You can not have Christmas without at least 1 mince pie! However, traditional mince pie recipes contain a lot of sugar and butter, which makes them extremely calorific. Our recipe contains half the fat so you can still enjoy this tradition over christmas without feeling guilty.

Ingredients:

• 125g Flora
• 275g Plain Flour
• ½ tsp Baking Powder
• 1 Egg, beaten

For the filling

• 175g Mixed Dried Fruit
• Zest & Juice of 1 Lemon
• 60g Dark Muscovado Sugar
• 1 ½ tbs brandy/rum
• 1 ½ tsp Mixed Spice
• 1 Small Dessert Apple, coarsely grated and excess juiced squeezed out
• 1 tsp Icing Sugar, to dust

Recipe:

Time: 50 Minutes

Servings: 12 Mince Pies

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees celsius and grease a 12-hole bun tin for later.
2. In a large bowl add the flora, flour and baking powder and rub together until it resembles breadcrumbs. Then in a separate bowl, mix the egg with 2 tbsp of cold water, reserve 1 tbsp and then add the rest into the flour mix. Combine the egg with the flour mix until it forms a smooth dough – you may need to add a little extra cold water. Then wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge for 20 minutes.
3. Place all the filling ingredients into a saucepan and cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes or until the apple has broken down a little, then pop it to one side and allow it to cool.
4. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface to the thickness of a £1 coin, cut out 12 x 7cm discs and use to line the tin. Spoon the cooled filling into the pastry cases.
5. Cut out 12 x 3-4cm stars from the remaining pastry and put on top of each filled pie. Brush with the reserved egg mix and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until the pastry is golden in colour. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack. Once cool dust with the icing sugar, and enjoy!