Lefse
Norwegian Christmas flatbreads of potato, paper thin and soft as cloth. They are eaten spread with butter, sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, rolled up, or with smoked salmon. Two things are key: the potatoes must be riced hot and chilled overnight — warm mash needs too much flour and the flatbreads toughen. And they are cooked on a dry, very hot griddle, with no fat.
Your own work in that: 15 min.
- Potatoes 40 min
- Chilling overnight 480 min
- Flour and shaping 15 min
- Rolling and griddling 45 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneBoil the potatoes in their skins
Boil the potatoes in their skins for 25–30 minutes, until tender. In their skins they do not soak up water — a wet mash needs more flour, and the lefse come out tough.
Ingredients: 1000 g potatoes · 60 g butter · 80 ml whipping cream (30%) · 1 tbsp sugar · 1 tsp salt · 220 g plain flour
Rice them while hot
Peel the potatoes while they are still scalding and push them through a potato ricer — do not mash. A ricer gives a fluffy, dry mash, while a masher crushes the potato cells and releases starch that makes the dough gluey.
Ingredients: 1000 g potatoes · 60 g butter · 80 ml whipping cream (30%) · 1 tbsp sugar · 1 tsp salt · 220 g plain flour
A ricer, not a masher — the mash must be fluffy and dry.Stir in butter, cream and salt
Into the hot mash stir the butter, cream, sugar and salt with a fork, gently, only until combined. Mix as little as possible — every extra stroke releases starch.
Ingredients: 1000 g potatoes · 60 g butter · 80 ml whipping cream (30%) · 1 tbsp sugar · 1 tsp salt · 220 g plain flour
Chill the mash overnight
Cover and chill for at least 8 hours, ideally overnight. Cold mash firms and needs less flour. The most important step — warm mash would have to be stiffened with so much flour that the lefse lose their delicacy.
Ingredients: 1000 g potatoes · 60 g butter · 80 ml whipping cream (30%) · 1 tbsp sugar · 1 tsp salt · 220 g plain flour
Work in the flour and shape balls
Work the flour into the cold mash quickly, by hand, until the dough stops sticking (moist potatoes may need a spoonful or two more flour). Divide into 12 balls of about 100 g and keep them chilled — warm dough sticks to the pin and tears when rolled.
Ingredients: 1000 g potatoes · 60 g butter · 80 ml whipping cream (30%) · 1 tbsp sugar · 1 tsp salt · 220 g plain flour
Roll paper thin
On a well-floured cloth roll a ball into a round about 30 cm across, so thin you can see through it. A pin wrapped in cloth or a grooved pin does not stick. Turn the round every few strokes. Roll each next round while the previous one cooks.
Ingredients: 1000 g potatoes · 60 g butter · 80 ml whipping cream (30%) · 1 tbsp sugar · 1 tsp salt · 220 g plain flour
Thin enough to see through — a cloth-wrapped pin will not stick.Cook on a dry, hot griddle
Transfer the round to a dry, very hot griddle (about 250°C — a lefse griddle or an electric crêpe maker; if you only have a frying pan, roll the rounds to the size of its base), winding it onto a long flat stick. Cook 45–60 seconds a side, until brown freckles appear. No fat — fat turns lefse into a pancake. All twelve, rolled as you go, take about 45 minutes in total.
Ingredients: 1000 g potatoes · 60 g butter · 80 ml whipping cream (30%) · 1 tbsp sugar · 1 tsp salt · 220 g plain flour
A dry, hot griddle and brown freckles — no fat.Cool under a cloth
Stack the finished lefse between two cloths. The steam softens them to the pliability of fabric. Serve spread with butter, sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and rolled up.
Ingredients: 100 g butter · 4 tbsp sugar · 2 tsp cinnamon
Before you start
Norwegian kit, home substitutes
Norwegians have a special lefse griddle, a grooved pin and a wooden turning stick. At home an electric crêpe maker or a large cast-iron pan, an ordinary pin wrapped in a cotton cloth and a long crêpe spatula are enough.
Savoury with salmon
Besides the sweet version, lefse are eaten savoury too — with smoked salmon and soured cream, or with cured meats, rolled up like a pancake.
They freeze beautifully
Lefse freeze very well, layered with baking paper and tightly wrapped. Thaw in the fridge under a cloth — traditionally a stock is made for the whole festive season.
