From heart-shaped vafler with geitost and pannekaker topped with lingonberries, to Grandma Adeline’s potato lefse served with butter and sugar, this is your source for beloved Scandinavian recipes. I’ve written about many Scandinavian and Nordic recipes over the years. Here’s a collection of some of my favorites.
Breads & Buns
Cardamom Buns (Boller)
Fastelavnsboller (Norwegian Shrovetide Buns)
Julekake (Norwegian Christmas Bread)
Lefse
Scandinavian Cinnamon Rolls
Skoleboller (Norwegian “School Buns” with Pastry Cream and Coconut)
St. Lucia Saffron Buns (Lussekatter)
Cookies
Almond-Cardamom Thumbprints with Lingonberry Preserves
Berlinerkranser
Fattigmann
Grandma Adeline’s Pizzelles
Krumkaker
Pepperkaker
Sandkaker / Sandbakkelse
Scandinavian Coconut Cookies with Sea Salt
Cakes & Tortes
Brown Butter Almond Cake with Pears
Gluten-Free Scandinavian Almond Cake with Rhubarb Compote
Icelandic Happy Marriage Cake (Hjónabandssaela)
Kransekake
Kvæfjordkake (also known as Verdens Beste Kake, or World’s Best Cake)
Lingonberry-Studded Almond Cake with Cardamom
Marzipan-Stuffed Danish Strawberry Tart with Chocolate
Nordic Blueberry Tart with Rye
Norwegian Apple Cake (Eplekake)
Norwegian Bløtkake with Strawberries and Cream
Norwegian Fyrstekake
Norwegian Rhubarb Cake
Norwegian Success Tart (Suksessterte)
Norwegian Sunshine Cake (Solskinnskake)
Swedish Currant Cake
Swedish Mazarin Torte with Nectarines (Mazarintårta)
Tiger Cake
Other Desserts & Sweets
Arme Riddere (Norwegian Poor Knights)
Blueberry Fruit Soup Sweetened with Honey
Chilled Rhubarb Soup with Vanilla Ice Crea
Danish Pastry Dough
Great-Grandma Josephine’s Norwegian Waffles with Cardamom (Vaffler)
Kringle with Almond and Raisins
Norwegian Coffee Mousse (Kaffefromasj)
Norwegian Fluffy Sweet Omelet
Old-School Norwegian Prune Porridge with Vanilla Sauce (Sviskegrøt med Vaniljesaus)
Rhubarb Cardamom Crisp with Buckwheat Streusel and Whipped Crème Fraîche
Strawberries and Cream
Whipped Lingonberry Troll Cream (Trollkrem)
Main dishes
Bergen Easter Chicken
Biff à la Lindström
Grilled Salmon with Lemon-Horseradish Cream
Kräftskiva Menu
Lutefisk with Melted Butter and White Sauce
Mussels in Aquavit with Horseradish Cream
Norwegian Mackerel with Roasted Rhubarb
Norwegian Pancakes (Pannekaker) – My Recipe
Norwegian Potato Dumplings
Norwegian “Prince Fish” with Asparagus and White Sauce (Prinsefisk)
Pickled Herring, Egg, and Radish Smørrebrød
Scandi-Style Salmon Burger
Shrimp Smørrebrød with Lemon and Cucumber
Simply Poached Prawns with Herb Sauce
Smørbrød with Pickled Herring, Egg Salad, a Tangle of Watercress, and Dill
Steamed Mussels with Leeks and Root Vegetables
Swedish Meatballs (No Gluten, Dairy, or Eggs)
Venison with Parsnips and Chanterelles
Wine-Steamed Cauliflower with Creamy Shrimp Sauce
Salads
Creamy Celeriac Salad with Horseradish, Parsley, and Nuts
Creamy Norwegian Red Cabbage and Apple Salad
Cucumber Salad with Dill
Danish Blue Cheese Salad
Golden Beet, Geitost, and Watercress Salad
Grape Tomato Salad with Dill
Kale Salad with Lemon-Cream Dressing
Late-Summer Salad of Local Greens with Cucumbers and Fresh Dill
Midsummer Picnic Potato Salad
Red Cabbage Salad with Green Apple, Lingonberry Preserves, and Toasted Walnuts
Rye Berry Salad with Mushrooms, Blueberries, Goat Cheese and Walnuts
Strawberry and Rye Berry Salad
Sweet-and-Sour Cucumber Salad
Soups & Stews
Bergen Fish Soup (Bergensk Fiskesuppe)
Nordic Roasted Cauliflower Soup (Blomkålsuppe) with Brown Butter and Cardamom
Norwegian Bacalao Stew
Potato, Kale, and Green Bean Soup (Plant-Based)
Swedish Sailor’s Stew (Sjömansbiff)
Sides
Green Beans and Mushrooms with Dill Vinaigrette
Herb-Roasted Vegetables
Jansson’s Temptation
New Potatoes and Chanterelles with Lemon and Dill
Parsley-Dill Potatoes
Västerbottenpai (Swedish Cheese and Mushroom Quiche)
Wilted Cabbage with Fresh Dill and Bacon (Kål med Dill og Flesk)
Appetizers
Creamy Shrimp and Dill on Cucumber Slices (Skagenröra)
Goat Cheese with Mushrooms, Pickled Asparagus, and Crispbread
Norwegian Cheese, Onion, and Mushroom Tart
Gravlax
Plums with Blue Cheese, Walnuts, and Crispbread
Roasted Oysters with Rhubarb Mignonette
Smoked Mackerel and Dill Spread
Miscellaneous
Dill Sauce for Fish
Finnish Spinach Pancakes (Pinaattiohukaiset)
Gløgg (Scandinavian spiced wine)
Homemade Butter
Homemade Crème Fraîche
Homemade Vanilla Sugar (Vaniljesukker)
Nordic Rhubarb and Strawberry Jam
Norwegian Rømmegrøt (Sour Cream Porridge)
Pastry Cream (Homemade Substitute for Kakefyll)
Pickled Beets with Bay Leaf and Juniper
Queen’s Berries Martini
Sparkling Aquavit Cocktail with Strawberry and Orange
Spiced Lingonberry Jam
And don’t forget you can always pin my Scandinavian recipes over at Pinterest! Follow me over there for more inspiration.
