Mincemeat Biscuits – A Taste of Christmas

I am on a mission to tidy my kitchen cupboards. When I opened one of the cupboard doors at the weekend I got attacked by paprika. I realised my cupboards were so full they were in danger of falling off the walls. Actually that is a slight exaggeration but I realised I needed to start using things up before I buy more. I mean why do I need three pots of paprika and two tubs of bicarbonate of soda. I am now going to use up the contents of my cupboards before I have to throw everything out. Spices do not keep forever.

While I was sorting out I found a packet of chopped walnuts and a jar of mincemeat lurking in the back of the cupboard. When I say lurking I mean they were sitting there looking smug, almost as if they had been hiding. I bought the mincemeat to make pies at Christmas but never got round to it. I thought it was a bit early for mince pies so I thought I would try something else. I decided to try and create a biscuit that used the mincemeat as one of the ingredients.

I was very pleased with the result, they are not as sweet as mince pies but still have the festive flavour. The walnuts added a pleasing crunch to the biscuit as well. The mixture made loads of biscuits, I needed to use three baking trays to get them all in the oven. I ended up cooking them in batches. My son was really pleased though to have lots of biscuits to nibble on over the weekend. These are a lovely Autumn biscuit and perfect with a cup of tea. Home made biscuits always taste much nicer, there is something tantalising about the smell of them baking wafting though the house.

Mincemeat Biscuit Recipe

Ingredients

• 200g (7oz) butter
• 300g (11oz) caster sugar
• 3 eggs
• 400g (14oz) plain flour
• 1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 125g (4½oz) chopped walnuts
• 400g (100 oz) mincemeat (1 small jar)

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180C, 350F, Gas Mark 4
2. Grease some baking trays with butter or margarine.
3. Cream together the butter and sugar. When fluffy add the eggs.
4. Sift the flour and mix into the butter mixture and mix together. Add the bicarbonate of soda
5. Mix in the mincemeat and walnuts and stir until it is all blended though.
6. Use a spoon to drop biscuit sized shapes onto the baking tray, keeping them roughly even.
7. Bake in the oven for 10 – 15 minutes until golden.