the tin for couple of minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack.  

Enjoy!