The White Ramekins

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Mincemeat Granola Snack Bars

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mincemeat granola snack bars

Mincemeat Granola Snack Bars! Right when you would be thinking about what to do with the leftover mincemeat from your Christmas fruit cake and mince pies you had made last year. I know, it sounds a tad bit late, but you know, I am quite lazy in cleaning up my fridge sometimes. And some of the times, it might take a couple of months too. Now that might look gross to you, but thank God, stuff like mincemeat keeps pretty well even for that long a duration. Last year I had made leftover mincemeat fruitcake cookies with this gorgeous stuff from the holidays. And I love mincemeat filling, it tastes just divine and takes you back to the holiday time once again. And that is the reason, every year I soak the dry fruit more than what I would need for a certain recipe. Last year, when I was done baking enough of Christmas Mince Pies, I was still left with it which was good enough to bake a smallish fruitcake. I wanted to do so, but then that just kept on  getting procrastinated. And with each passing day, I had lost the feel of baking fruitcake either. I always struggle to make a good breakfast on a work day in winters {too lazy to leave the blanket and get up on time, you see}. That is when these yummy mincemeat granola snack bars come really handy. A glass of milk or a shot of espresso with these hearty fruity granola snack bars saves my day very well. So that is the reason I keep on baking granola so often at home. Homemade granola has got no comparison at all. The stuff is awesome and so healthy that you wouldn’t even mind binging on them. While I was mixing the granola, I got reminded of few of the food gifts I got from my dear blogger friend Deeba, few days back. So in went some lovely chocolate chips and the rind from the kamquats to make them little indulgent and citrusy at the same time. Chocolate and orange marry so well! And it becomes all the more special when you get that as a gift. These snack bars are sweetened by the sweetness from orange juice which went into making the mincemeat and some honey. You may skip the chocolate chips completely, if you want them strictly healthy. But I guess, that much chocolate would no harm. In fact, your kids would love them, if you pack these in their lunch box. 

 mincemeat granola snack barsmincemeat granola snack barsmincemeat granola snack barsmincemeat granola snack bars

 

Mincemeat Granola Snack Bars
Mincemeat Granola Snack Bars
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Ingredients
  1. 2 cups old fashioned oats
  2. 1 cup desiccated coconut
  3. 1 cup whole almonds
  4. 1 1/2 cup mincemeat
  5. 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  6. 1/2 tsp sea salt
  7. 1/3 cup honey
  8. 1 tsp vanilla extract
  9. 1/2 cup chocolate chips
  10. 2 tbsp orange zest
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C. Grease an 8x8-inch baking pan.
  2. In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients together, stirring until granola is evenly coated. It will be moist.
  3. Press granola very firmly down in baking pan. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until lightly browned and no longer moist to the touch.
  4. Allow to cool completely before turning out on a cutting board. You must allow the granola to cool completely or the bars will fall apart (a refrigerator can speed up the process).
  5. Cut granola bars into desired size. Wrap in parchment paper to make quick grab-and-go snacks. Store in an air-tight container to keep fresh.
The White Ramekins http://thewhiteramekins.com/

Christmas Mince Pies

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christmas mince pies

Having been disappeared for almost a month now from this lovely little corner of my life, I now feel all the more difficult to make a come back and share something with you all lovely readers. That’s quite strange, as I have never felt this kind of reluctance sharing anything happening around in this space. And ironically, that is when this is the most interesting and joyous work I get to do all because of this blog, which is truly an integral part of my life now. People do relate to me with my blog, my creative outlet and I love being identified this way the most. I can’t stay away for a very long time, you see.

christmas mince pies

I had been traveling to London for a short work assignment early this month, and so was bound to stay away from my kitchen, my oven and my food props. And by the time I got back, the month was about to over. December being the holiday time, I had lots to catchup. There are plenty of recipes which I had thought to try out before this year goes by. With a bad time management and a hurry to bake something for Christmas at least, I soaked up my dry fruit.

christmas mince pies

How could I let the Christmas to just pass by like that, without soaking the dry fruit. Although it was just four days away, I still thought to not let it go like that. This time, I didn’t want to bake a fruit cake, rather I had mince pies playing on my mind. In fact they were all over my mind, ever since I first tasted them from a local merchant at Portobello Road market in London. Since then, I went crazy about them and I was gorging on them almost every other day during my stay in the city.

christmas mince pies

I had have lots of memories about food and markets in London, which I tried to capture them in my camera {I know, I have yet to post about it soon, promise 🙂 }. So, the fruit cake this time got overruled by the cute little mince pies. They look all the more festive.

christmas mince pies

I adapted this recipe minimally from Nigella Lawson and added lots of orange marmalade which uplifted the flavors of dried fruits and also compensated for the short soaking time. I took them to a friend’s place for the Christmas night dinner and they soon got disappeared from the table. Everyone liked them to their last bits. I am definitely making them now every year for Christmas.

