Mincemeat shortbread British style

6th December 

I have also set myself a challenge of posting a Christmas
photo a day, follow me on FB to see each one...
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I am not 100% Norwegian, but more that than anything else.  However I did marry an English man through and through and so we must have a nod to English traditions in our home at Christmas time.

I love baking and could happily be in the kitchen making yummy goodies all day long, main meals and weekly dinners do not really do it for me, so I was delighted when oh so many years ago, my newbie husband confessed to loving a good old mince pie at Christmas.  I set to with gusto, having never made one in my life, my mother a great baker, always made Norwegian goodies and any mince pies in our home were shop bought.  How difficult could it be?  Well, as it turns out, for me, very difficult.  For a few Christmas' there was polite eating and nods of,  'Umm, yes dear,' until one year the game was up and even I realised that mince pies were not my forty.  As my kindly husband suggested, perhaps I should not inform people that I was to be bringing out the mince pies as that would lead to a certain expectation, but rather, bring out my wares, so to speak and let people enjoy them for what they were, a Selma version of pastry and mince meat...

Over the years I have tried several variations of mince pies. There was the memorable year when I decided to make mince pies as if they were sausage rolls, I thought it a good idea at the time.  I believe they looked and tasted ok, I just struggled removing them from the baking tray. When using the flipper to remove mincemeat pie rolls from said baking tray, a stray raisin may have been flipped up into the air and may just have landed on my face.  It was hot, straight from the oven and the natural sugar on the raisin made it exceptionally hot, with speed seldom seen by me, I hastily removed the offending item from above my upper lip and promptly took off several layers of skin too!  There were many sniggers and laughs at work the next day I can tell you because of the oval red raw patch on my face.  Never again.

But this year I have come across Joanne Wheatley, I think she may have been on a Bake off programme, but don't quote me on that as I did not see it.  On her fabulous blog, full of great recipes, follow link here , I came across a new idea for mince pies with a twist.  It called to me, it really did and I just had to have a go...


Christmassy shortbread ingredients

Christmassy shortbread 



♥  250g plain flour

♥  125g corn flour

♥  250g unsalted butter (softened)

♥  125g caster sugar (plus extra for sprinkling)

♥  125g luxury mincemeat

♥  20g flaked almonds
♥  20g dried cranberries

Pre heat oven to 160 degrees Celsius

Jo suggests using a baking tin 29 x 13 cm, but I only had a square tin of 30cm and it seemed to work well

1  Using a food processor, mix flour, corn flour, butter and sugar until it comes together to form a soft dough ball.

Pastry has come together to form a soft dough ball, ready for layering in  the baking tin

2  Using half of the dough, press it firmly into the lined and greased baking tin to form the base layer of the short bread.

Half the dough is now the base layer of the shortbread

3  Add the mincemeat and spread it evenly over the dough.  (I think when I make this again, I will add more mincemeat)

Base layer and mincemeat layer of the Christmassy shortbread 

4  This is the trickiest part.  Jo suggests to roll out the dough on a piece of baking paper and make it the same size as the inside measurement of the tray.  Once you have made the top layer, you will need to carefully move it from the baking paper and put it on top of the mincemeat.  So that the dough becomes the bread of the sandwich so to speak and the mince meat the filling.  This sounds more complicated than it really is, although it is a tad fiddly, BUT WORTH IT.  Press edges slightly together.

5  Cover the top layer with almonds and push in the cranberries.

Christmassy shortbread ready to be placed in a pre heated oven

6  Place the shortbread in the oven, on the middle shelf for approximately 45 minutes or until it is a pale golden brown.

7  Drizzle sugar on top and leave to cool for about 15 minutes and then cut into sections.

Christmassy shortbread and tea, how very British and civilised

This is not one of our 7 Norwegian bakes for Christmas but our nod to being British too ;)

For Jo's original recipe follow link here

Give this twist on mince pies a go and visit Jo's lovely blog for lots more inspiration.

♥ Have a wonderful week end ♥