Lefse Recipes

Lefse IS Beautiful !!!!!

Aunt Charlotte's Lefse recipe
(our favorite!)

• 4 cups riced potatoes
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups flour

Find a grill or lefse making accessories to make your own lefse!

Click here to view detailed instructions for making this lefse recipe.

Florene Erickson Family Recipe:

• 6 cups riced potatoes
• 3 Tbsp Crisco (heaped)
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• dash of salt

Lefse by Ida Sacquitne:

Makes about 12 lefse rounds

• 4c riced potatoes
• dash salt
• dash sugar
• 2 -3 T half & half
• 2 T margarine
• 2c flour

Bernice’s Lefse (THE ONE, THE ONLY!)
Submitted by: Gregory Gilbertson

Special Tools:

Cloth covered board, cloth covered rolling pin (one with ridges is best), lefse turning stick(s) (you really need two if you are making many), griddle, potato ricer, masher.

Ingredients:

• 5 Cups Russet (only bakers!) Potatoes- ruthlessly mashed while hot. Preferably sent through a "ricer". Older potatoes tend to work better.
• 1 Stick butter or margarine- melted but not hot
• 1 tsp. Salt
• ½ - 2/3 tsp. Sugar
• 1/3 Cup half & half (cream, like the original, if you must)
• ¾ -1 Cup all purpose unbleached flour- sifted with extra for the rolling board

Preparation:

1. Peel and boil the potatoes- cover the pot with a towel to encourage mealiness.
2. Rice then mash the potatoes to remove all lumps.
3. Mash into the potatoes the margarine/butter, salt, sugar & cream. Let cool to room temperature or a little warmer.
4. Mash in the flour and let cool a bit more.
5. Place the dough on board and work in a little more flour until it handles well.
6. Divide into balls 1/3 - ½ cup in size. Always keep the board floured while rolling.
7. Roll out one ball from the center turning it with the stick often (4-6 times). Keep the board floured. Make them as thin as you possibly can, it is the key to good lefse. If it sticks to the board rub some flour into the spot and scrape it with the edge of a butter knife. Occasionally you may have to scrape the end of the stick with the dull side (we want to scrape off the dough and not the wood) of a butter knife as well to keep it clean. If a sticky spot gets on it the lefse will tear. If a hole develops in a piece of lefse patch and roll it a little more.
8. When it is thin enough roll the piece onto the lefse stick and unroll it onto the griddle. Bake the lefse dough on a preheated 500 griddle for approximately one minute per side until you get some small to medium size brown spots. Turn it over with the lefse stick keeping the tip of the stick clean at all times (use the dull side of a butter knife). clean the griddle, as well as the stick, with a paper towel after each lefse is baked and removed.
9. When done remove the baked lefse from the griddle and place on a kitchen towel and cover it with a piece of plastic wrap and top that off with another kitchen towel. Add to the stack as you cook them being careful to recover the pile with the plastic wrap and towel each time. Let them cool slowly (it may take hours).

TROUBLE SHOOTING: Older potatoes tend to come out mealier which is desirable. Margarine/butter will make them tender. Too much flour will make them tough. If they tear while handling they may be too tender so add a touch more flour to the dough.

From the Frederick Philbert
Jensen, Jr family

• 3 Cups riced Potatoes
• 1/2 stick butter
• 1/2 cup cream
• dash of salt
• 1 1/2 cup flour

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Lefse recipe using instant potatoes submitted by Mary Jane Flikke

I was reading your lefse recipes on your web site and didn't see any using instant mashed potatoes. I love lefse and learned to make it because I moved so far away from my relatives who baked it when I was growing up. Because of time constraints (working, going to college and being a single Mom to 3 kids), I started using instant mashed potatoes to reduce the time it took to provide my family with this treat. Here's the recipe I use:

LEFSE (Norwegian Tortillas)

Bring to a boil (microwave works fine):

• 3 cups water
• 16 tablespoons butter (½ lb.)
• 8 teaspoon salt

Add above to:

• 9 cups dry instant potato flakes
• 3 cups milk
• 4 scant cups flour

Mix well, make into long roll.
Cut into 4 dozen pieces.
Refrigerate in single layers on cookie sheet between waxed paper layers which have been sprayed with vegetable spray.
Refrigerate overnight or until thoroughly chilled.

