stan's and caroline's lefse

When our family started making lefse this was the first recipe that we used.  It was shared with my mom and dad by friends of theirs.  It was an easy recipe as it used instant potatoes so there was no peeling and cooking of the potatoes.  It made a dough that was easy to work with and had good flavor. 

stan's and caroline's lefse

1 pound package of Hungry Jack instant potatoes (8 cups)

6 1/2 cups boiling water

1 stick blue bonnet margarine

1 stick butter

1/2 cup cream

1 Tbsp sugar

1 Tbsp salt

Mix together and then chill overnight. 

4-6 cups flour

The next day, when cold knead in the flour.  Make into balls using approximately 1/4 cup of the dough for each ball and return balls to the refrigerator.  Remove the balls from the refrigerator a couple at a time so that the remainder stay cold.  Roll the ball into a thin round and then cook on a lefse grill.  When cooked fold in quarters and stack in a dish towel to keep them from drying out.  After they have cooled we place ours in a zipper top bag.   

Lisa's favorite kringla

Our Grandma Alma made kringla every year at Christmastime.  It is part of our Norwegian heritage.  We have been unable to locate the recipe used by her and so we have searched out and tried several different variations.  This recipe is one that my sister, Lisa, discovered and uses. 

Lisa's favorite kringla

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp butter

1/2 cup buttermilk

16 ounces cultured sour cream

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

3-4 cups flour

Combine sugar and butter.  Mix in the buttermilk.  Mix the baking soda in the sour cream and then add to the sugar/buttermilk mixture.  Combine the salt and the baking powder with part of the flour and stir into the mixture.  Add the remaining flour.  The dough will be sticky.  Refrigerate at least one hour.  Roll one ounce portions of dough into an 8 inch rope.  A dough scoop works great for portioning the dough into equal size kringlas.  Form the rope into a figure eight.  Bake 350 for 16 minutes (Lisa's original recipe called for baking at 350-400 for 12 minutes) they should be just turning very light brown on the bottoms when done.

Store in a covered container with waxed paper between layers. Lisa places a dish towel over the top layer as well.  This recipe can be doubled. 

grandma alma's peppernuts

I don't remember Grandma making these every year but they I do recall her making them.  Lisa says that this is Grandma's recipe, I think she said it was the first recipe that Grandma gave her.  It makes quite a large batch and is quite labor intensive.  Maybe that is why I don't remember it being there every year.  These are tiny molasses cookies with all the spices that predominate in the fall/harvest/Thanksgiving/Christmas sweets: ginger, allspice, cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. 

 

Grandma Alma's Peppernuts

2 cup sugar

1 cup shortening

3/4 cup molasses

1/4 cup dark karo syrup

1 egg

1/2 cup coffee

1 Tbsp vinegar

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp ginger

1 tsp allspice

1 tsp cloves

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp cinnamon

6 cups flour

Mix together, chill at least 8 hours or overnight. Shape by rolling into a rope the size of a pencil and then cutting crosswise into small coins. Works well to cut directly onto the cookie sheet.  Bake 350 for 10-12 minutes. 

lefse

Once or twice a winter our family gathers to make lefse.  This year it was the second generation (my parents) and the third generation (Lisa and I and friend Perry) and the fourth generation (Kaylee and Chase).  Nikole (fourth generation) makes lefse at her home and is carrying on the tradition.  She has promised to do a post with her recipe. 

Last year Ruth,  a friend of Mom and Dad, shared with them her recipe and it has become our new favorite.  Where our previous favorite recipe used chilled mashed potatoes this recipe calls for cooking a few  potatoes at a time and rolling them out while still warm. 

Here are a few action shots followed by the recipe.

two lefse rolling pins one with the stockinette on

Lisa at work rolling out the lefsea

one lefse on the board and one on the grill

We use two grills,a stick is used to turn

once cooked the folded  lefses are tucked in a dish towel

a growing pile of lefses

 

Ruth's lefse

Cook five medium potatoes at a time.  Rice them and measure out 2 cups.  While rolling and grilling the first batch another five potatoes are cooking for the second batch.  We used the same potato water, adding more as it cooked away.  

To the 2 cups of riced potatoes add

3 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup cream 

Mix well and then add 

1 1/2 cup flour.  

Divide the lefse dough into ten roughly equal pieces and shape into balls.  We dipped each of the balls into flour and then rolled them out very thinly adding additional flour as needed to keep them from sticking. We use a lefse turning stick to transfer the lefse rounds to the grill.  When the bottom is cooked the stick is used to turn the lefse  over to cook the top side.  When the second side is cooked the turning stick is used to lift the lefse from the grill and  they are placed, folded in quarters, in a pile and covered by a dish towel.  The towel keeps the heat and moisture in and the lefses are  kind of steamed.   Once the pile has cooled we  package them in  ziplock bags and freeze them for Christmas or eat them fresh.  We usually apply a thin layer of butter and a sprinkle of sugar before rolling them up.  We used ten pounds of potatoes (russets) which made 6 or maybe 7 batches.

rosettes

Rosettes are something that my grandma Alma made every year.   They are deep fried so we have always made them at the same time as the Christmas doughnuts.  They require very few ingredients and mix up quickly. 

