Mincemeat Shortbread Squares Food

MINCEMEAT & SHORTBREAD SQUARES

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4 and line the base and sides of a 20cm square tin with baking parchment. Beat the butter, sugar, vanilla, 1 tsp of the cinnamon and the cloves together with an electric whisk until pale and fluffy. Stir in the flour and ground rice first with a spoon, then get your hands in and knead to a smooth dough.
• Halve the dough and press one half evenly into the base of the tin. Spread the mincemeat over the top, leaving a 1cm border around the edge. Roll out the remaining dough between 2 sheets of baking parchment to a 20cm square, then slide onto the mincemeat. Seal around the edge with your fingers gently press all over until dimpled, then prick all over the top with a fork.
• Bake for 25-30 mins until lightly golden. Mix the granulated sugar with the remaining 1/4 tsp cinnamon and sprinkle over the top. Cool in the tin before cutting into squares. Will keep for 3 days in an airtight container.

MINCEMEAT COOKIE BARS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400°. Line an 8-in. square baking pan with foil; grease foil with butter. In a large bowl, whisk flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir in oil and milk. Reserve 1 cup for topping. Press remaining crumb mixture onto bottom of prepared pan. Spread with mincemeat. Stir pecans into reserved crumb mixture; sprinkle over top. Bake 30-35 minutes or until topping is golden brown., Cool completely in pan on a wire rack. Cut into bars.

MINCEMEAT SHORTBREAD BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 160C/325F and spray an 8x8 inch square pan with cooking spray. Cut two strips of grease proof paper, long enough to go across the pan and have hangover on the edge to lift out the bars. Place one strip across the pan, side to side, and the other across the other way, top to bottom.
• Place the butter and sugars into a large bowl, or the bowl of your stand mixer and beat until light and fluffy. Around 2 minutes on medium-high speed.
• Scrape down the sides as necessary and add the allspice, salt, cornflour and flour. Mix on low speed until the mixture starts to come together, then turn the speed up to medium and mix until one lump of dough forms and comes away from the sides.
• Place 3/4 of the shortbread mixture into your prepared pan and press into an even layer. I use the bottom of a measuring cup sprayed with cooking spray. Once spread, place in the oven for 12-15 minutes, until it's puffed up and is just set around the edges.
• Gently spread the mincemeat over the shortbread, if your mincemeat is stiff, place in a small bowl and then microwave for 30 seconds to soften.
• Once you've spread the mincemeat, take the remaining shortbread dough and crumble it over the mincemeat. It's totally fine if the mincemeat isn't completely covered. In fact, it makes them look better to have bits of mincemeat peeking through.
• Place in the oven for 27-32 minutes, until the top is lightly golden and the mincemeat is bubbling.
• Leave the bars to cool completely in the pan and then gently lift and transfer to a cutting board. Slice into 9-12 bars and dig in.
• Mincemeat Shortbread Bars will keep in an airtight container, at room temperature, for 4 days.

MINCEMEAT SHORTBREAD BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 160C/140Fan/gas mark 3. Grease and line a 20x20cm square baking tin.
• In a food processor whizz together the butter, caster sugar, plain flour, salt, ground almonds and orange zest, if using until the mixture comes together to make a dough. Divide the dough in half. Wrap one half in cling film and place in the fridge.
• Press the other half of the dough into the lined tin, smoothing it out with the back of a spoon or your hands. Try and get it as even as you can.
• Top the dough with the mincemeat and scatter over the dried cranberries if using. Get the second piece of dough out of the fridge. You can do this two ways - either roll the dough out on two pieces of baking parchment and lay on top of the mincemeat, or take pieces of the dough and lay them on top, trying to make sure the mincemeat is pretty much completely covered. This "patchwork" style (as I like to call it) isn't as neat but it works well for me. Doing this does mean that the mincemeat can ooze out a little over the top, but I quite like it.
• Sprinkle the top of the shortbread with the 1 tablespoon caster sugar and the flaked almonds. Bake in the oven for 45-50 minutes, or until the top is light golden. Start checking the shortbread after 30 minutes - if it looks like the top is beginning to burn or the almonds are becoming too brown, cover the top with a piece of tin foil.
• Remove the shortbread from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin before cutting into slices.

MINCEMEAT SQUARES

Steps:

• PASTRY:.
• Sift flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl.
• Cut in lard with a pastry blender until it resembles coarse meal.
• Put egg yolk in measuring cup, add milk to make 1/2 cup.
• Add egg mixture to bowl; stir until dough clings together and forms a ball.
• Roll out half the dough on a floured surface to a 15" x 11" rectangle; transfer to a cookie sheet.
• Note: You can make a parchment paper or wax paper pattern measuring 15" x 11". Roll out pastry directly onto the paper for easy transfer to baking sheet.
• FILLING:.
• Spread mincemeat filling evenly over dough to within 3/4 inch of edges.
• Dot the top of the mincemeat with the bits of butter.
• FINAL ASSEMBLY:.
• Roll out remaining half of dough; cut vents.
• Moisten edges of bottom pastry with cool water using a pastry brush or your fingers. Cover filling with the top pastry, sealing edges.
• Pinch edges together and crimp.
• TOPPING:.
• Beat egg white until stiff; spread on top crust.
• Bake in preheated 400 degree Fahrenheit oven for 25 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove to wire rack.
• GLAZE (optional):.
• Combine icing sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl.
• Drizzle over warm pastry.
• Cool slightly before cutting into squares to serve.

CHRISTMAS MINCEMEAT SQUARES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375F; grease a 13x9 pan and set aside.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, oats, sugar and baking soda.
• Stir in melted butter and mix together until mixture appears crumbly.
• Firmly pat half the crumb mixture into prepared pan, then cover evenly with mincemeat.
• Sprinkle remaining crumb mixture over mincemeat and pat lightly.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until squares appear golden brown.
• Cool before cutting into squares.

MINCEMEAT BARS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease two 9x13 inch baking pans.
• In a large bowl, mix together the butter, brown sugar, molasses and 1 teaspoon vanilla until well blended. Combine the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and cloves; stir into the molasses mixture. Stir in hot water, almonds, raisins and mincemeat. Spread the dough evenly into the bottoms of both pans. It will be thin but the mixture will puff up when baking.
• Bake for 12 to 15 minutes in the preheated oven, or until firm. Cool in pans on wire racks. In a small bowl, mix together the confectioners' sugar, hot milk, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon almond extracts until smooth. Spread over warm bars. Allow to cool before cutting into squares.