Homemade mince pies!

Mince pies are one of my favourite Christmas treats. The taste of mincemeat is just gorgeous! The only downside I can think of when it comes to mince pies is their calorie content, which is pretty high! So I was very determined to find a low-kcal mince pie recipe to help me and my waistline out this year. Luckily for me there was one in my new issue of Healthy Food Guide (Winter 2012 issue, page 72/73). I can't tell you how excited I was just thinking about making them! So as soon as I got paid I went out and bought all the ingredients I needed so I was prepared (I had to work a lot though, so I couldn't make them straight away..). My sister and I made them together earlier today. They were a lot of fun to make and they tasted absolutely wonderful. Such a Christmassy, heart warming taste. Mmmmm!

These taste great both warm and cool. They could be served as a pudding, eaten as a cheeky snack, put in yours or a kid's lunchbox or even leave some out on Christmas Eve for Santa and his elves! ;)

This recipe makes 12 mince pies and is apparently 164kcal per mince pie, but I make it out to be approx. 183kcal. So I'm not sure, but I'd go bang in the middle (178kcal), to be safe. They're best eaten within two days or can be frozen for up to three months, then defrosted at room temperature.

Ingredients:
(for the pastry)
- 125g Flora Light (the original recipe uses Flora Original, but I chose to use Light)
- 275g plain flour
- 1 egg, beaten
(for the filling)
- 175g mixed dried fruit
- zest and juice from 1 lemon
- 50g dark muscovado sugar
- 1.5tbsp rum or brandy (I used dark rum)
- 1.5tsp mixed spice
- 1 small dessert apple, coursely grated and excess juice squeezed out
- 1 tsp icing sugar, to dust (optional - I chose not to)

Method:

1. In a bowl rub the Flora into the flour and baking powder until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Mix the egg with 2tbsp cold water. Reserve 1 tbsp and add the rest into the flour mix. Bring the mixture together to make a smooth dough - you may need to add a little more cold water or a little more flour. Wrap in clingfilm, and chill for 20 minutes.

2. Put the filling ingredients into a saucepan and cook over a low heat for 10 minutes until the apple has broken down a little. Leave to cool.

3. Preheat the oven to 190°c/fan 170°c/gas 5 and grease a 12-hole muffin tray, or fill the tray with 12 foil mince pie cases (which is what I did). Roll out the pastry on to a floured surface to the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut out 12 x 7cm discs/circles and use to line the tins. Spoon the cooled filling into the pastry cases.

4. 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 until the pastry is golden. Cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack and dust with icing sugar (optional). Enjoy! :)