lefse recipe

This recipe makes a large amount of lefse – about 100 rounds. If you like you can easily cut the recipe in half or even in quarters. Just a couple of things I would like to emphasize. 1) That you refrigerate the mashed potato mixture UNCOVERED overnight or at least 8 hours until it is really cold. 2)That you do NOT add flour until just before you’re ready to start rolling out the lefse. If it stands too long, either at room temperature or in the fridge, it will water down and you’ll have a mess on your hands. However, this makes delicious lefse.

Oh, I know – many people have their own favorite recipe, but this one works!
I will be teaching lefse lessons at First Lutheran Church in Duluth, Minnesota in November. This is to be able to make enough lefse to serve some 1200 guests at our annual Lutefisk, Salmon and Meatball dinner, which is always held on the first Wednesday in December (Hours go from noon to seven P.M. – we’re not really sure of the price, yet, for his year as it depends on the costs incurred.)
Ingredients:
10 pounds Russet/Burbank or Russet potatoes (very important that they are Russets!)
1 pound butter (not margarine)
1 pint (2 cups) whipping cream
1 and 1/2 tablespoons salt
3 tablespoons sugar
Flour (added later)
Utensils you will need:
Lefse grill
Lefse sticks
Rolling pin and sock
Pastry cloth covered board
Potato ricer
Potato masher
Ice Cream Scoop that measures about 1/3 cup
Large piece of plastic, like a garbage bag split open
Terry Towels
Ziplock bags for storing the finished product

Peel, boil (just until done, don’t let the potatoes get mushy), drain, rice, and mash the potatoes.

Mash in the butter, whipping cream, salt and sugar until no lumps remain. Turn into a large bowl, smooth the top and cool, UNCOVERED, in the refrigerator overnight.
Next day, preheat the grill to 480 to 500*F. (You don’t grease it, it must be dry.)
Place a large plastic bag on the counter and lay a terry towel on top – you will stack the cooked lefse on one end and fold the towel and plastic over. The towel absorbs moisture, the plastic keeps it just moist enough.
Rub the rolling surface with flour. Rub flour into the sock-covered rolling pin.
Cut cold mashed potato mixture into quarters. Remove one quarter into a bowl and put the rest back into the fridge.
Working with one quarter at a time, mix in 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour.
Using your hands, mix the flour into the potato until well blended. Once you add flour to the potatoes, you are committed to that batch of dough – if you let it stand too long it will get soft and sticky. (You can keep the remaining 3 quarters in the refrigerator, uncovered, for 24 to 48 hours.)
With an ice cream scoop, scoop out balls about the size of a golf ball and form quickly into a ball. Dust the ball with flour and flatten it out.
Place onto the floured, cloth-covered, pastry board and with a floured sock-covered rolling pin, roll the dough out evenly into a large circle. Don’t hesitate to use plenty of flour at first. Wet spots can become a problem. (If you do get a wet spot, rub flour onto it and with the straight edge of a plastic dough cutter, scrape carefully to remove as much of the wet spot as possible.)
Using a lefse stick, transfer the round onto the heated grill. The lefse will begin to bubble. Peek at the grilled side – you’re looking for nice, light brown spots. Slide the stick under it and carefully flip it over.
If edges of the lefse begin to get dry, brown and curl, you are grilling them too long. If it is not browning well, but remains light, your grill temperature is to low.
Stack the cooked rounds one on top of the other and cover with the towel and plastic. You’ll need a towel and plastic for each quarter of the dough. Cool 4 to 5 hours, then carefully, fold each lefse into quarters and place into ziplock bags (I usually put a dozen in a bag). Refrigerate up to 2 days or freeze. Makes about 100 lefse

equipment

Bethany Housewares is the most popular manufacturer of lefse equipment and is easy to find in you live in an area with large Scandinavian populations.  If you are not that lucky, you can still get anything you need online.  Creative Kitchen (physically located in Fargo, ND but also accepts online orders and ships free for orders over $49) is a great source for lefse equipment.  
It can be hard to find a deal on lefse equipment since it is a niche market, your best bet is waiting until after the holiday season when stores may be clearancing out their "seasonal" lefse equipment.  One store that does clearance out their lefse equipment is Walmart, but not all Walmart stores carry lefse equipment.

