Gluten-Free Lefse

Ahh lefse! Believe it not, this was my first try at making lefse. I figured I already had some practice since mom and I occasionally make flour tortillas at home. But other than rolling them out, they don't have a ton in common. :) But they're fun and tasty nonetheless. Best of all, I made these gluten-free (my plus one has celiac) so that I wouldn't be the only one 'round here eating them. My plus one is also Norwegian and grew up eating these, so needless to say, the bar was high. I'll just say that I fully enjoyed a mere 2 lefse... The rest were sequestered into his backpack the next morning and taken to work to be enjoyed as a snack, so I think they turned out a-OK!

Ingredients:

• 3 Russet potatoes 
• 3 TBL butter
• 2 TBL olive oil
• 1/4 cup of 2% or whole milk 
• 1 TBL sugar
• 1 TSP salt
• 1 1/2 cups of gluten-free flour (I used Cup4Cup)
• 1/2 cup of Tapioca Starch

1. Pre-heat over to 175 F.

2. Wash, peel and cut potatoes into medium chunks (1-2 inches). Put them in a pot, fill it with water, salt the water, and bring to a boil. Cook until tender (about 20 minutes) and drain. Spread the potatoes on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 15-20 minutes.
Note: Don't skip this step! Doing this removes the moisture from the potatoes, yielding soft (not mushy) lefse. 

3. Remove potatoes from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Using a ricer, rice the potatoes in a large bowl. You can also use a masher and mash until no clumps of potato are left. 

4. In a small saucepan, combine the butter, milk, sugar, and salt. Heat over medium-low, and stir it just until the butter melts and the sugar is dissolved. Do not boil. 

5. Pour the warm liquid over the riced potatoes and use a spatula to thoroughly combine the ingredients until smooth. 

6. In a separate bowl, combine the gluten-free flour and the tapioca starch and whisk until fully combined. 

7. Gradually add the flour mixture to the potato mixture, kneading it as you combine it. The dough will be soft and pliable but still fairly delicate. 

8. Place an iron skillet on the stove-top on medium heat.

9. On a lightly floured surface, use an ice cream scooper to scoop out balls of dough and a rolling pin to roll them out into 4 or 5-inch rounds. 

10. With an offset spatula, turn them over and continue to roll out to the desired size.

11. Place the lefse on the skillet and cook on each side until brown and puffy.

While still warm, garnish the lefse with butter and sugar and enjoy!