Lefse Recipes

LEFSE II

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix by hand sour milk or buttermilk, corn syrup, sugar, soda, cardamom, and flour until mixture becomes a soft pliable dough.
• Divide the dough into 12 or so pieces. Roll out each piece until about 1/8 inch thick.
• Bake on a lightly floured griddle over very low heat for 12 to 15 minutes per side. Serve warm with your favorite cheese or jam.

NORWEGIAN LEFSE

Steps:

• Cover potatoes with water and cook until tender. Run hot potatoes through a potato ricer. Place into a large bowl. Beat butter, cream, salt, and sugar into the hot riced potatoes. Let cool to room temperature.
• Stir flour into the potato mixture. Pull off pieces of the dough and form into walnut size balls. Lightly flour a pastry cloth and roll out lefse balls to 1/8 inch thickness.
• Cook on a hot (400 degree F/200 C) griddle until bubbles form and each side has browned. Place on a damp towel to cool slightly and then cover with damp towel until ready to serve.

LEFSE

Steps:

• Place potatoes in a large saucepan; add water to cover. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, covered, until tender, 10-12 minutes. Drain. Press through a potato ricer or strainer into a large bowl. Stir in cream, shortening, sugar and salt. Cool completely. , Preheat griddle over medium-high heat. Stir flour into potato mixture. Turn onto a lightly floured surface; knead 6-8 times or until smooth and combined. Divide into 12 portions. Roll each portion between 2 sheets of waxed paper into an 8-in. circle., Place on griddle; cook until lightly browned, 2-3 minutes on each side. Remove to a platter; cover loosely with a kitchen towel. Repeat with remaining portions. When cool, stack lefse between pieces of waxed paper or paper towels and store in an airtight container.

BASIC LEFSE: NORWEGIAN POTATO FLATBREAD

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Preheat the oven to 175 F. Peel the potatoes, making sure that no peels or eyes remain. Coarsely chop them into 1-inch pieces.
• In a stockpot, bring water to a boil and add the potatoes. Boil them until they are fork-tender, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• Drain the boiled potatoes well. Place them on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bring them into the hot oven for 15 minutes to dry them further.
• Remove the potatoes from the oven and pass them through a ricer . You need them to be finely riced, so twice through the ricer might give you a better texture. You should have at least 4 cups of riced potatoes.
• Mix in the heavy cream, butter, sugar, and salt.
• Mix well and place the potato dough in the refrigerator, covered, to chill overnight.
• Preheat a lefse griddle or your skillet of choice to 425 F. You need a very hot surface to properly cook the lefse. Use a pastry blender to cut the flour into the chilled potatoes, or vigorously knead the flour in until you have a smooth dough.
• With the help of an ice cream scoop, divide the dough into 16 to 20 biscuit-sized balls.
• Generously flour a pastry cloth or board and a rolling pin. Roll out each piece of dough into a 12-inch circle, dusting with more flour as needed.
• Carefully lift the circle with a lefse stick or the handle of a flat wooden spatula. Transfer it quickly to the griddle.
• Cook the lefse on the griddle until brown spots begin to appear.
• Flip and cook the other side.
• Remove the cooked lefse to a plate lined with a damp clean cloth to cool. Cover with another damp cloth. Continue to cook the remaining dough balls until you've used all of the dough.
• Serve the lefse smeared with butter to taste and a sprinkle or two of sugar.
• Enjoy.

LEFSE

Steps:

• Peel and cook potatoes until well done. Then, mash cooked potatoes while still hot, and add lard, butter, salt, and cream. Mix ingredients together until smooth. After potato mix has cooled down, add flour and mix with hands (if dough feels too soft, add flour or if dough feels too hard add cream.) Form dough into a long roll or a round ball about the size of a tennis ball. Place into the refrigerator.
• Heat griddle to 450 degrees F or more.
• Remove dough from refrigerator, and roll onto well-floured cutting board until thin. Use a lefse stick or a long spatula to move the dough to the griddle. Watch closely, and when the sheet is bubbly all over, flip over and cook the other side. You may turn more then once to get the correct browning. Place the cooked lefse on a cloth and cover with another cloth. Add lefse in stacks of 6 and turn over after 6th one has been placed on top. When finished let cool before packaging.
• Serve with brown or regular sugar or butter. Add a thin slice of meat instead of sugar or butter for something different.

LEFSE

Steps:

• Peel and Cook potatoes in boiling water till done; mash with a potato masher or electric mixer, till smooth.
• Measure out two cups of the mashed potato and set whatever you have left over aside (we will only be using 2 cups of potato for this recipe, you can season the left over mashed potato and have it for dinner! ).
• Combine mashed potatoes, milk, salt, sugar, and butter to it, then then mash together again until it's all blended.
• Put your finished mashed potatoes into a sealed container and chill in the fridge till cold (about 2 hours); The mashed potatoes must be cold and then will be slightly stiff.
• Measure out your 1 1/2 cups flour; add 1/2 cup of that flour to the mashed potatoes and stir to try to incorporate.
• Again, from that 2 cups, sprinkle flour on a flat surface to keep the lefse dough from sticking to the counter; Put the chunk of mashed, floured potatoes down into the middle of the floured area; Knead it for about ten minutes, gradually incorporating another half cup of flour; After it has a whole cup of flour in it, it will feel much doughier and nothing like mashed potatoes anymore.
• Seperate dough into 8 equal pieces, and roll each piece into a ball.
• Spread more flour out onto your surface - the best way to avoid sticking is to flip the dough over every time you take a roll on the rolling pin, sprinkle a little more flour under it, and then roll the other side.
• Always keep your rolling pin well floured, too; You want really thin pieces here, absolutely no thicker than your average flour tortilla, otherwise they won't cook all the way through and will taste a little doughy - They should work out to be about nine inches diameter.
• Once you have all eight pieces rolled out, heat up your frying pan or griddle and grease it slightly only if it isn't non-stick; Flip one of the uncooked lefse into the pan and quickly unfold any creases that might have happened with the spatula; only turn lefse once, and do it when you see air bubbles forming under the lefse.
• It won't need to cook for as long on the other side, but bubbles will form again (harder to see this time, careful not to leave it on too long and burn it!) you can just pick it up with the spatula and check underneath.
• Serve warm sprinkled with icing sugar and cinnamon or with some jam.

