Mince pie cookies

Christmas really is fast approaching now, and although I am a right scrooge when I hear Christmas songs in the shops in September my ‘Bah Humbug’ attitude quickly dissipates once December arrives. This week I have been getting rather festive in the kitchen and have been having a massive kitchen baking session with cheesy Christmas music playing in the background whilst I have been liberally dusting every surface with icing sugar.

Now Christmas isn’t Christmas without a copious amounts of mince pies but I like to experiment a little with my mincemeat! And after making mincemeat Danish pastries last year I thought I would get creative again and so the mincemeat cookie was born. If you aren’t a big fan of pastry these are a perfect yule time treat with a little dollop of the sticky mincemeat mix hidden inside a gorgeous almond and vanilla cookie.

INGREDIENTS

80g butter

150g golden caster sugar

1 egg

100g almond butter (you could use peanut butter here if you can’t find almond butter, but it is available in many supermarkets and all good health food shops)

2 tablespoons golden syrup

Seeds from half a vanilla pod

25g ground almonds

½ teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

150g plain flour

50 g rye flour

1 jar of mincemeat (or if you feel a bit more adventurous you can make your own!)

Makes approx. 20

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/350°F.

Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy.

Add the almond butter, egg, golden syrup and vanilla to the mixture and continue to beat until smooth and well combined.

Finally mix in the ground almonds, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and both flours and fold in until a firm dough if formed. Wrap the dough in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to chill.

To construct the biscuits begin by taking a small ball and making a dent/well in the centre. Place a teaspoon full of mincemeat into the indent.

Take another piece of the dough and form into a small round disc and place over the top of the mincemeat.

Then work the two bits of dough together forming a fat disc of cookie dough with the mincemeat hidden inside.

Place the cookies on a lined baking tray, leaving a little bit of space between them so they have room to spread a little.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until golden brown. Allow to cool a little before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely. Will keep in an air tight container for a few days….but I doubt these delicious cookies will last that long!!!