I absolutely love mince pies and as soon as I see them in the shops I buy a pack. I just cannot resist the fruity mincemeat encased in crumbly pastry! These Mince Pie Stuffed Cookies are just as irresistable. They are a spiced brown sugar cookie with a gooey centre of fruity mincemeat. I've also added a drizzle of icing as I love the icing topped mince pies, and I think it tastes great on these cookies.
The method of making the Mince Pie Stuffed Cookies is similar to how NYC cookies, or Levain bakery cookies, are made. I found that freezing these cookies before baking them, then baking on a slightly higher temperature than is normal for cookies, kept the mincemeat in the centre of the cookies and gave them that tempting gooey middle!
Ingredient Tips & Equipment Information
- Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the butter and egg) are at room temperature before you start baking.
- I used unsalted butter for this recipe.
- I really recommend using light brown soft sugar for this recipe, but if you can't get hold of it you can use caster sugar (superfine sugar) instead.
- Mixed spice is a British spice blend containing Cinnamon, Coriander Seed, Nutmeg, Clove, Pimento, Ginger. If you can't get hold of it, use a Pumpkin Spice mix instead. Or try 1 tsp cinnamon, ½ ground ginger, ¼ ground nutmeg, ¼ ground cloves.
- For the best flavour, make sure to use a good quality vanilla extract and not an essence.
- Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales*. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .
- For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons* and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.
For the full recipe with measurements, head to the recipe card at the end of this post.
How to make Mince Pie Stuffed Cookies
To make the cookie dough, mix together butter and light brown sugar, then add vanilla extract and egg, and mix them in.
Then add plain flour, baking powder and mixed spice, and mix to form a dough. Divide the dough into 12 pieces, then flatten each piece out with your hands and put some mincemeat in the centre.
Wrap the cookie dough around the mincemeat and roll the dough into a ball, then freeze the cookie dough balls for 30 minutes. Take them out of the freezer and put them straight into the oven on a preheated tray, bake for 13 minutes. When they are cool, drizzle over some icing.
What mincemeat should you use?
I used a shop bought jar of mincemeat for this recipe. I like to use the ones with extra booze added, like port and brandy, as the flavour is so rich and delicious. You can use any mincemeat you prefer, if you prefer to make it homemade you can use that too. Make sure when buying mincemeat to check the label as it often contains suet, most mincemeat nowadays contain vegetarian suet, but it is worth doubling checking if you are serving these cookies to vegetarians.
How long do the cookies last and can they be frozen?
You can keep the balls of unbaked cookie dough in the freezer for up to 3 months, and you can bake them straight from frozen whenever you fancy a fresh cookie. The baked cookies will last for 3-4 days in an airtight container in a cool place. You can freeze the baked cookies too, wrap them well or store in a freezer bag for up to 3 months.
Can these cookies be made gluten free or dairy free?
For gluten free cookies, swap the plain flour for a gluten free plain flour blend. For dairy free cookies, swap the butter for a dairy free spread.
More tips for making the Mince Pie Stuffed Cookies:
- Make sure to leave space between the balls of cookie dough on the baking trays as they will spread when baking, about 2" should ensure they don't stick together. If you make bigger cookies, you will need to leave more space.
- Let the cookies cool on the baking tray for at least 5 minutes (nearer to 10 minutes is ideal) before trying to move them onto a cooling rack. Otherwise they will be too soft and will break or stick to the baking paper.
- You can decorate the cookies differently if you prefer, for example with melted chocolate, or you can leave them plain.
Troubleshooting
If you have any questions about this recipe, or if something went wrong and you need help, please use the comment form below and I will get back to you. You can also get in touch with me on my Twitter, Instagram or Facebook. I'd love to hear from you!
Recommended equipment & ingredients*
- Baking trays
- Mixing bowls
- Cooling rack
- Kitchen scales
- Electric hand mixer
- Stand mixer
- Piping bags
- Mixed spice
*I earn a small amount of money if you buy the products after clicking on the links. You will not be charged anything extra for this. Thank you for supporting The Baking Explorer!
More mince pie recipes...
Mince Pie Stuffed Cookies
Ingredients
For the cookies
- 125 g Butter softened, unsalted
- 200 g Light brown soft sugar
- 1 Egg large
- 1 tsp Vanilla extract
- 225 g Plain flour
- 1 tsp Mixed spice
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 185 g Mincemeat
For decoration
- 75 g Icing sugar
- 1 tbsp Water
Instructions
- Using an electric mixer with the paddle attachment, or by hand, mix together the butter and light brown sugar
- Add the egg and vanilla, and mix in
- Then add the flour, baking powder and mixed spice, and mix in until a dough forms
- Divide the dough into 12 pieces, using scales for accuracy if you like. Mine were 50g each
- Flatten out each piece of dough into a disc using your hands. Spoon a teaspoon of mincemeat into the centre, then fold the dough around it and pinch the dough together to seal the mincemeat inside. Roll the dough into a ball
- Once you have done this with all of the pieces of dough, put them all in the freezer for 30 minutes
- Meanwhile, pre-heat your oven to 180C Fan/200C/400F/Gas Mark 6, and put a lined baking tray (or two if you have another) into the oven to pre-heat too
- After the 30 minutes is up and your oven is pre-heated, place the frozen dough balls onto the pre-heated baking trays, leaving space between them to spread
- Bake for 13 minutes, or until the edges are just starting to go golden
- Leave to cool on the baking trays
- Mix the icing sugar with the water to make a thick, but pourable, paste. Drizzle it over the cookies
- Store leftovers in an airtight container and eat within 3 days
Cat | Curly's Cooking
I love mincemeat but am not a fan of making mince pies so love finding other ways of using it. These sound so delicious!
Helen - Cooking with my kids
I love mince pies too, so these sound delicious!
Eb Gargano | Easy Peasy Foodie
Such a great idea... how can you go wrong with this combo? Eb x
Choclette
You really are a genius Kat. I love, love, love the idea of these. They not only sound delicious, but you've made them look really pretty too.
Rebecca - Glutarama
I love this idea and so easy to make gluten free too, its great to have an alternative to mince pies too. In fact, I love anything with mincemeat - good job we only tend to eat it at this time of year else I'd be all mince-pied out by December hahaha
thebakingexplorer
Thanks so much Rebecca! Haha I know what you mean!
Cat
These are so delicious and I love that they are a new twist on mince pies which I love too! They were so easy to make and taste yummy. I think we may have found a new festive favourite...thank you!
thebakingexplorer
Thank you so much for the wonderful feedback Cat!
Lollipop
Mine were too big and didnt harden was dissapointed followed recipe to the latter as well
thebakingexplorer
Hi, I'm sorry to hear you were disappointed. If you thought they were too big then I would advise making them smaller next time, I recommend an average size but it depends on personal preference as to what size of cookie you like. They aren't hard biscuits, they are meant to be soft cookies with a gooey centre, so I wouldn't expect them to harden.
Chloe
Made these this afternoon! Delicious, simple one bowl recipe