These cute little star-topped puff pastry mince pies are super quick and easy to make – perfect when you need mince pies in a hurry! Using ready-rolled puff pastry makes these Easy Puff Pastry Mince Pies my easiest ever mince pies… and my quickest – just 5 minutes hands-on time and only 8 minutes in the oven. And my neat little cheat means the pastry off-cuts are not wasted!
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Can you make mince pies with puff pastry?
In a word, yes! These delicious mince pies can be made using a sheet of ready-rolled puff pastry – making them my easiest ever mince pies… and my quickest – just 5 minutes hands-on time and less than 10 minutes in the oven.
Better still, they require only 3 ingredients – puff pastry, mincemeat and icing sugar. (You will also need a little butter to grease the cupcake tin and you may want to use a little milk to brush the tops of the mince pies – but that’s totally optional!)
How to make Puff Pastry Mince Pies
These Easy Puff Pastry Mince Pies are so quick and simple to make. All you need to do is unroll the puff pastry then, using a circle shaped cutter, cut out 12 circles and place them into the greased holes of a cupcake tray. Put 1 heaped teaspoonful of mincemeat in the centre of each circle, then roll the remaining pastry out thinly again. This time, cut out 12 stars, using a star shaped cutter. Place each star on top of the mincemeat then brush over a little milk (optional). Finally, bake for 8-10 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and golden on top, then dust with icing sugar while the mince pies are still warm.
(Full recipe given in the recipe card below.)
And the pastry off-cuts are not wasted!
The first time I made these puff pastry mince pies, I used a 500g pack of puff pastry and I was annoyed that there was a lot of wasted pastry… so I racked my brains and came up with this neat little cheat that means those pastry off-cuts are not wasted…
A standard 320g pack of ready-rolled puff pastry is just enough to get 12 circles (7cm diameter) for the mince pie bases, with a small amount of off-cuts left over.
I then carefully place the off-cuts on top of each other and roll the remaining pastry out thinly again. This time, I cut out 12 stars, using my star shaped cutter (5cm at widest point). The result is almost zero pastry wastage!
PRO TIP: It’s important to remember that puff pastry ‘puffs’ because of the layers – if you just scrunch up the leftover pastry, you’ll mess up this layering and your stars will not look as good. To avoid this problem, simply lay each piece of the off-cuts one on top of each other in a stack. Press down lightly and then roll out. This will preserve the layers and ensure your stars ‘puff’ beautifully.
What to eat with Puff Pastry Mince Pies
Puff pastry mince pies can be eaten warm or cold. They are delicious on their own as a snack, but if you want to turn them into more of a dessert/pudding, there are lots of delicious options:
- Custard (or crème anglaise)
- Cream (any kind, but my favourite is the extra thick double cream)
- Brandy butter
- Brandy cream
(How do you eat yours? Let us know in the comments below!)
What to drink with Puff Pastry Mince Pies
As with regular mince pies, these puff pastry mince pies go wonderfully with Cream Sherry or Tawny Port. My top picks are Lustau East India Solera Reserva Sherry and Taylors Port 10 Year Old Tawny Port.
They also pair brilliantly with rich, fruity dessert wines such as Muscat/Moscatel, Passito di Pantelleria or Tokaji.
What’s the best puff pastry for puff pastry mince pies?
For the best tasting mince pies, go for all butter puff pastry – I recommend Jus Rol Ready-Rolled All Butter Puff Pastry. However, this recipe will also work with regular puff pastry.
(Though be careful what brand you pick, as the flavour of the puff pastry really makes a difference in this recipe – the first time I made these, I used Tesco Ready-Rolled Puff Pastry and they tasted awful – I’m usually a fan of Tesco own brand products, but not in this instance!)
For the easiest and quickest mince pies, I recommend using ready-rolled puff pastry. However, you can absolutely use the non-rolled pastry, if you prefer – for example Jus Rol Puff Pastry Block.
How many mince pies will 320g ready-rolled puff pastry make?
320g ready rolled puff pastry will make 12 mince pies.