Making rosettes requires the purchase of a rosette iron.

The iron is preheated in the hot oil.  When making the rosettes the iron is dipped into the batter to just below the top of the iron. You want to hold the iron level while  lowering  the iron into the batter  and try not to get any batter onto the top of the iron as that will make it impossible to get the rosette off of the iron.   I have found that it is helpful to have the batter in a small bowl with low sides.

The dipped iron is then held in the hot oil and fried.  Sometimes the cooking rosette stays on the iron and when removed from the oil it may need a gentle nudge to get it to drop off the iron.  A wooden spoon handle works well for this.  We drop our rosettes onto layers of paper towels to cool.  Sometimes the rosette as it cooks drops off of the iron while in the oil and then it needs to be lifted out with a slotted spoon or other implement and then placed on the paper towels.

Rosettes

2 eggs, beaten slightly

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbsp sugar

1 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup cake flour

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix with a whisk until just combined.  Fry in hot grease.  Place on paper towels to drain.  Dip in granulated or confectioners sugar.

krumkake

My Grandma Alma always made krumkake but she called them scrollers. 

Krumkake is a Norwegian treat that is made flat on an iron and then quickly rolled into a scroll while still warm.   As they cool they set into a crisp tube.  My first krumkake iron was a metal one that sat on the stove.  A teaspoon of the batter was placed between two plates and when the plates were squeezed together they forced the dab of dough into a thin flat circle.  The plates were flipped to cook both sides and then the flat cookie was rolled around a slightly tapered wooden dowel until they cooled.

Now I have an electric krumkake iron that cooks two cookies side by side.  It works kind of like a waffle iron, the top and bottom heat so there is no flipping necessary.  And with two cookies at a time you are done twice as fast.

krumkake

3 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup flour

Beat eggs and sugar until well mixed.  Stir in the melted butter and vanilla.  Beat in the flour until smooth.  Bake on heated iron, 15-20 seconds per side for conventional iron, until slightly browned on electric iron.  Immediately shape around a wooden dowel until cool and set.

scandinavian almond bars

The recipe for this cookie was published years ago in a Better Homes and Garden magazine of Christmas baking.  Since we gravitate towards all things Scandinavian we gave this one a try and it quickly became a favorite of my mom.  It is easy to do, keeps well and can be made ahead of time and frozen.  It has a different shape so it looks interesting on a goodie plate.

Scandinavian almond bars

1 3/4 cup flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp almond extract

1/2 cup sliced almonds, coarsely chopped

almond icing

Stir together the dry ingredients.  In a mixer beat the butter until softened.  Add the sugar and beat until fluffy.  Add the egg and the extract and beat well.  Add the dry ingredients and beat until well mixed.

To shape divide dough into fourths and shape each portion into a log about 12 inches long.  Place two of the logs on each parchment lined baking sheet and flatten into a rectangle that is about  3 inches wide and 1/4 inch thick.  Brush each rectangle with a small amount of milk and top with chopped almonds.  Bake in preheated 325° oven for 12-14 minutes.  Remove from oven and while still warm cut crosswise at an angle.  When cool drizzle with almond icing made from confectioners sugar, milk and almond flavoring.

first I make one 12 inch log

i use my bench scraper to cut it into four parts

The four logs

Then I use the palm of my hand to flatten each log.

two flattened logs on each baking sheet

I use a brush to spread a little milk on each

then I sprinkle the chopped sliced almonds

ready for the oven

while still warm I cut them diagonally and cool.

ans with a drizzle of icing they are done.

scandinavian almond cake

There used to be a Scandinavian shop in a neighboring town that had lots of kitchen stuff and on one of our visits there years ago we found this interesting shaped pan with a recipe for an almond cake.

We bought the pan and tried the cake and it is now a family favorite.  We  have since bought a couple more pans and a couple years ago we found one that makes four smaller cakes.  For some reason when making this cake with butter it does not release cleanly from the pan so it is necessary to use margarine for this cake.

the batter

ready to go in the oven

Scandinavian almond cake

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 egg

1 1/2 tsp almond extract

2/3 cup milk

1 3/8 cup flour (7 ounces)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 stick margarine, melted (not butter)

With whisk combine sugar, egg, milk and almond flavoring.  Mix well.  Add flour and baking powder.  Add melted and cooled margarine.  Pour into prepared pan.  Bake at 350° for 50 minutes.  Cool in pan for 10 minutes and then tip out of pan to finish cooling.  When cool dust with confectioners sugar.

Ready to slice and serve

This is not exclusively a Christmas sweet, we make it many times throughout the year, but we always have it at Christmas.