Soft dough made with butter, sugar and fresh milled flour, cradling a filling of jam, fruit or cream cheese makes for a perfect sweet treat for dinner or afternoon coffee time. This shortcut recipe skips the process of lamination and uses a buttery yeasted dough instead. Fill with your own favorite filling using the list of delicious ideas below.
Recently my mom was doing a bit of reorganizing in her home. While cleaning, she came across a vintage cookbook from an old yeast company. Since I am a lover of old fashioned recipes (apart from the jello mold era – yuck), she shared the booklet with me.
I thoroughly enjoyed spending an evening flipping through the paperback book looking at all the old baking recipes. It had everything from bread and biscuits to desserts and artistically shaped dinner rolls.
Part way through the book, I came across a recipe that reminded me of a danish recipe. But it wasn’t your typical pastry that involved hours of time and lamination. Instead it used a simple yeasted dough, plenty of butter, just like a normal danish recipe, and a fruit filling. This inspired me to create a fresh milled flour recipe for a danish pastry.
Baking With Fresh Milled Flour
In this fresh milled flour dessert recipe, you will discover a beautiful treat that tastes great and looks delectable! Bonus — this shortcut recipe skips the steps of making a puff pastry and instead uses a buttery yeasted dough as the foundation for the danish. The consistency is more like a sweetened roll or a baked donut.
You’ll find the best part of this recipe is choosing which filling to squeeze into your danish. I love the color a dollop of jam gives the danish but my husband is partial to richness of the cream cheese. There are endless options like chocolate ganache, curd or even fruit butter. And thankfully since this recipe makes 12 danishes, you could fill them with a variety of flavors!
How Do You Use Freshly Milled Flour?
Fresh milled flour can be substituted for many commercially processed flours. For example, you can replace all purpose flour for fresh ground hard white wheat in equal amounts. Depending on the type of recipe, you may need to adjust the amount of liquid. Freshly milled flour can be thirsty. Here are a few recipe ideas for baking with fresh milled flour.
For more information on how to grind flour at home, check out this article.
Does Freshly Milled Flour Need More Water?
Generally, yes. Fresh ground flour soaks up more liquid than commercial flour. Instead of adding lots more liquid to hydrate the dough, start with what the recipe calls for. Then go by the look and feel of the dough, not precise amounts. If you are just beginning to bake with fresh milled flour, this may be a learning curve for you. Keep your bread hydrated, with a tacky feel but do not over do it, as too much liquid can prohibit proper gluten formation.
Which Flour Mill is Best for Home?
There are many different types of mills available for milling wheat. Stone mills, hammer mills, burr mills and roller mills are the most common types. When purchasing a grain mill, there are many things to consider such as cost, purpose, mill size and efficiency.
A hand operated Wondermill Junior Deluxe is a great option if you are a prepper and don’t plan to have electricity on hand. Nutrimill is another popular and budget-friendly option. My personal recommendation is to purchase a stone mill, preferably a Mockmill 100. This mill is perfect for grinding grains at home. It is high quality, efficient and can grind everything from wheat berries and corn to legumes and dried beans. The Mockmill 100 and 200 are available in a white casing made from renewable materials. If appearance is important to you, the mill is also available in a wood casing which looks beautiful when left out on your countertop.
Danish Filling Ideas
- Cream cheese
- Jam or jelly
- Pie filling
- Fruit butter
- Chocolate ganache
- Pastry cream
Baking Tips
- When rolling the dough into a rope, be patient. The dough likes to spring back or sometimes tear if you stretch it too much.
- Do not overfill the danishes with your desired filling. Too much can cause it to overflow and potentially spill into the oven.
- After baking, wait until the danishes have cooled before adding the glaze. If you drizzle it over the danish while it is still warm, the glaze will melt into the pastry.
Fresh Milled Flour Danish Recipe
Danishes made with freshly milled flour, filled with cream cheese or a fruity jam and drizzled with a sweet glaze, make a perfect dessert. Get the printable recipe by scrolling to the bottom of this page.
Makes: 12 danishes
Ingredients
Dough
1 cup warm milk
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1 egg
1 teaspoon vital wheat gluten, optional
4 2/3 – 4 3/4 cups freshly milled hard wheat flour
1 tablespoon instant yeast
Filling Ideas
3/4-1 cup jam, jelly or preserves
Cream cheese
Pie filling
Glaze
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
Directions
For the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the warm milk, warm water, butter, sugar, salt, egg and vital wheat gluten, if using. Add 3 cups of flour and mix until a wet batter forms. Add yeast and mix to combine.
Add the remaining 1 2/3 cups of flour. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Cover the bowl, place in a warm spot and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled.
Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll the first piece into into a 15-inch long rope. Holding one end of the rope, carefully wind the dough from the center to form a coil. Tuck the end piece underneath. Place on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pieces. Cover and allow to rise for an additional 30-40 minutes, until doubled.
Preheat oven to 400° F.
For the filling: Pressing to the bottom of the danish, make a small indent, approximately 1 1/2-inches wide into the center of the danish. Fill each with about 1 tablespoon of your chosen filling. Bake the danishes for 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
For the glaze: Whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and salt to form a smooth, pourable glaze. When the danishes have cooled, drizzle with glaze.
More of My Favorite Fresh Milled Flour Recipes
Danish Recipe With Fresh Milled Flour
Soft dough made with butter, sugar and fresh milled flour, cradling a filling of jam, fruit or cream cheese makes for a perfect sweet treat for dinner or afternoon coffee time. This shortcut recipe skips the process of lamination and uses a buttery yeasted dough instead.
Ingredients
- Dough
- 1 cup warm milk
- 1/2 cup warm water
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted
- 1/3 cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon vital wheat gluten, optional
- 4 2/3 - 4 3/4 cups freshly milled hard wheat flour
- 1 tablespoon instant yeast
- Filling Ideas
- 3/4-1 cup jam, jelly or preserves
- Cream cheese
- Pie filling
- Glaze
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon milk
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- Pinch of salt
Instructions
- For the dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the warm milk, warm water, butter, sugar, salt, egg and vital wheat gluten, if using. Add 3 cups of flour and mix until a wet batter forms. Add yeast and mix to combine.
- Add the remaining 1 2/3 cups of flour. Knead the dough for about 5 minutes. Cover the bowl, place in a warm spot and let rise for 1 hour or until doubled.
- Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface. Divide dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll the first piece into into a 15-inch long rope. Holding one end of the rope, carefully wind the dough from the center to form a coil. Tuck the end piece underneath. Place on a greased or parchment lined baking sheet. Repeat with remaining pieces. Cover and allow to rise for an additional 30-40 minutes, until doubled.
- Preheat oven to 400° F.
- For the filling: Pressing to the bottom of the danish, make a small indent, approximately 1 1/2-inches wide into the center of the danish. Fill each with about 1 tablespoon of your chosen filling. Bake the danishes for 13-15 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool on a wire rack.
- For the glaze: Whisk together the powdered sugar, milk, vanilla and salt to form a smooth, pourable glaze. When the danishes have cooled, drizzle with glaze.
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