LEONA'S LEFSE

Steps:

• Place the unpeeled potatoes in cold water and bring to a boil. When potatoes are almost soft, drain water and allow potatoes to cool. Make sure the potatoes do not get too soft, or they will be too wet and the lefse will be hard. Peel and mash the potatoes. Measure out 4 cups; set aside and allow to cool.
• Preheat your cast iron or electric skillet to a medium setting. Stir the butter and sugar into 4 cups mashed potatoes. Add about one cup of flour and mix it into the potatoes. The amount of flour needs to be varied a little according to how moist the mashed potatoes are, the less flour you use the better, but you don't want the mixture to be sticky.
• Flour your pastry board and rolling pin. Make a ball of lefse dough about the size of a small apple and roll it out into a very thin circle. It should be as thin as a crepe, and will tear easily unless you are very careful.
• Heat a skillet or frying pan over medium-high heat. Lightly brown the lefse on both sides on your skillet, from 1 to 3 minutes per side. Roll up and serve with the filling of your choice.

CHRISTMAS LEFSE

Steps:

• Place potatoes and salt into a pot and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook until potatoes can be easily pierced with a fork. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. Measure in the butter and cream and mash until completely smooth. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
• Use your hands to shape the potato mixture into four even logs about 6 inches long. Cut each log into 4 or 5 pieces. Using just enough flour to keep the dough from sticking, roll out each portion as thinly as possible. Flip the dough over frequently and add more flour as needed. Adding too much flour can make the lefse tough so be careful.
• Heat a lefse grill or griddle over medium heat. Cook one at a time until the lefse are golden brown with darker brown bubbles on each side, flipping over once. Use a flat lefse turner if you have one. Stack finished lefse on a plate or tray and cover with a tea towel to keep them from drying out. Once the lefse are completely cool, wrap in plastic to keep it moist.

LEFSE I

Steps:

• In a large bowl mix together the boiling water, shortening, milk, salt, sugar, and potato flakes. Place in the refrigerator until thoroughly chilled.
• After dough is thoroughly chilled, add the flour, using a pastry blender to cut in.
• Divide dough into 3 equal size portions. Form into 3 logs. Chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.
• Heat an electric griddle to 375 degree F (190 degrees C).
• Divide logs into 8 pieces. Roll to about the size of a 10 inch tortilla. Work additional flour into rounds as needed. Use care to press lightly with rolling pin when forming into rounds as they are much more tender than pie dough. The weight of a large rolling pin is nearly enough.
• Bake on the griddle until each round feels dry but not crisp. Turn frequently.
• Cool on cloth. Cover with an additional cloth. Stack pieces on top of each other as they are baked. The steam will create a more tender product.

LEFSE

Steps:

• Bring a large pot of water to a boil over high heat. Cook potatoes until tender, 15 to 20 minutes. Drain well.
• Rice potatoes into a large bowl, continuing until you have 8 cups. Add oil, evaporated milk, sugar and salt, and mix well. Let cool, then cover and refrigerate for a few hours, or overnight.
• When ready to make lefse, add 2 1/2 cups flour and mix well. Divide dough into two logs if you have a lefse grill, and four if you do not. Dough should be sticky and hold together, but not so sticky it's impossible to work with; if necessary, add remaining 1/2 cup flour. Cut each log into 9 or 10 pieces, shape into small balls and place on plates in refrigerator.
• If you have a lefse grill, heat it to 400 degrees. If you don't have a lefse grill, set a wide, low-lipped nonstick pan over medium-high heat.
• Generously dust work space with flour and flour a rolling pin. Roll one dough ball in flour, then use the heel of your hand to press it into a thick disk. If you have a lefse grill, gently roll dough into a large, thin circle (if you are using a regular pan, roll into a thin circle just smaller than the size of your pan), lifting and flipping frequently so it doesn't stick; use more flour as needed. Brush excess flour from dough. Use a lefse stick to carefully transfer to grill (use a thin spatula if cooking in a pan). Cook for 1 minute, or until lefse is steaming and small bubbles appear on uncooked side. Using lefse stick or spatula, flip lefse and cook for 45 seconds or so. Place lefse on a clean dish towel and cover with another. Repeat, stacking lefse atop one another between the dish towels.

NORWEGIAN POTATO LEFSA

Steps:

• Peel potatoes and place them in a large pot with a large amount of water. Bring water to a boil, and let the potatoes boil until soft. Drain and mash well.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine 8 cups mashed potatoes, cream, butter, salt, and sugar. Cover potatoes and refrigerate over night.
• Mix flour into the mashed potatoes and roll the mixture into balls about the size of tennis balls, or smaller depending on preference. Keep balls of dough on plate in the refrigerator.
• Taking one ball out of the refrigerator at a time, roll dough balls out on a floured board. To keep the dough from sticking while rolling it out, it helps to have a rolling pin with a cotton rolling pin covers.
• Fry the lefsa in a grill or in an iron skillet at very high heat. If lefsa brown too much, turn the heat down. After cooking each piece of lefsa place on a dishtowel. Fold towel over lefsa to keep warm. Stack lefsa on top of each other and keep covered to keep from drying out.