Mince pies with hazelnut streusel topping recipe

By Debbie Major

Makes 24 mince pies
Takes 45 minutes to make, 25 minutes to cook, plus chilling
Rate 1 star Rate 2 stars Rate 3 stars Rate 4 stars Rate 5 stars
Rating

You can make an all-butter pastry for these mince pies, if you wish, but you’ll get lighter results if you use some lard or white vegetable shortening.

Mince pies with hazelnut streusel topping

Ingredients

500g buttery apple and hazelnut mincemeat
Icing sugar for dusting

For the pastry

350g plain flour, plus extra to dust
1 tbsp icing sugar
½ tsp salt
90g chilled butter, cut into pieces
90g chilled lard or white vegetable shortening, cut into pieces
Butter for greasing

For the streusel topping

50g plain flour
30g butter, at room temperature
25g demerara sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
25g lightly toasted hazelnuts, chopped

Method

1. For the pastry, sift the flour, icing sugar and salt into a food processor or mixing bowl, add the butter and lard/vegetable shortening, then work it together until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Put in a bowl, then stir in 3-4 tbsp cold water with a round-bladed knife until the mixture comes together. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead briefly until smooth. Divide into 2 equal pieces.
2. Roll each piece of pastry out on a lightly floured surface and cut out 24 x 7cm rounds using a fluted cutter, re-kneading and rolling the trimmings. Lightly grease 2 x 12-hole patty tins with butter and line with the pastry discs. Spoon 1 tbsp mincemeat into each case. Chill for 20 minutes.
3. For the streusel topping, sift the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and the cinnamon and work it a little more between your fingers until the mixture forms little nuggets. Stir in the hazelnuts.
4. Preheat the oven to 190°C/fan170°C/gas 5. Spoon 1 heaped tsp streusel mix over each pie, then bake for 25 minutes until golden. Carefully remove to a rack. Leave for 3-4 minutes, dust with icing sugar and serve warm or cold. ›

Nutritional info

Per mince pie: 200kcals, 9.8g fat (4.3g saturated), 1.9g protein, 27.9g carbs, 14.3g sugar, 0.2g salt

Chef's tip

Freeze the unbaked pies in trays for at least 4 hours or overnight. Transfer to plastic boxes, layered with baking paper between, for up to 3 months. To cook, bake from frozen but for a few minutes longer.