Greetings, I saw your post about coconut cookies and you mentioned a macaroon recipe from Nordstorm. Would you be so kind as to share that recipe too? Thanks.
The recipe is on YouTube and Pinterest.
the Swedish brandy cake is a great find … thank you!
Can’t wait to try out some of your recipes, my mother in law’s family is from Norway. The only recipes I know from the area is the Norwegian pancakes. My children love to spend the night at grandma’s place so she’ll make them for their breakfast.
It’s breakfast time right now, and those pancakes sound pretty good! One thing I’ve been wondering recently is what is the difference between Norwegian pancakes and Swedish pancakes. Do you have any idea?
From what I’ve seen of Swedish pancakes the only difference between the two looks like the fruit/toppings?
My mother in law makes her Norwegian pancakes fairly thin and then takes a stick of butter and coats the hot pancake with it (just sliding it over the hot pancake it melts the butter) then sprinkles sugar & cinnamon over it and then rolls them (jelly roll style) and puts it on the plate only to top it with more sugar (powdered). No wonder my kids love them so much…sugar addicts and all 😉
This recipe for Swedish pancakes, that I found on the Food Network site ( http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/swedish-pancakes-recipe/index.html ) looks about the same as the Norwegian pancake recipe but with the fruit topping.
I wondered if you ever use a Swedish Pancake Plattar, with the small pancake indents? My grandmother, who was from Sweden, left me one.
I googled for a lefse recipe and found your page. I found your story interesting. My paternal grandparents were Norwegian, came from Oslo..my grandma went to North Dakota and my grandfather to Ballard. My dad was born in Ballard. I came to Ballard in 1957 from Iwakuni, Japan! My dad had been stationed there in the Navy, met my mother who is Japanese and viola! So I grew up eating sashimi and lutefisk. Nah, I never liked either one. But I do love lefse, krumkake and rulepolse. I’m back in Washington, where most people never believe I’m half Norwegian, but grew up mainly in Hawai’i where I’m not an oddity. 🙂
Liz – What a wonderful history and heritage! Thanks for sharing.
Great to see some gluten free recipes esp Scandinavian ones…..M
Thank you!
I happily found the one bread (JULEKAKE) and of course spelled it wrong before, now looking for the Second..(it sounds like )-Siserkake. I found this Scandinavian store Online where you can buy the ingredients (OLSEN’s Scandinavian Foods like Scan Vanilla Sugar, Pearl Sugar not sold in any supermarket I know of. Will Order to make All of these recipes from my childhood. Thanks again. Carol
do you have a good recipe for lefse. I just aquired a lefse rolling pin . I don`t have an electric grill and am working on making a lefse stick what pan can i use . Thank You Jan
This is so exciting to find what you do! I’m from full blooded Norwegian-Lutheran farm stock or rural South Dakota. I love to make my mom’s Sot Suppe, grandma/s Jule Kake, Lefse, etc. My wife and I made our first batch of Rommegrot yesterday. Was great! And I have a rhubarb plant in the back yard. One of my favorite things to do is plan for a special event with wonderful home cooked food and the beautiful table settings that we have collected, a lot of which I grew up with. I even enjoy ironing linens on cold winter days! I’m sure I will consult with your site for future culinary adventures.
Hope to meet you some day. We live in Tacoma.
My family moved to Stavanger in 2017 and quickly acquired a Norwegian waffle iron. We found waffle recipe and have been making our own norske vafler ever since. Thanks for sharing this great recipe!
A while back, you mentioned doing some experimentation with gluten-free lefse. Any progress on that front? I had fair success with a recipe several years ago but not so much the second time. Beginner’s luck, maybe.
Meryl, did you ever get a recipe for gluten free lefsa? If so have you tried it and was it good? Also do you have a recipe?
Is there a way available on your site to print individual recipes, just the recipe, not the text. Takes too much paper and ink to print everything written. If this can be done, I would appreciate it. Thank you.