Traditional British Christmas Mince Pies

Ingredients:

For the pastry:
350g self-raising flour
175g butter, cubed (cold)
A pinch of salt
1tsp freshly ground nutmeg
Ice cold water (around 7-10tbsp)
2tbsp milk (optional)

For the filling:
200g organic mincemeat
1tsp freshly ground nutmeg
1tbsp brandy (or liquor of choice)

Method:
1. In a mixing bowl, sift in the flour and combine with cold diced butter, salt & nutmeg. Using your hands, rub the mixture until it resembles crumb consistency. Now start adding ice cold water, a tablespoon at a time, until the mixture starts binding together into dough. Wrap the dough into cling film and refrigerate for 10mins to allow the dough to rest.
2. Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease a muffin tin with butter & set aside.
3. Combine the filling ingredients together in a separate bowl and mix until well incorporated. Set aside.
4. Sprinkle the work surface with a little flour and roll out the pastry to around 2-3cm thickness. Using pastry cutters slightly bigger than the size of the muffin tin holes, cut out 13 round circles. Use the leftover pastry to cut out 13 stars. Place the pastry circles into the muffin tin and press them around the edges of the muffin holes. Gently pierce the bottom of the pastry cases with a fork to stop them from rising during baking.
5. Fill the pastry cases with 1tbsp mincemeat mixture. Ensure not to overfill the pastry cases, otherwise the mincemeat will run over the sides during baking. Top each mince pie with a cutout star. Using a pastry brush, brush the pastry cases and the stars with a little milk to give them a golden color during baking. Bake for 15-20mins until golden brown. Allow to cool. Dust with icing sugar just before serving.