The most important piece of equipment is the lefse griddle.  You can make lefse with any griddle, but a  real lefse griddle does not have side walls to interfere with the lefse stick and is just the right size for lefse.  Both the non-stick or aluminum griddle work great, but some say that the aluminum one is marginally better for making lefse.  If you plan on using the griddle for cooking anything other than lefse (pancakes, burgers, etc.) you should get the teflon griddle.  

Traditionally a corrugated or square cut rolling pin is used, but a regular smooth rolling pin will work as well.  No matter which rolling pin you use, a rolling pin sock is helpful in preventing the lefse from sticking to the rolling pin.

Traditionally lefse turning sticks are 7/8" wide.  These work fine, but the wider 1 1/2" sticks make things a little easier.  

Pastry board

Lefse stick This is a very long thin stick that is normally between 3/4" and 1 1/2" wide and about 24" long. It has a thin tapered edge which makes it easy to slide under the lefse when lifting to transport to the grill and for flipping it over when cooking it. If you do not have access to a lefse turning stick, a utensil such as a pancake turner could be used but it will be more difficult to handle and turn the thin lefse without tearing the dough when using this type of tool. The most common lefse stick comes from Bethany and is 7/8" wide and has a handle painted either red or blue with a white design.

1.5" wide lefse stick Another style of lefse stick from Bethany is almost twice as wide as the normal one at 1.5".  This extra width really helps you transport the lefse to the griddle without tearing it. Instead of being painted, the handle of the wider stick has a design burned into it.

This is a flat, round grill design especially for frying lefse. Because it is flat, without any sides, it makes it easier to turn the lefse when frying it. It is generally made of aluminum.  The grill has a temperature control gauge that allows the unit to heat up to 500°F, which many recipes call for the lefse to be fried at 400°F to 500°F. If you do not have a lefse grill, an electric frying pan that can heat up to 450°F can also be used but it will be harder to turn the lefse when frying because of the sides on the pan and you will be restricted to what size you can make the lefse.

non stick griddle The non-stick griddle works exactly the same, but allows you to use the griddle for making other things like pancakes or burgers.  I have used both styles side by side and do not see any differience, but some people find that the non-stick surface makes it more difficult to handle the lefse because the lefse will have a tendency to slip around more, making it hard to get under it properly when trying to turn it.

Corrugated rolling pin A corrugated rolling pin, also called a single cut or grooved rolling pin, is the perfect rolling pin for making lefse.  The grooves help press out any air bubbles and make nice thin lefse.  In addition, the grooves leave the traditional markings across the surface of the lefse.

double cut pin A double cut or square cut rolling pin

A well seasoned pastry cloth will aid in the rolling process. The dough needs to be rolled out very thin and a seasoned pastry cloth will help prevent the dough from sticking when it is time to transfer it to the grill. If you do not have a pastry cloth, a well floured surface will also work.

rolling pin sock No matter what type of rolling pin you use (but especially if you are using a normal smooth rolling pin) putting a "sock" on your pin will help keep the pin covered in flour and reduce sticking.

The potato ricer forces the potatoes through small holes in the ricer, which is a good way to eliminate any lumps in the potatoes. The potato masher also does a good job of mashing the potatoes so they do not have any lumps but it is a little more labor intensive than the ricer. Either tool can be used to prepare the potatoes.

what is lefse

Lefse is a soft, Norwegian flatbread similar to a crepe or a tortilla.  
Lefse is made from potatoes similar to a crepe or a tortilla.  Lefse is a Scandinavian treat that is especially popular around the Thanksgiving and Christmas. Family members often gather to cook lefse as a group effort because the process is more enjoyable as a traditional holiday activity. This gathering also provides training to younger generations keeping the tradition alive.