christmas mince pies

Christmas Mince Pies
Christmas Mince Pies
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for the pastry
  1. 240 grams plain flour
  2. 60 grams cold vegetable shortening
  3. 60 grams cold butter
  4. juice of 1 orange, chilled
  5. approx. 350 grams mincemeat
  6. icing sugar (for dusting)
for the mincemeat - makes about 2½ cups
  1. 350 grams dried cranberries
  2. 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  3. 1 tsp ground ginger
  4. ½ tsp ground cloves
  5. 100 grams currants
  6. 100 grams raisins
  7. 100 grams prunes, chopped
  8. finely grated zest and juice of 1 orange
  9. ½ tsp vanilla extract
  10. 4 tbsp orange marmalade
For mincemeat
  1. Heat the orange juice, zest and orange marmalade in a saucepan over low heat, until marmalade is completely dissolved into the juice.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients for mince meat into the saucepan and continue to cook on low heat for 10 minutes, or until most of the liquid is absorbed by the fruit. Let cool completely. Store in an airtight container and let rest in the fridge for a minimum of 3 days.
For the mince pies
  1. Then once you are ready to make your mince pies, get out a tray of miniature tart tins, each indent 2 inches in diameter, along with a 2¼ inch round biscuit cutter and a 1¾ inch star cutter.
  2. Chop the cold butter and shortening into the flour and blitz in the bowl of your food processor to make a coarse breadcrumb like mixture.
  3. Pour the orange juice down the funnel, pulsing until it looks as if the dough is about to cohere; you want to stop just before it does (even if some orange juice is left). If all your juice is used up and you need more liquid, add some iced water.
  4. Turn the mixture out of the processor or mixing bowl onto a pastry board or work surface and, using your hands, combine to a dough. Then form into 3 discs.
  5. Wrap each disc in clingfilm and put in the fridge to rest for 20 minutes.
  6. Preheat the oven to 220°C.
  7. Lightly flour your work surface and roll out the discs, one at a time, as thinly as you can, but one sturdy enough to support the dense mincemeat.
  8. Out of each rolled-out disc cut out circles a little wider than the indentations in the tart tins; Press these circles gently into the moulds and dollop in a scant teaspoon of mincemeat.
  9. Then cut out your stars with your little star cutter – re-rolling the pastry as necessary – and place the tops lightly on the mincemeat.
  10. Put in the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes: keep an eye on them as they really don’t take long.
  11. Remove from the oven, taking out the little pies straight away from the pan onto a cooling rack and letting the empty tin cool down before you start putting in the pastry for the next batch. Carry on until they’re all done.
  12. Dust with icing sugar before serving.
Adapted from Nigella's Christmas
Adapted from Nigella's Christmas
The White Ramekins http://thewhiteramekins.com/
christmas mince pies 

Leftover Mincemeat Fruitcake Cookies

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Leftover Mincemeat Fruitcake Cookies

Holidays are over but the spirit doesn’t seem to get over yet! The joyfulness of festival and the excitement of starting in a new year is just amazing. And life seems to be an ongoing celebration, it seems! I am happy and thankful that I am still lingering on with this feeling.

Leftover Mincemeat Fruitcake Cookies

Holidays not just leave us with the happiness and excitement but with some leftovers from the loveliest of food we get to cook and eat! I baked a wonderfully moist and squidgy chocolate fruit cake on Christmas, for which I had soaked my dry fruit in excess, thinking of baking some lovely goodies, in case I am left with some mincemeat in fridge.

Leftover Mincemeat Fruitcake Cookies

I wanted to bake mince pies first, one of the traditional bakes of Christmas, until I came across this amazing recipe of fruitcake cookies. They just got clicked to me, the moment I read through the recipe. All because, the fruitcake I baked was over and I was still dreaming about it.

Leftover Mincemeat Fruitcake Cookies Leftover Mincemeat Fruitcake Cookies

Those flavors of soaked dry fruits and spices  just bring back happiness to me. And in the pursuit of getting that smile back on my face, I thought to give these fruitcake cookies a try. And they surprised me even better. The buttery and mellow y sweetness of cookie dough mingled with the spicy, juicy and plump dry fruit did wonders, as soon as I popped the first cookie in my mouth.

Leftover Mincemeat Fruitcake Cookies

The recipe yielded more than 60 cookies, which I shared with family, friends, office mates and so on and I made every one happy by reminiscing them of the fruit cake from the season. And it brought a big happy smile to each one of us. So don’t wait, if you are left with some soaked dry fruit from the fruit cake. And even if you aren’t, I would encourage you to go soak some now! These cookies are that good.

Leftover Mincemeat Fruitcake Cookies

Recipe adapted from Food Network

Ingredients

400 gm mincemeat {soaked mix of dry fruit, click here for recipe}
150 gm butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 large egg
2 2/3 cup all purpose flour

Directions

  1. In a bowl of an electric mixer or using a hand whisk, cream the butter and both the sugars together, until smooth.
  2. Add the egg and mix until incorporated well. Add the flour and mix until just combined. Add the soaked dry fruits.
  3. Divide the dough in half and place each half on the long edge of a 12 by 18-inch piece of parchment or waxed paper. Refrigerate the dough until firm or for several hours.
  4. Preheat the oven to 180 degree C and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  5. With a small, sharp knife, cut the logs into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Place the slices 1/2-inch apart on prepared baking sheet pan and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until lightly golden.
  6. Let cool on a wire rack completely. Store in an airtight container.