How to store puff pastry mince pies
When the mince pies are completely cool they can be stored in a cake tin, or other air tight container.
(That is if there are any left – in my experience these puff pastry mince pies are just too delicious to resist!)
How long will puff pastry mince pies last?
When stored in an airtight container, puff pastry mince pies will last up to 1 week, making them a great make-ahead option. However, they do taste at their very best on the day they are made – preferably warm from the oven… as soon as they have cooled down enough to eat!
Can you reheat puff pastry mince pies?
Yes, you can. Simply place the mince pies on a baking tray and place in a preheated oven, set to 220C / 200C fan / gas mark 7 / 425F, for 5 minutes. (Watch them carefully to make sure they don’t burn!)
Can you freeze puff pastry mince pies?
Yes you can. Once cooled, simply place them in a plastic lidded container (put a sheet of baking parchment or greaseproof paper in between the layers) and pop them in the freezer, where they will keep for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature for a couple of hours.
Once defrosted, you can eat them at room temperature or reheat them as above.
If you like this recipe…
…you might also like:
Easy Puff Pastry Mince Pies
Ingredients
- Small knob of butter for greasing
- 320 g ready-rolled puff pastry (I use Jus Roll All Butter)
- 175 g mincemeat (I use Tesco Finest – see Note 1)
- A little milk for glazing
- 2 tablespoons icing sugar (US - confectioners sugar) for dusting
Instructions
- Take the puff pastry out of the fridge. (See Note 2.)
- Grease the holes of 1 cupcake tray (12 holes in total), using a little butter on some baking paper. Preheat your oven to 220C / 200C fan / gas mark 7 / 425F.
- When the puff pastry has been out of the fridge for 10 minutes, remove it from the packaging and unroll it. (Keep it on the baking paper, though.)
- Using a circle shaped cutter (NON-fluted, 7cm diameter), cut out 12 circles and place them into the greased holes of your cupcake tray.
- Put 1 heaped teaspoonful of mincemeat in the centre of each circle.
- Carefully place the remaining pastry pieces on top of each other. (See Note 3.)
- Roll the remaining pastry out thinly again – approximately 3mm thick. This time, cut out 12 stars, using your star shaped cutter (5cm at widest point).
- Place each star on top of the mincemeat, in the centre of the mince pie, and press down slightly so the star sticks.
- Using a pastry brush, brush over a little milk. (Not strictly necessary, but it makes the mince pies go a more golden colour.)
- Put the mince pies in your preheated oven for 8-10 minutes, until the pastry is puffed and golden on top.
- Take your mince pies out of the cupcake tin and place them on a wire rack to cool – I find it easiest to lever the mince pies out with a dessert spoon – take care not to burn yourself as they will be super-hot!
- While the mince pies are still warm, put a couple of tablespoons of icing sugar into a sieve and dust the icing sugar over the mince pies. (You can use an icing sugar dredger if you prefer.)
- The mince pies can be eaten warm or cold, on their own or with cream or custard.
- When the mince pies are completely cool they can be stored in a cake tin, or other air tight container… that is if there are any left!
Notes
- This recipe uses roughly 150-200g mincemeat – roughly a third to a half of a standard 411g jar. The remaining mincemeat can be stored in the fridge to be used for future batches of mince pies or in other mincemeat recipes.
- For best results, make sure you take the pastry out of the fridge 10 minutes before using – but no more. (Straight from the fridge the pastry is too hard but after about 15 minutes the pastry gets too soft.)
- Puff pastry ‘puffs’ because of the layers – if you just scrunch up the leftover pastry, you’ll mess up this layering and your stars will not look as good. To avoid this problem, simply lay each piece of the offcuts one on top of each other in a stack. Press down lightly and then roll out. This will preserve the layers and ensure your stars ‘puff’ beautifully.
- Suitable for freezing.
- Nutrition information is approximate and meant as a guideline only.
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*This blog post contains affiliate links, this means if you click on a link and go on to buy the product I recommend, I will get a small commission, but you will not be charged a penny more – thanks in advance!
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