There are many ways of flavoring lefse. The most common is adding butter to the lefse and rolling it up. In Norway, this is known as "lefse-klenning". Other options include adding cinnamon and/or sugar, or spreading jelly or lingonberries upon it.Scandinavian-American variations include rolling it with a thin layer of peanut butter and sugar, with butter and white or brown sugar, with butter and corn syrup, or with ham and eggs. Also eaten with beef, and other savory items like Ribberull and mustard, it is comparable to a thin tortilla. Lefse is a traditional accompaniment to lutefisk, and the fish is often rolled up in the lefse.

how to eat lefse

Lefse is typically served dry which allows each person to top the lefse as they desire.
Most often the lefse is cut in half or in quarters and stacked on a platter (my grandmother fanned out the pieces of lefse like a fancy stack of napkins).  Each person can take a piece of lefse and top it as desired before eating.
The most common way to eat lefse is to butter it, sprinkle with sugar or brown sugar, and roll it up (although some people fold in half instead of rolling).  Other variations are
*plain butter
*spread with jam (lingonberry), jelly, or peanut butter
*topped with lutefisk

freezing lefse

Lefse freezes beautifully, just enclose in ziploc style freezer bags, removing as much air from the bag as possible.  In order to freeze large lefse rounds without folding you will need 2 gallon or larger bags, if you do not have large bags just fold a stack of lefse in half or in quarters (fold in half and then in half again, you will end up with a triangle with one side rounded) before bagging.
Use frozen lefse within a few days of thawing, it does go bad faster after it has been frozen than fresh lefse.

"instant" lefse

6 c. water
2 c. milk
1/2 c. butter
1/4 c. veg oil
1/4 c. sugar
1 T. salt
4 c. instant Idahoan premium mashed potatoes (I can only recommend this brand. The only other way to go is to use real potatoes like you are supposed to.)
4 c. flour

Bring the first 4 ingredients to a boil. Remove from heat and add sugar, salt and potatoes. Allow to cool, divide into four (yogurt) containers and chill in refrigerator overnight.
Preheat lefse griddle to 400 degrees (425 for aluminum griddle).
Remove only one container of your potato mixture at a time from the refrigerator. Add enough flour to your potato mixture so it is no longer sticky (use 1 cup per container as a guide, you may need less-but probably will need more). Form into 1 1/2 oz. balls. You want to keep this mixture as cold as possible so it will require less flour, roll out easier, and not rip as easily.
Check again to make sure mixture isn't too sticky (if it is, add more flour) then roll into thin 12" rounds on a floured pastry cloth with a rolling pin and sleeve (also floured). Regularly re-flour the pastry cloth and the rolling pin so the lefse does not stick.
Loosen the sheet of lefse from the pastry cloth by sliding the lefse turning stick underneath the entire sheet. When loose, slide the lefse stick under the lefse again and use it to transfer to the hot griddle. Lay half the sheet on the griddle and use the stick to roll the other half onto the griddle. 

Cook until the lefse starts to bubble up and get light brown spots, then flip. When the second side is done, remove from the griddle and stack between two towels. 
Bush the griddle quickly with a towel between every sheet, or the excess flour will begin to burn.
Allow to cool completely between the towels, then store however you like (we store in a 2 1/2 gallon ziplock-in the fridge if we do not expect to finish within a few days or it can be left out if you are going to finish sooner).

Yield is approx 40 12" sheets of lefse.

Grandma Kvamme's lefse recipe

10 c. riced white potatoes
1/4 c. margarine
1/3 c. half and half or whipping cream
1 tsp. salt and sugar
4 c. flour

FAQ

frequently asked questions:
my lefse is getting too crispy
too tough