Day 5 of my christmas countdown is really getting into the Christmas spirit with these tiny Christmas Mince Pies. I love these pies with lots of dried fruit and a touch of nutmeg. They have to be my favourite at Christmas time, and of course I’ve been doing a fair bit of quality testing this week just to make sure they taste as good as they look.

Enjoy!

CHRISTMAS MINCE PIES

INGREDIENTS
Fruit Mince
½ c grated Granny Smith apple
¼ c currants
¼ c slivered almonds
¼ c dates, pitted & chopped
¼ c dried cranberries
15g butter, melted
½ c brown sugar
¼ c orange juice
1 tsp ground nutmeg

2 sheets pre rolled sweet shortcrust pastry
milk, for brushing
icing sugar, to dust

METHOD
To make the fruit mince, place the grated apple, currants, almonds, dates, cranberries, butter, sugar, nutmeg and orange juice in a bowl. Mix well, and cover to soak for 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 160°C. Lay out the pastry on a lightly floured surface. Use a 6.5 cm round cookie cutter to cut out 24 rounds. Using a 5 cm round cookie cutter cut 12 pastry lids for the pies. Then using a star cutter, cut out the centers of the pastry lids. Lightly grease 2 X 12 mini muffin tins (1½ tablespoon capacity), line with the 6.5 cm pastry rounds. Spoon in the fruit mince filling to the top of the pastry. Add 5 cm lids to 12 of the pies, pressing gently to seal the pastry lids to the base. Add 12 stars to the center of the remaining pies.

Brush the tops with milk and bake for 25 mins or until golden. Cool on wire racks and dust with icing sugar to serve.

Makes 24