Description
I am a transplanted Southerner of Russian/German descent. A staple for my mother when she was growing up was my grandmother’s Lefse. Lefse is actually a Norwegian potato pancake of sorts. My grandparents settled in North Dakota after immigrating to America and undoubtedly my grandmother picked up her Lefse recipe from a Norwegian neighbor. I found her original recipe in my old tin recipe card file.
Ingredients
- FOR THE LEFSE:
- 2 cups Cooked, Mashed Sweet Potatoes
- 2 Tablespoons Butter, Softened At Room Temperature
- ½ cups Packed Brown Sugar
- ½ teaspoons Salt
- ½ cups Heavy Cream
- 3 cups Flour
- FOR THE FILLING:
- 4 ounces, weight Packages Cream Cheese, Softened At Room Temperature
- ½ cups Sugar
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla
- 1 teaspoon Cinnamon
- ½ cups Pecan, Chopped
Preparation
For the Lefse, combine the sweet potatoes, butter, brown sugar and salt in a mixer. Beat at medium speed until it is smooth and mixed well. Add the cream. Mix until the consistency is very smooth. Remove from the mixer and add the flour 1/2 cup at a time and stir by hand. Continue adding the flour until you have added 2 cups. At this point you will want to test the consistency of your dough. It needs to be at the stage that you can roll it out., not sticky and not too firm. You may need to add more flour. If this is necessary, do it in 1/4 to 1/2 cup increments.
Before you start cooking your Lefse, you need to make the filling so it is ready to place into the nice warm Lefse.
For the filling, place cream cheese, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon in a bowl and beat well on medium to high speed with a mixer. You want the filling to be thoroughly mixed and creamy. Dump in the pecans and stir by hand to combine. Set aside.
Take a 1/4-cup size measuring cup and scoop out some dough. Roll this amount into a ball and place on a floured surface. Roll this out into a very thin pancake. Place on hot griddle and cook. You do not want to overcook and make them hard—you just want to lightly brown on both sides. It needs to be pliable enough to roll up once you have filled it with the cream cheese mixture.
Remove the Lefse from the griddle and place approximately 2 tablespoons of the cream cheese mixture on one side of it. Roll up and serve!
Makes 15.
