I tried you don't have to.

No I buy from our local bakers, wonderful

Paul Hollywood’s mince pie recipe is good. Lovely pastry.

Tesco finest mince pies are very nice not greasy at all. And the puff ones are nice too but aren't they from the instore bakery as years ago I use to pack thousands of them at Christmas.

Good thread,
just selflessly tested half of a Lidl chocolate covered marzipan 'sausage' in a gold wrapper. It's about 5" long - can't remember the name - but it is extremely moreish. DH tested the other half and he agrees with me.

Jus-Rol do sell shortcrust as well as puff pastry. Saw them both in there yesterday.

Mince pies will be for Christmas, Eve, day and Boxing, not before and not after.

Aldi Christmas pud has always been good but we make our own mince pies, Mostly because we like lots of mince and filo tops

Didn’t get as far as M&S.

But

I would like to put a word in for the Shropshire cake company, “simply Delicious”

All on line. But their GF cakes are absolutely outstanding. Not cheap but you are paying for quality.

Bet they are lovely but, sadly, not gf.

The best Mince pies by far are from Greggs. Delicious pastry and plenty of filling. Sorry if you don't have a Greggs near you

The best mince pies are a pack of four. They have a home made look. Sainsbury's and now Asda sell them. £1 a pack, I think.

The Aldi ones with toasted almond on top of a lattice butter pastry are yummy!
If I make my own, I by-pass all that pastry circle cutting stuff and make a Mincemeat Jalousie. Ready rolled puff pastry divided into 2 long lengths. Then if you-re using shop bought mincemeat, tip it into a bowl and add glace cherries, nuts (toasted blanched almonds are good) and a slug of brandy. Mix together then pile some on 1 side of the pastry (put any remains back in the jar). Fold the 2nd length of pastry in half lengthways and cut diagonal slits from about half an inch inside the edge and off the folded edge. Then unfold it and you should have a series of V shapes. Damp the edges of the rectangle of pastry with the mincemeat on it, cover with the other piece with the v shapes and cook. When it has cooled, dust with a little icing sugar and try to resist eating it all in 1 serving!

I can recommend Morrisons rectangle pork pie with egg in the middle at the deli. Very tasty. Their big sherry trifle and chocolate one are lovely. I always have my turkey or crown from there too.
Always prefer Paxo stuffing.
Asda black forest big trifles are to die for.
M&S puff pastry mince pies are the best in my opinion.

Well personally, i shall be making the Christmas cake. The fruit has been soaking for some time, so the cake is going to be reeeeeely moist and tasty. With the syrup thats left after draining, i add to bought mincemeat and stir up, and use to make quite delish mince pies. Everything done for the easiest. The cake is made using a boiled fruit cake recipe which I've had for years now. The hardest bit is making the pastry, 8oz plain flour, 4oz marg, to breadcrumb stage then add a handful (or 2!) of sugar, bit of water,and santas yr uncle and Mary's yr aunt!! 😂😂🎅🤶And that, as they say, is a piece of,,, well,, cake! 😂🎂The real hard part is keeping up with the demand! Mary Christmas everyone. 😊😊🎄🤶🎄🎅🎄🦌🦌🦌

Sainsbury's 'in store bakery' are good.

I subscribe to a well know consumer magazine reknown for testing products of all sorts. There is usually one on mince pies but not out this year yet. Quality, amount of filling and the same for pastry are tested as is presentation and cost. Over the years the "best" has varied from M&S to Aldi, Asda. Anxiously awaiting this years results. In recent years I've made my own as family enjoy flaky pastry ones.

I used to make mince meat + apple pies .

6 Mr Kipling Mince Pies for 33p ?? I wonder what Mr Kipling is paying its workers, how aggressive Asda is in driving down its suppliers' prices, or basically what ingredients are in these?

I always buy Lidl stollen. Delicious. Already eaten a mini one this year and have a large one put away for Xmas. I once tried Morrisons and it was not good.

VioletSky

Would someone please try an Asda Extra special gingerbread and butterscotch sponge for me please

Why not treat yourself VS?
Then of course we would like you to report back.
It sounds amazing!

I am usually very good and resist buying mince pies till December, I was offered one free with a coffee yesterday, it was slightly smaller than a normal mince pie so of course I accepted and have to say it was very good, not over sweet and nice pastry.

My daughter bought some Mince Pies to 'sample' from Greggs the other day and while she rated them - I didn't particularly enjoy it.
Sainsbury's fresh/in store Mince pies from the bakery section are usually a favourite in our house.
But watch this space - we are sure to test a few more!

Only looked at mumsnet a couple of times, yonks ago. I wasn’t keen to see how we (older mums/grans) were referred to in some threads. I’m sure it’s not like that all the time but it put me right off even though I had younger children at the time.

M&S do lovely mince pies. My favourite being the basic lattice ones
.

The best ever were made by my Grandma and sadly she took her recipe to the grave

My GD bought me a pack of M&S luxury mini mince pies, I think there were 9 in the pack, could have been more.
They were absolutely delicious in spite of being small so a larger proportion of pastry to filling.
I shall ask her to get the full size next time she shops there.

My other half will not eat any bought mince pies, he does not like the pastry. I have always made my own as one thing I’m good at is pastry. He’s ok with bought mincemeat and I stuff in a very good amount of filling.