How To Make Lefse (a.k.a. Norwegian Potato Lefse)

This is the Potato Lefse recipe handed down from my norwegian great-grandmother, Bergliot Rindal Pogue:

Lefse

8 c. mashed potatoes (5 lbs.)

1/2 c. cream

8 T. butter (1/2 cup)

1 T. salt

4 c. flour (chill before in freezer or refridgerator)

1 tsp. sugar

Cook potatoes until soft. Mash and add cream, butter, salt, and sugar. Whip until smooth and no lumps are left. Chill.

Add flour and mix with hands until dough is soft but does not stick to hands. Roll out on pastry cloth and fry on griddle. (The less flour you use the more tender the lefse.)

This recipe is pretty basic. There are a lot of "tips" that need to be added to make it successful. I am by no means an expert lefse maker, but I have watched both my husband's parents and my mom make lefse several times, and I have done it myself many times. Here is a tutorial:

Peel 5 pounds of potatoes, boil until tender, drain.

Mash potatoes with a potato masher or potato ricer. Add cream, butter, salt, and sugar. Whip until smooth and no lumps are left. Chill.

Once cool, mash again or put through the potato ricer again. Add 4-5 cups chilled all-purpose flour. Mix with your hands. It will probably still stick to your hands, but if you add too much flour, it will make the lefse dry and harder.

Divide lefse dough into golf ball size pieces for individual round lefse or baseball size for large griddle size pieces that will be cut into wedges to be eaten. In this example I did larger pieces and later cut them into three wegdes per piece.

Take ball and pat down flat. Dip into small pile of flour on counter on both sides of dough.

Pat flour into knit-covered lefse rolling pin and work flour into pastry cloth. Begin rolling out lefse until thin and large enough to cover griddle. Make sure to add more flour to the rolling pin and pastry cloth before you roll out the next piece. Add flour in between each piece to prevent sticking.

Take lefse turner and gently roll up lefse (not tightly) onto turner. It is not necessary to roll it up all the way, but just enough to be able to transport it to the griddle.

Grill on both sides until a light brown color.

Lay flat in between two cotton towels to keep moisture in until cooled. If you made the large lefse size, cut into wedges in thirds. Store in gallon-size Ziploc bags. Eat it fresh and warm or save it until later when it has been cooled on the counter. If you do not plan to eat it within 24 hours, then refrigerate or freeze until ready to serve. When ready to eat, spread butter on one side and sprinkle about 1/2-1 tsp. sugar per piece. My Norwegian/Swedish friend eats it with cinnamon-sugar. I also know some Norwegians who eat it with brown sugar. We personally prefer plain white sugar. Enjoy!

Optional: I have made lefse in Eastern Europe without any special griddle or pastry cloth. I still used the special rolling pin, but simply covered it with clean (never used) nylons (pantyhose). I simply cooked it over the stove on a non-stick pan or cast-iron skillet. I had to make the lefse smaller to fit the pan, but it worked just fine!