Easy Star Topped Christmas Mince Pies to Bake with Kids
One of our favourite Christmas recipes to bake with the kids each year are mince pies. We’ve made them with ready-rolled shortcrust pastry, our favourite no-roll pastry recipe and even with puff pastry (find those recipes at the bottom of the post we have suggestions for cooking with preschools, toddlers and all age kids). But, the kids’ favourite way is to top them with pastry stars. So after baking a batch today, they’ve persuaded me to share the recipe. Here’s the kids’ favourite Star Topped Christmas Mince Pies.
Star Topped Mince Pies for Christmas
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In the past, I have been known to make my own mincemeat for the mince pies. However, with trying to balance work, school, kids activities and life this year we’ve shelved that idea and instead, I’ve been using Robertsons from Amazon or the shop.
Although this recipe follows my traditional mince pie recipe that my mum cooked with me putting stars on top makes them prettier especially when dusted with icing sugar and is probably T’s favourite bake of Christmas.
As T is now 8 (almost 9 as) she’s also able to make this recipe independently just with the printed out recipe for reference and she and J just get on with it. If you scroll down to the recipe you’ll find that you can print it out as well.
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Making Christmas Mince Pies with Kids
Growing up one of my fondest memories was spending Christmas in the kitchen with my mum and grandmothers cooking special treats, family favourites and trying some new recipes as I got older.
The Christmas music would be on and we’d dance around the kitchen whilst cooking.
Now I’m a mum myself it’s something that we’ve continued.
These mince pies although made with homemade pastry it’s the easiest pastry I know how to make and the kids find it good to make as well.
Once it’s mixed and kneaded we let it cool before rolling and cutting out the shapes.
Then the most important thing is using a mince pie tin. This is much shallower than our normal cupcake and muffin pan. Growing up my mum had a 12 hole tin like the one I linked to but also two small 6 hole tins and in the lead up to Christmas, all would be used.
We’ve only got one so I divide the mixture and make 2 batches from the same pastry making sure that we put it back in the fridge to keep cool in between.
Star Topped Mince Pies to Cook with Kids
Equipment
- Mince Pie Tin
- Rolling Pin
- 3inch Pastry Cutter
- Star cookie Cutter
Ingredients
- 350 g Plain Flour all purpose in the USA
- 75 g Lard
- 75 g unsalted butter at room temperature
- pinch of salt
- 1 Jar of Mincemeat
- 1 egg for an egg wash before baking
- cold water
- icing sugar to decorate
Instructions
- Sieve the flour into a bowl and add the pinch of salt.
- Cube the butter and lard and add to the flour.
- Using your fingertips rub the mix together till it forms fine crumbs.
- Add a sprinkle of cold water at a time until it mixes together to form a dough.
- Put in a container and into the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 200C
- Grease the mince pie tin.
- Split in the pastry in half and roll out one half.
- Use the circle pastry cutter to cut 12 circles.
- Lay these into the mince pie tin.
- Reform the pastry and cut out 12 stars.
- Fill each pastry base with mincemeat to the level of the edge.
- Place a pastry star on top.
- Repeat for all 12.
- Then brush with the egg wash.
- Place in the oven for 20 – 25 minutes until a light golden colour.
- Remove and cool on a wire tray.
- With the remaining pastry create another set of star topped mince pies.
- To serve once cool sprinkle with icing sugar.
Nutrition
More Christmas Mince Pie Recipes to Cook with Kids
As promised here are our other mince pie recipes to cook with kids.
As pastry can be a little temperamental one of our favourite recipes to make with preschoolers at Christmas time is our No-Roll Pastry Christmas Mince Pies it gives them the opportunity to create the pastry dough but it’s really friendly so no worries about it going wrong.
With toddlers, though the best way to make mince pies and one of the activities on our Toddler Advent Calendar Activities is to use ready-made shortcrust pastry – see the recipe and instructions here.
The kids loved making with shortcrust pastry so we looked at making some puff pastry mince pies and they tasted amazing. I’d recommend these as a party snack for Christmas.
