These mince pie orange blondies are stuffed full of festive flavour - they’re the perfect Christmas themed treat! These blondie bars taste like the beautiful union of a mince pie and a chewy brown sugar cookie.
These tasty treats are one of my favourite Christmas bakes and are a top blondie variation. They also make great gifts for friends, family and co-workers!
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✏️ Making a tasty and easy recipe
These blondies are so soft and chewy, but surprisingly easy to make. You can whip up a batch ready for the oven super quick and hiding the mince pies inside your blondie traybake is fun and festive.
I first came up with the idea for these festive blondies after I was looking for speciality Christmas brownies and bars. I saw lots of great ideas for mincemeat brownie traybakes and fruit mince shortcake bars, but I really wanted something with a soft chewy texture and that unmistakable flavour of fruity mince pies.
For me, that caramel hint of brown sugar with a zesty orange taste is so full of Christmas mouth joy, so I thought why not throw them all in and see what I get!
This recipe is also a great way to use up any leftover mince pies you may have after Christmas. If you have any left that is!
🥘 Ingredients notes
When measuring your ingredients, I always recommend using weights rather than cups where possible for greater accuracy. Accuracy is important for the amount of flour used.
🔪 Equipment notes
I usually use an 8inch (20cm) square tin for these blondies, like this tin from Wilton.
I find it easiest to grease and then line the pan with parchment paper (greaseproof paper), leaving a small overhang over the sides.
I like to use digital scales for weighing my ingredients as it's easier and more accurate than other scales. I'm a fan of these KitchenAid or Salter ones! Weighing your ingredients is much more accurate than using cups and will give you better results.
Use measuring spoons for your teaspoon and tablespoon amounts where possible.
🍱 Storage
You can store your blondies in an airtight container. They should keep for up to 4 days stored at room temperature.
If you like your blondies to be a bit firmer and chewy, you can store them in an airtight container in the fridge. They should keep refrigerated for up to 5 days in the fridge.
💭 Top tips for success
- Be sure to thoroughly beat in your egg to blondie mixture, this will give you a much nicer texture. Using a room temperature egg will also allow it to mix better.
- I usually break up each mince pies into 5-6 pieces to stud into the mixture. Any less than this and you won’t get a nice even coverage of mince pie in each blondie bar.
- You’ll know your stuffed blondies are done when they’ve turned a nice golden colour and may have a few cracks at the edges. There also shouldn’t be much of a wobble in the middle. I like my blondies quite soft and chewy, so I’d prefer slightly underdone to overdone. If they’re too soft for you after they’re baked and cooled, you can always put them in the fridge to firm up more.
- When these mince pie orange blondies come out of the oven, they’ll be really soft. As they cool, they’ll firm up a little, so I recommend waiting for them to cool before you remove them from the pan and cut into squares. Otherwise, they’ll crack as you try to lift them from the pan and might just fall apart when you try to eat them. Delicious, but a bit messy!
Troubleshooting help:
If you’ve got any specific questions on making these soft and chewy mince pie orange blondie bars, please feel free to leave a comment below and I’ll try my best to help out!
Alternatively, you can get in touch via my Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest – I’d love to hear from you!
♻️ Alternatives and substitutions
I like to use orange extract flavouring, as it’s easier than zesting an orange. However, you can easily swap this extract for the zest of 1 orange – this does give it a delicious flavour!
If you’re looking for less of a caramel flavour to your blondies, you can swap half of the brown sugar for white caster sugar.
I usually use store-bought mince pies, the deep-filled kind for extra fruit mincemeat, but if you’ve got the time it’s probably even nice to bake your own homemade mince pies to use! One of my favourite recipes for mince pies is by Paul Hollywood.
I’ll admit that these blondies can look a little plain from the top, so I sometimes like to buy candied fruit peel (mixed glace fruit peel) to sprinkle on top before the blondies go into the oven. This adds a bit of texture and colour and just adds to the festive feel of these bars!
🧁 Other goodies
I definitely recommend that you whip up a batch of these easy Christmas mince pie orange blondies! But as an avid home baker, I’m sure you’re asking yourself “what next?”.
Well, if you’re just as obsessed with blondies as I am, then why not check out my recipe for Lotus biscoff stuffed white chocolate blondies – they’ve got a delicious surprise hidden in the middle just like these festive blondies do!
Or how about my recipe for a white chocolate orange no-bake cheesecake? It’s so festive and creamy!
For more Christmas treats, take a look my recipe collection for Christmas & The Holidays recipe ideas – so many festive treats to choose from! These recipes are great to enjoy on Christmas day or give as gifts to friends and family, such as a mason jar vegan cookie mix Christmas gift.
If you're after easy no-bake festive desserts, check out this list of the 80+ best no-bake Christmas dessert recipes!
Looking forward to some new recipe updates? Check out my Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest pages for a few sneak peeks and some sweet inspiration!
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📋 Recipe
Mince Pie Orange Blondies
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Equipment
Ingredients
- ⅔ cups (150 g) unsalted butter
- 1 cups (220 g) light brown soft sugar
- 1 egg (large)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon orange extract
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups (190 g) plain/all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch (cornflour in the UK)
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 3 mince pies
Instructions
- Preheat oven: 180°C / 160°C (fan) / Gas Mark 4 / 350°F
- Melt the butter for 30-50secs in the microwave and beat in the sugar until smooth and thick.
- Thoroughly beat in the egg, orange and vanilla extracts and salt until well combined.
- Sieve in the flour, cornflour and baking powder, stirring until just combined.
- In a lined 8inch square pan, pour half of the blondie mix smoothing evenly, before breaking up the mince pies into 5-7 pieces each and spacing these evenly across the mix.
- Pour the remaining blondie mix over the top, smoothing gently to cover the mince pie pieces.
- Bake in the oven for 20-25mins, until the top is lightly golden and no longer wobbles. Allow your blondies to cool before removing from the tin and cutting into squares.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate based on an online nutritional calculator, actual values may vary.
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