For a modern twist on a mince pie these swirls are easy to make. What’s more you can assemble and freeze them ready to bake straight from the freezer on Christmas day. They taste best when warm from the oven with a dollop of cream. I’ve made them 5 times so far – testing the best combinations/ types of mincemeat & pastry / how thick the marzipan should be etc  and I think I’ve really nailed it. My sister tried them and siad “they were the best thing I had made in a long time” I’m not sure if that means they taste really good or everything else I have made recently hasn’t tasted good! I’m going with the deeelish option!

Ingredients

225g Butter at room temperature

460g Self Raising flour

225g golden caster sugar

1 egg (+ 1 egg to make an egg wash)

1 tbsp water

½ table spoon vanilla or Almond extract

Jar of good quality mince meat (I used M&S’ finest one)

150g marzipan

100g flaked almonds

icing sugar to dust

How to make Mince pie Swirls

To make the pastry place all the ingredients into a bowl. Mix until it forms a firm dough. Do the last bit of mixing with your hands. You can use a food processor but make sure you don’t over work the dough or it will become tough. Cover with cling film and leave to firm up in the fridge for 20 minutes. 

Line a baking sheet with grease proof paper and warm your oven up to 180ºC (160ºC fan oven) Knead and roll out the pasty into a large rectangle and set aside

Roll out the marzipan (use icing sugar to stop it sticking to the surface) till it’s really thin. Thin enough to see through.
Lay the marzipan over the dough and roll them together. 

Spread the mince meat over the pasty. Avoid going too near the edges as it will spill out whilst baking. I cut the dough into a neat square to make it more even to cut. Roll the length of pastry, tucking in as you go.

Cut the swirls from the roll around 2cm thick. Use a sawing action, rather than pressing down with a knife when cutting to keep the shape as round as possible. This was one of my first attempts. As you can see they look pretty squishy. If you place the roll in the fridge for half an hour (or even overnight) it will be really firm and a doddle to cut.

Mix up an egg and use a pastry brush to cover each swirl with egg wash then cover with almond flakes.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Leave for a minute or two before transferring from the baking tray to the cooling rack. If you pick them up too early they will break.

Once cooled a little sprinkle icing sugar over the top and serve while still warm.

Enjoy!

Some more Christmas bakes you may enjoy

https://cakesbakesandcookies.com/extra-chocolatey-christmas-pudding-cookies

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Fail safe Donut recipe for Channuka/

How to make bauble cookie decorations 

Swirl Mince Pie Recipe