Mincemeat Squares

I thought it was about time to use the last of an opened jar of mincemeat, still sitting in the fridge. Hopefully, there will be warmer weather soon, and thoughts will turn to lighter flavours rather than the spices and dried fruits we like so much in winter.

Once the jar was scraped out, I managed to get 200g of mincemeat, so added 25g of dried cranberries to give the amount needed for this Delia Smith recipe.

Even though I made the recipe in a slightly smaller 20cm (8") square baking tin, the  mincemeat squares were very thin. I was hoping for something like a flapjack, but these were really more like biscuits; because they were so thin they really crisped up in the hot oven. (I have a feeling I've used other versions of this recipe before, and have thought the same thing.)

The recipe was very quick and easy to put together and baked quickly too - I think from getting the scales out, to taking the baked squares out of the oven only took 35 minutes. The only changes I made to the recipe was to use half wholemeal flour and half spelt flour, and butter instead of the vegetable margarine that Delia specifies. I also heated the mincemeat in the microwave for a few seconds - just enough to take the chill off,  as it had been in the fridge - this made it easier to spread over the bottom layer of dough.