Sometimes you want a Mince Pie and sometimes, you want a mince pie as big as your hand. Enter: these these Mince Pie and White Chocolate Stars.
WHY YOU WILL LOVE THIS RECIPE
Fun and Unique | There is no denying that Mince Pies are a classic bake for this time of year, but sometimes it’s nice to find a new way to make them. These Mince Pie Stars are such a fun and unique alternative to the classic pie design and young bakers will have so much fun cutting out the stars.
Easy to make | The fun design does not take anything away from how easy these stars are to create. In fact they’re easier than the classic design.
Great for gifting | Foodie gifts are a great option for Christmas and these not only keep well but they look great wrapped up in a cellophane bag or gift box.
5 TIPS FOR MAKING PERFECT SHORTCRUST PASTRY
It’s one of the easier pastries to make but Shortcrust Pastry still requires as much patience and careful handling as each of the others. Here are a few tips to ensuring you make the best shortcrust pastry every time.
Keep everything cool | The first rule of pastry is to ensure you keep everything you’re using as cool as possible. This includes ingredients, equipment and even your hands. If a pastry dough gets too warm then it can lead to a greasy and dull final bake instead of a flakey and delicious pastry.
If you have naturally warm hands, you can keep your hands cool by running them under a cold tap before starting. It’s also great if you have a cold surface to work on such as quartz or marble. You could also use a pastry blender which means you avoid using your hands completely.
Butter should ALWAYS be fridge cold, but if it does warm up too much whilst it’s being worked you can pop the bowl back in the fridge for a few moments.
Avoid too much flour | As tempting as it can be to add more flour when working with a sticky dough, you should always try to avoid adding too much, especially when rolling it out as this can dry the dough out and make it too crumbly when rolling out.
Don’t overwork the dough | Making pastry isn’t something to do slowly. The quicker you work the better the result, so once the ingredients have come together to form a dough, bring it into ball and get it resting immediately. Overworking the dough builds up the gluten in the flour which makes the end result more chewy than flakey, and we definitely want a flakey pastry.
Rest the dough | Resting the dough is the next important step and this not only chills the butter again but it also allows time for the gluten that has been developed to relax. You can chill for a minimum of 15 minutes and a maximum of 24 hours in the fridge.
Glaze | To add a lovely finish to your end bake you can add a glaze such as egg wash or milk. Different glazes will offer a different effect.
Egg white will offer a lovely shine finish
Egg yolk or whole egg wash will give a shine and golden colour
Milk or Cream will give a matt golden effect
TOOLS YOU WILL NEED TO MAKE THESE MINCE PIE STARS
To make these Mince Pie Stars you will need a few key tools;
Large mixing bowl | To give your ingredients plenty of space a large ceramic mixing bowl is always my first choice.
Pastry blender | This tools is a great option if you don’t want to use your hands to mix the butter into the flour as it does all the work for you.
Marble pastry board | Keeping your dough cool at all times is key to perfect pastry so if you don’t already have a cool work surface then buying a marble pastry board is a great idea.
Pastry Mat | To save yourself adding too much flour to the dough when rolling it out, these pastry mats are a great find as their non stick coating allow you to roll out your dough with minimal flour. Plus they gave the added bonus of including measurements which is really handy.
Stone Rolling Pin | This also applies to rolling pins as they can easily warm the dough up. I love these stone style ones as they have a great weight to them and keep the dough cool whilst it’s being rolled out
Star Cookie Cutter | You can’t make Mince Pie Stars without a star cookie cutter.
Pastry Brush | To effortlessly brush on your choice of glaze
Shop these Tools
OTHER MINCE PIE BAKES TO TRY
I would love it if you tagged me @mykitchendrawer on Instagram if you make these Mince Pie Stars. It’s the biggest honour to see my recipes come to life in your kitchen and if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to drop me a message or let’s chat in the comments. Happy baking!
Mince Pie Stars
Ingredients
For the shortcrust pastry
- 240 g plain flour
- 200 g unsalted butter cut into squares
- 50 tbsp caster sugar
- 1 large egg
- 1 tbsp water
For the mince filling
- 12 tbsp mince meat
- 50 g white chocolate chips
White Chocolate Drizzle
- 200 g white chocolate
Instructions
For the pastry
- Put the flour and butter together into a large bowl and break the butter up into the flour using a pastry blender. Continue until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs
- Beat together 1 egg and 1tbsp water, then gradually add in 2 tablespoons of this mix to the flour butter mix until you have a dough that come together. Knead it together for a few moments, then bring into a disk shape, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 160C and line a baking tray with baking paper. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out onto a lightly floured surface until you have a large rectangle.
- Cut out 24 star shapes, bringing the excess dough together and re rolling when needed. If the dough is soft at this stage, chill the cut out stars for 15 minutes.
- Lay out the stars onto a baking sheet, then spoon about 1 tsp of mince meat and a sprinkle of white chocolate chips into the centre.
- Brush some milk onto the edges of the filled star then lay another star on top and use a fork to press the edges together to seal. Brush milk across the top and prick the centre with a fork to allow steam to escape. Repeat with remaining stars until you have 12 filled pies then put into the oven and bake for 20 minutes until golden.
- Once baked, remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack then drizzle over some melted white chocolate.
- The pies will keep in an airtight container for up to 4 days or you can choose to make ahead and freeze them before baking and they will last for 1 month.
