I wont lie - I'm not a natural baker and it took me quite a few years to get pastry right but once you do, it is so easy and great to get kids involved with! This is a family recipe from my mum, in that my Mum never uses recipes and tells you to keep going until 'it looks right'!!! For that reason, its incredibly easy and you can adapt it if that's what you want!
You will need:
About 100g butter/marge
200g plain flour and a bit extra to roll the pastry on
A jar of mincemeat
A splash of water
Some milk to brush on (but you dont have to!)
Biscuit cutters (although I've used a cup and cut around it before)
A small bun tray
You need butter and flour. My Mum's phrase is "half fat to flour". Here we probably used about 100g butter, 200g flour. I always lean towards having more butter.
2. Rub it between your fingers until it looks like bread crumbs. This is usually my kids favourite bit!
3. Add a splash of water and get your hands in! Keep going with the mixture until it starts to come together. You will need less water than you think so start with just a bit, you can always add more. If it becomes too wet, add more flour - it is really easy!
4. Sprinkle some flour down where you are going to roll it out and roll about as thin as a pound coin. We spent quite a while working out which cutters we would be big enough and whether we wanted a top or not.
5. Put into a small bun tray. If you are using a metal one, you may need to grease it by rubbing some butter inside first.
6. Fill with mincemeat mix (ours came in a jar from the supermarket!!), We decided on a star top and brushed it with a bit of milk before baking (we used a small cup of milk and a baking brush just to rub a bit on. This is optional!)
7. Bake in a medium oven. I couldn't even tell you how hot our was - probably around 160 degrees. Keep an eye on them, they will take around 10-15 mins!
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