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Pile of lefse from this lefse recipe on a dark plate with a knife and a spoonful of sugar.

Lefse Recipe Using Real Potatoes – A Norwegian Tradition

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  • Author: Ben Myhre
  • Prep Time: 12 hours 30 minutes
  • Cook Time: 30 minutes
  • Total Time: 13 hours
  • Yield: 8 lefse 1x
  • Category: Holiday
  • Method: Grill
  • Cuisine: Norwegian

Description

Lefse is a delicious Norwegian treat that is a tradition among many families. Your family can start this tradition today and make some of the best lefse you have ever had! Learn how to make a delicious lefse recipe using real potatoes.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 2.5 pounds of Russet potatoes, peeled, and weighed after peeled.
  • 1 stick room temperature salted butter, chopped
  • 1/2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup all-purpose flour + plus more for keeping equipment floured

Instructions

  1. Peel potatoes and simmer in large pot of water for 45 minutes or until tender all the way through.
  2. Strain potatoes and rice.
  3. Place butter at the bottom of ceramic or glass bowl and rice potatoes for a second time into it.
  4. Combine and mix together. Make sure butter has been fully incorporated into potatoes, but try to keep them as light and fluffy as possible.
  5. Let container sit on counter at room temperature for one hour and then place into fridge overnight.
  6. The next day, take out potatoes and in large bowl, mix potato & butter mixture, cream, flour, salt. Get in there with your hands real good and mix right in the bowl. You should end up with a dough that is somewhat similar to a bread flour consistency, but a bit more crumbly.
  7. Weigh the dough and divide by eight. Roll each of these 1/8 dough portions into a ball. Place all on a plate and put in the refrigerator.
  8. Preheat lefse grill to 500° Fahrenheit
  9. Add flour to both your rolling mat cloth and also to the rolling pin cloth. Massage the flour in and be liberal with the flour.
  10. Take one of the lefse balls out of the fridge and with your hands, gently form it into a disk. Place down on rolling mat and using the rolling pin, roll out the ball to be as flat as possible. If you feel like the lefse may start to stick, apply just a small amount of flour to ensure this does not happen.
  11. Once the lefse is as flat as possible, use the turning stick and gently slide it underneath the center of the rolled-out disk. You should be able to get all the way under without tearing the dough.
  12. Lift the rolled-out dough (that has the stick mid-way through) and drape it onto the edge of the preheated 500 F lefse grill. You should be able to gently lay the first half of the disk onto the grill and then by turning (or rolling) the lefse stick, fold the other half onto the grill. Start a timer.
  13. When your timer hits 1 minute and 30 seconds, let timer keep going and use your turning stick to flip the lefse.
  14. Once your timer hits 3 minutes, remove lefse from lefse grill and put on a large plate.
  15. Repeat steps 9 through 14 until all lefse has been cooked.
  16. Allow all lefse to cool for an hour.
  17. Top with whatever toppings you want to use ( I like a pat of softened butter and a few teaspoons of suger) and roll up.
  18. Cut each in half and serve.

Notes

  • Buy yourself a lefse making kit! (affiliate link)
  • Use Russet potatoes and when skinning them, take extra precaution to get all the skin bits off of it.
  • Warm your butter to room temperature before using it.
  • Make sure your butter is well integrated and completely melted before putting it into the fridge overnight.
  • Yes, put your potatoes in the fridge overnight.
  • Be gentle with the dough.
  • Allow cooked lefse to cool for at least 1 hour before eating. If eating the same day, you can leave on counter. Otherwise, put in the refrigerator for up to a week or freeze and save for up to 6 months.
  • If storing, make sure to store in an airtight container.
  • I added in .5 cups of flour to the nutritional information to account for flouring the cloth and rolling pin
  • The nutritional information does NOT take into account any toppings you may add
  • If you have a lefse that sticks and leaves burning material on your grill (more likely on the aluminum grill), wipe clean and allow it to reheat.

Find it online: https://ramshacklepantry.com/lefse-recipe-using-real-potatoes-a-norwegian-tradition/