Mince pies

Having decided we'd hold an office party on Saturday (given that both me and your dad work from home the chances of us getting a Christmas party are zilch unless we organise one), I've spent the evening making mince pies.

You can get around 24 mince pies out of one jar of mincemeat.

You'll need:

one jar of mincemeat (I used the last one from last year's batch. It was a little on the dusty side, having been hidden at the back of the pantry all year, but tasted just fine.)
8oz plain flour
a little pinch of salt
4oz butter

Stick the oven on, at about 180 degrees C. While it heats up, get on with the pastry making. I use just a basic shortcrust pastry (I like my mince pies on the tart side), but you could add a little sugar to the mix if you wanted.

Rub in the butter and flour, and then add some really cold water to mix. Bring it together to form a smooth, pliable (and not sticky) dough. Roll the dough out on a floured work surface (you should probably leave it to rest in the fridge for 20 minutes or so, but I ran out of time to do this today), and cut out the bases for the pie tins. I cut out some stars to go on the top as well, but you could use just plain tops too.

Dollop in a spoonful of mincemeat (if you're using a shop-bought jar then beware - it tends to go quite runny in the oven, so use a little less than you think), and then shove the star/lid on top.

Bake for 12 minutes or so in the oven, until the pastry has turned a golden brown. Turn out onto a rack to cool.

They're rather nice when warm, especially if you sprinkle them with a little icing sugar.