It's Beginning To Taste A Lot Like Christmas

There's a bite in the air, joyful jingles on television, and the hum of festive cheer all around...that can mean only one thing; Christmas is coming!

Christmas resonates differently with everyone; for me, it's a time of happiness, giving…and food. Lots of food. From the sweet indulgence of mince pies and fruit cake, to the rustic, nutty sensation of the highly anticipated Christmas dinner; for me, these scrummy festive treats definitely make Christmas the most wonderful time of the year.

These mincemeat shortbread bars (found on joyofbaking.com) are a regular festive favourite in the Day household! Not only are they temptingly succulent and moist, but they are also bursting with key flavours of Christmas; nuts, fruit and cinnamon. Delicious!

Ingredients

• 260g plain flour

• 20g semolina – we swap this ingredient for ground almonds

• ¼ teaspoon salt

• 226g unsalted butter at room temperature

• 70g light brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

• 400g mincemeat – we love the M&S mincemeat

Method – this method deviates slightly from the original recipe

Shortbread and mincemeat

To prep, preheat your oven to 190C and line your baking tray with either butter, or in my case Frylight one cal olive oil spray. Leave your tray to one side.

In one bowl, mix the flour, semolina (or ground almonds), and the salt and set aside.

Next, with an electric whisk, beat the butter until smooth, then add the sugar and vanilla extract; once again, beat until light and fluffy.

Add your flour mixture to the butter mixture and stir until combined.

Evenly spread your shortbread mixture onto your tray, then spread your mincemeat over the top.

Topping

For the topping, combine oats, brown sugar, butter, flour and cinnamon ensuring the ingredients are mixed well together. I haven’t measured these ingredients out as you can generally tell from the raw consistency whether more of any ingredients is necessary.

I hope you enjoy these festive bars of joy. Do you have any favourite Christmas recipes to share?