Hi all, I’m inviting all suggestions, and tales of any experiences. I’ve made little mince pies with (store-bought) Crosse and Blackwell mince, and (one time) None Such, which I really didn’t like! I am thinking of buying Robertson’s mince this year, but if anyone has successful homemade mince experience, please do tell! I’d also like any tips for short crust for pie of any type. I’ve made it the regular way, but I had it in a tart from a store the other day, and it seemed much more buttery and crumbly, almost like it had been married to shortbread. I hope there are others out there on CC who are mince pie lovers.
Me! If you lived near me , I could give you a jar of mincemeat. But since you probably don’t, I will give you the link to the recipe I use. I use golden raisins, raisins, apples,almonds and mixed peel ( I make my own- very easy). I don’t use currents as I never see them in our stores. (Special Mincemeat | Mary Berry). I use Paul Hollywood’s recipe for the pie crust: (https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/paul_hollywoods_mince_04604)
He has a way of adding stuff to store bought mince that may make your store bought stuff taste better. I make my mince in November and let the brandy soak in but you certainly don’t have to do that. Tart shells sound interesting.
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Sounds great! I love Paul Hollywood’s baking methods in general, so I’ll check it out. I have to admit that making the mincemeat myself is very tempting. I can get really good ingredients here. Thanks for the help!
Let me know how they turn out. I have to persuade people to try them. I call them mince pies now as people thought they were full of meat.
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This is the pastry recipe I’ve used for years and it’s delicious. No idea about the mincemeat recipe below it, I’ve always used Crosse and Blackwell though it’s getting very difficult to find. It’s also tricky to find shallow mince pie baking pans - I use my grandmothers!
It appears the recipe calls for 80 oz of flour - should be 8
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Wow! This dough recipe is really different from a lot I’ve seen. I’m going to have put it side by side with several others and compare (really, one of my favorite things to do. I think I’m more of an experimenter than an accomplished baker!) Thank you for showing this to me. 
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I will also vouch for Mary Berry’s recipe – the real mincemeat pie question is do you eat it with a piece of cheese, or not? 
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I’ve heard people talk about this conundrum. I’ve never done it (having acquired my taste for mince pies in the UK). However, I’m open to suggestions of how best to experience this (New Zealand?) mince pie variation. 
The cheese? You want a super sharp cheddar sliced paper thin. My parents put that piece of cheese right on top of the pie and eat it together. Not my cup of tea but they were fans.
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No warranties, express or implied, but I just saw this: Traditional Mince Pies Recipe | Moorlands Eater |.
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I once had a mince pie and thought it was delicious. Looked up the recipes, and apparently the original mincemeat pies did have beef suet and finely chopped steak in them. 
No thanks.
If anyone has a recipe without beef suet, that would be awesome.
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I had to laugh. I was on Netflex and started to watch Season 7, The Great British Baking Show Holiday Edition and it started out with mince pies!
@BunsenBurner - I think you can use butter instead of suet. I have never used suet; except in my bird feeders.
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I just made the mincemeat! I haven’t put the brandy in yet. I left out the almonds for two reasons: 1) I ate the no-nuts versions as a child, and 2) my child will not eat a version with nuts. Thanks to all those who recommended the Mary Berry recipe–it tastes delicious already, even before I get around to pie-baking. Oh–I also chopped the raisins, cranberries, and sultanas a little bit. I didn’t want whole ones in the mix.
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I bet it smells like Christmas!
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Those look great!
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Okay, I am a bit late to the party here. I spent the Christmas holidays on Grand Cayman, and decided to purchase some prepared mince pies from Waitrose for our Christmas dinner:
We ended up going out to eat and so didn’t have them that day. I brought them back home, and had some last night. They were very tasty (although they had no meat in them), and I would eat them again – perhaps with a little vanilla ice cream on the side.
Thanks for this thread!
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