Easy Cinnamon & Sugar Potato Lefse

On our way home from our week long vacation in Discovery Bay, Washington, we decided to stop in Pouslbo for some lunch. I was reading the night before in a brochure about this little Norwegian town and wanted to check it out for myself. 

Upon arriving in the town you can definitely see the strong Norwegian influence. Poulsbo reminds me of Leavenworth, Washington. Streets are lined with cute shop, tasty bakeries, and delicious restaurants. A great place to walk around and explore on a sunny day!

We stopped by Sluy's Bakery to see what kinds of sugary treats they had. One of our missions when we go to a new town is to checkout all of the bakeries. Normally, I am not able to say this, but every single item in this bakery looked amazing! As a result, we purchased a selection of items from the wide array of cookies, doughnuts, breads, and cakes (it took us over 30 minutes to slim down our choices as we could not have one of everything..bummer!).

 We also picked up a few potato lefse to sample as we walked along the sunny shore line dotted with numerous ships. Never having tried these before, I was pleasantly surprised. My mind began to think of all the tasty fillings I could put inside these yummy little potato pancakes. 

This morning I woke up and decided that I would try to replicate these in my own kitchen. I had all of the necessary ingredients and decided to give it a go, but before I continue let me share a little about lefse. Lefse is a traditional soft Norwegian flat potato bread. Lefse reminds me of something between a crepe and a flour tortilla. Though I have read that they can be eaten with meat and cheese or even topped with gravy, I think the best way is to slather them in butter and then coat in a layer of cinnamon and sugar...think buttery, cinnamon and sugar toast without the crunchiness! 

Traditional lefse are made by ricing your boiled potatoes, but many of you may not have a ricing kitchen tool, so the next best thing you can do is use instant mashed potatoes. I know, not traditional, but let's just call this a "variation" :-)

Ingredients: 

3 cups instant mashed potato flakes
1 cup water
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
2 teaspoons salt
1 cup milk
3/4 to 1 cup all-purpose flour

Directions:

Heat a large electric skillet or griddle to highest temperature setting. No oil is necessary. Measure the potato flakes into large bowl. In small saucepan, heat water, margarine and salt to a rolling boil. Remove from heat; add milk. Add liquid all at once to potato flakes, stirring until all flakes are moistened. (Mixture will be crumbly.) 

Gradually add flour to potato mixture, working with hands until soft dough forms and is of rolling consistency. Go easy on the flour because you do not want the dough too dry!

Shape dough into a roll 10 inches long and about 2 inches in diameter. Cut roll into 1/2-inch slices. Place slices on a large plate or baking sheet and cover with plastic wrap to prevent drying.   

On well-floured pastry cloth, roll out 1 slice of dough until very thin. I like to roll all of them out ahead of time. Place a piece of wax paper between the rolled out lefse and seal in a plastic bag or cover tightly with plastic wrap.

Remove one rolled out lefse from the bag and transfer to the heated griddle. Bake about 1 minute or until brown spots appear on bottom surface. Using a large spatula, flip over and cook the opposite side.

Turning these are tricky if you make then too big, so I suggest making them smaller ones so you can turn them over a little easier. Bake other side about 30 to 45 seconds. Place baked lefse between wax paper and covering with a barely damp towel to prevent them from drying out. Repeat with remaining dough. Cool completely before storing in plastic bag.

Ok, now to the best part....eating them! Spread your warm lefse with butter, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, roll up, and take a bite. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from: www.dianasdesserts.com