Grandma Adeline's Lefse
Folded or rolled, sweet or savory, there's no shortage of ways to enjoy lefse. One of the most common serving methods is to simply add butter and sugar and maybe a dusting of cinnamon before rolling it up. Feel free to use white or brown sugar--they're delicious both ways.
Ingredients
- 10 pounds russet potatoes
- 1 1/2 sticks butter
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 4 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 3 teaspoons salt
- 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for rolling the dough
- Butter at room temperature, for serving
- Sugar for serving
- Cinnamon for serving
Instructions
Day 1
- Rinse and peel the potatoes, then place them in a large pot of boiling, salted water until cooked through—you want them to be thoroughly tender but not over- cooked. Remove the potatoes from the heat and drain well.
- When the potatoes are cool enough to touch, press them through a ricer, then measure 12 packed cups into a large bowl. Reserve the rest for another use.
- In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Stir in the cream, sugar, and salt. Pour the butter over the pota- toes and stir to incorporate. When the mixture has cooled, cover and refrigerate it overnight.
Day 2
- An hour or so before you’re ready to get started, remove the potatoes from the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature.
- Mix in the flour, using your hands to work all the ingre- dients together and massage out any lumps.
- Shape the dough into balls about 2 inches in diam- eter and flatten them into disks, making sure they’re solid and smooth without cracks. Place them on cookie sheets lined with waxed paper, and keep them in the refrigerator while you work—you want the dough to stay cool, so only remove about six disks at a time.
- Set up your lefse rolling station and preheat a griddle or two large skillets. You’ll need a surface on which to roll the lefse—I’d recommend a flour-covered pastry board, a rolling pin (ideally a cloth-covered corrugated one), a thin spatula or a turning stick, and a brush for removing excess flour. Sprinkle flour liberally over the board and rolling pin and rub it in to prevent the dough from sticking. (You’ll repeat this when you’re finished rolling each piece of dough—keeping a bowl full of flour at your workspace is helpful.)
- Dip both sides of a dough disk into the flour, then place it on the board. Roll the lefse, using a medium touch, going in different directions to make a thin circle.
- Gently slide a lefse stick or heat-proof spatula under the lefse, a couple of inches from the edge. Carefully roll it over the stick to remove it from the board and transfer it to the hot griddle. (It’s important to not let the lefse sit on the board long after rolling it, or it will stick.) When bubbles start to form on the surface of the lefse, lift up a corner to see if it is ready. There should be some brown spots on the underside. Flip and cook the other side.
- Transfer the lefse to waxed paper, and brush the flour off the finished lefse and the griddle. Cover the finished flatbreads with a clean tea towel while working to keep them soft. Flour the board and the rolling pin, and repeat with the remaining dough disks.
- To serve, spread a warm lefse with butter and dust with sugar and cinnamon. Roll it up and cut it into 11/2-inch- long pieces, or fold it into sixths.
Notes
Storage Tip: Fold each lefse into quarters and separate with a piece of wax paper. Wrap with wax paper or foil, then transfer to plastic bags, pressing out any air. These will stay fresh in the refrigerator for a few days and also freeze well.