Roll out as pie crust into dinner plate size pieces.
Keep pieces of lefse dough refrigerated until ready to roll them out.
Use lefse stick to lift from pastry board to griddle and to turn to brown both sides.
Bake at 350 degrees to 375 degrees on lefse iron/griddle or pancake griddle.
Bake until browned bubbles appear.
Remove excess flour from griddle between baking each sheet. Pastry brush works well.
Stack sheets together and cover with a towel until baking is finished to prevent drying out.
Brush any excess flour off sheets of lefse before folding and storing in zip lock bags.
Freezes very well.
If sheets have dried, add a dampened piece of towel to zip lock bag, placing it flat over the sheets of lefse before freezing or storing.

Warm slightly in microwave before serving.

Makes about 4 dozen

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Lefse recipe using instant potatoes submitted by Edith Cano
(This recipe was dictated to Edith by her Norwegian grandmother Ramona Johnson)

1 batch = 24 lefse

ADD to: 3 cups boiling water:

• 1 ½ teas. salt
• ¾ cup margarine or butter
• 2 1/3 cup canned evaporated milk
• ¼ cup sugar

Heat all until real hot.  Now ADD:

• 4 cups Idahoen instant potatoes (you can use any brand)
• (2 lbs 4 oz makes 6 batches)

Mix like for eating. Chill. Then ADD:

• 1 ½ to 2 cups flour when ready to roll. (Mix with hands until flour is absorbed)

Form lefse dough into golf ball sized (or larger) portions. ROLL out flat with Lefse rolling pin using flour as needed (so it won’t stick) turning often with lefse turner until thin. Use lefse turner to lift from pastry board to griddle. Bake on Lefse griddle at 410-435 degrees until golden brown bubbles appear. Flip with lefse turner and brown other side. Stack lefse on towel and cover with another towel until baking is finished to prevent drying out. Once cooled, lefse freezes well.

Perfect Norwegian Lefse submitted by Rebecca Knoepke

Boil, drain and rinse ten pounds of peeled Russet potatoes, but be very careful not to over cook them. That's the key the perfect rolling. Wet potatoes give you sticky lefse!

Rice the warm potatoes and add 2/3 cups half and half, 2 sticks of margarine, 1 TBSP salt and 1TBSP of sugar. Blend well with an electric beater. Place this bowl of potatoes in the fridge overnight covered loosely with a piece of wax or parchment paper to allow them to evaporate some of the moisture. In the morning, add 6 cups of flour and mix well. (I usually have to mix it with my hands.)

Now, roll dough into palm sized balls and return them to the fridge, taking them out a few at a time as you roll them. Cold potatoes are easier to roll than room temp. Flour your lefse surface well, roll it out thin, and grill with your griddle at 400 degrees. (don't grease the griddle!) You definitely need a lefse stick to get the rolled lefse from the rolling surface to the grill. You can buy one, or make your own.

Last is the most important part. As you remove them from the grill, place them in several layers of towels to sweat until they are cool. This takes several hours. I use a flour sack towel with a folded bath towel under it, and on top of it. Once cooled, store in saran in the fridge, or freeze in freezer bags. Enjoy with butter and sugar!

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Lefse Recipe submitted by Tom Hovland

• 5 cups riced potatoes
• 1 Tbsp salt (popcorn)
• 1/3 cup cream
• 3 Tbsp butter/shortening (melted)
• 2 cups flour

Cook potatoes (Yukon Gold / Russet-homegrown) with skins on; peel as soon as can be handled, rice and measure. Mix with cream, salt and butter. Cool for 2 to 3 hours - then add flour.

Roll out and fry on lefse grill, cool on cloth. Age overnight in cool place.

Note: lt is sacrilegious to put any foreign object on Lefse other than butter, roll up and eat.........

An Ole Scandinavian Lefse Recipe (a little lefse humor)

Yew tak yust ten big potatoes
Den yew boil dem til dar don,
Yew add to dis some sveet cream
And by cups it measures vun.

Den yew steal 'tree ounces of butter
And vit two fingers pench some salt,
Yew beat dis wery lightly
If it ain't gude it is your fault.

Den yew roll dis tin vit flour
An' light brown on stove yew bake,
Now call in all Scandihuvians
Tew try da fine lefse yew make!