ORANGE, CRANBERRY & ALMOND MINCE PIES

Orange, cranberry & almond mince pies image

Stirring zingy cranberries into bought mincemeat and making your own simple almond pastry really brings these mince pies to life

Provided by Good Food team

Time 35m

Yield Makes 24

Number Of Ingredients 11

Ingredients

200g very cold butter , cubed
400g plain flour , plus extra for dusting
100g ground almonds
100g golden caster sugar
zest 2 oranges
2 tbsp milk (or use orange juice)
100g frozen cranberries
400g jar good-quality mincemeat
handful flaked almonds
2 tsp icing sugar , plus dusting
200ml tub crème fraîche

Steps:

Whizz the butter, flour and ground almonds in a food processor until the butter has disappeared. Pulse in the sugar and half the orange zest. Add the milk and keep whizzing until a rough dough comes together. Tip onto the work surface, press together and shape into a smooth disc, kneading once or twice if you need to. Chill for 15 mins. Can be made up to 3 days ahead and chilled, or frozen for up to 1 month.
Scatter a little flour onto the work surface. Roll out the dough to about the thickness of a £1 coin. Using an 8cm cutter, stamp out 24 circles and use to line the holes of 2 x 12-hole bun tins.
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Mix cranberries and mincemeat, then spoon into cases. Scatter each pie with flaked almonds. Can be frozen for up to 1 month. Bake the pies for 18-20 mins until the pastry and almonds are golden. When ready to serve, dust with the tiniest bit of icing sugar. Stir 2 tsp icing sugar and remaining zest into the crème fraîche, then dollop onto each pie to serve.

Nutrition Facts : Calories 249 calories, Fat 14 grams fat, SaturatedFat 7 grams saturated fat, Carbohydrate 29 grams carbohydrates, Sugar 17 grams sugar, Fiber 1 grams fiber, Protein 3 grams protein, Sodium 0.15 milligram of sodium