I tried Paul Hollywood’s famous mince pie recipe and this is how it turned out Sun 17 December 2023 07:29 Celine Byford

Paul Hollywood’s mince pie recipe can’t be too difficult, right? Well, I got my Great British Bake Off alter-ego on and gave it a go. The result? I don’t think the mince pies would score top in a technical…

Every contestant on the famous Channel 4 baking show aims for that famous Paul Hollywood handshake. After attempting to make the TV chefs mince pie recipe, my level of respect for The Great British Bake Off bakers has definitely quadrupled. I’m not sure I’ll be joining the line-up any time soon, but it went much better than I expected. Thanks Paul for your easy recipe – I’ll be eating mince pies for the foreseeable.

Paul Hollywood mince pies: Ingredients

For the filling

For the pastry

Recipe for Paul Hollywood’s mince pies

1. Place 375g plain flour and 260g softened unsalted butter in a bowl and rub together to a crumb consistency.
2. Add 125g caster sugar and 1 large beaten egg, and mix together.
3. Tip out on a floured surface and fold until the pastry comes together, be careful not to over mix.
4. Wrap the pastry in cling film and chill for 10 mins.
5. Scoop the large jar of mincemeat into a bowl and add 2 segmented satsumas, 1 finely chopped apple and zest of 1 lemon.
6. Heat oven to 220C/200C fan/gas 7.
7. Roll out the pastry to 3mm thick.
8. Using a round cutter (about 10cm), cut out 16 bases and place them into muffin trays. Put 1½ tbsp mincemeat mixture into each. Brush the edge of each pie with a little beaten egg.
9. Re-roll out the pastry to cut 7cm lids and press them on top to seal. Glaze with the beaten egg, sprinkle with the extra caster sugar, then make a small cut in the tops.
10. Bake the mince pies for 15-20 mins until golden brown. Leave to cool before releasing them from the muffin trays and dusting with a little more icing sugar before serving.

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My baking experience: 8/10

Paul Hollywood’s mince pie recipe is genuinely easy to make, but the most tricky part is the actual cooking section. The recipe advises cooking for 15 to 20 minutes, but that five-minute gap is important!

I tested two batches and found that cooking them for just 15 minutes caused some to crumble. The 20 minutes in the oven seemed to make them sturdy and less messy, but it is quite a task to eat.

The fruit addition is where I went slightly wrong as I only had big oranges in, so the slices were far too big and tasted bitter, compared to the satsumas Paul speaks of using in his recipe.

Personally, I’d leave the satsumas out, but the taste is something I’m definitely proud of (8.5/10), while the baking element was fairly easy. Its five-star rating on BBC Good Food makes total sense!

Now I’m not saying it would score the best for looks in the technical challenge, but Paul might let me off because they taste brilliant. The thickness of the pastry paired with the fruity filling was chef’s kiss!