Lemon mince pies recipe

With a delicious thin pastry crust and the zingy tang of citrus, these lemon mince pies are a real festive treat.

Mince pies are one of the best things about Christmas and we could happily eat them every day of the season. However, if you'd like to change up your mince pies a little, go for something that still has the festive feel, but with a little something extra. Unlike our classic mince pies recipe, this uses an almond pastry for extra sweetness and flavour. Lemon and almond are such a classic combination, though probably more associated with Mediterranean summers than Christmas treats. But that is why these work so well - the bright lemon, the sweet almond, and the delicious mincemeat all together.

Ingredients

• 250g (8oz) plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 60g (2oz) ground almonds
• 75g (2½oz) icing sugar
• 175g (6oz) unsalted butter, chilled and diced
• 2 medium egg yolks
• 820g jar luxury mincemeat
• Finely grated zest of 2 lemons
• 2 tbsp Amaretto Disaronno (almond liqueur)
• 1 tbsp golden granulated sugar, to dust

You will also need:

• 12-hole muffin tin, lined with paper cases
• 9cm (3½in) and 6cm (2½in) pastry cutter, and mini festive cutters, if you have them

Method

1. Put the flour into a processor with the ground almonds and icing sugar and pulse for 30 seconds. Add the butter and whizz until the mixture forms crumbs. Add the egg yolks and 1-2 tbsp cold water and process again until the pastry just comes together. Knead the dough lightly on a lightly floured surface. Wrap and chill for 1 hour.
2. Mix the mincemeat, lemon zest and liqueur. Set the oven to Gas Mark 5 or 190°C and put a flat baking sheet in the oven to heat up.
3. Roll out two-thirds of the pastry and stamp out 12 rounds using the larger cutter. Press these into each paper case in the muffin tin.
4. Spoon 2 dsp of mincemeat into each pastry case. Brush the pastry edges with water.
5. Roll out the rest of the pastry and stamp out 12 rounds using the smaller cutter. Use mini cutters to stamp out tiny festive shapes in the centre of each round, if you like.
6. Top each mince pie with the small pastry round, sealing well at the edges. Sprinkle tops with golden granulated sugar. Put the muffin tray on the hot baking sheet and bake the mince pies for 20-25 mins until the pastry is pale golden. Serve warm or cold.

Top tips for making lemon mince pies

To enable us to get the pastry really thin and crisp, we used paper muffin cases for these mince pies.

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