icelandic christmas bread

Laufabrauð – „The Leaf Bread“ A very thin and flaky slightly sweet pan fried bread. It comes originally from North Iceland, where the families would come together as an essential part of the Christmas preparations and cut out the patterns by hand or by a special iron „laufabrauðsjárn“.
Basic Recipe:
Ingredients:
8 c flour
¼ c sugar
 1½ tsp baking powder
 2 c milk
 1/3 c butter

 1/3 c butter
Heat the milk and butter in a saucepan or pot but don´t let it boil. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Then knead just like bread dough. Roll into a long saugage and let it rest for about an hour. Cut the dough sausage into roughly 40 three-centimeter wide pieces, flatten them out with a rolling pin and use a plate and sharp knife or even a pizza cutter to create round cakes. Then use a sharp knife (good pocketknife will do) and make lots of triangular cuts which are called „leaves“ – that´s where you get the name! After decorating each and every leave bread piece the bread is placed in a a pan of with very hot lard or oil (in Iceland sheep fat). Flip it once with two forks and fry it until it has turned „golden“. Take the bread out of the hot oil and set it on a paper kitchen towel to drain off the excessive fat. In Iceland
Laufabrauð is served usually with smoked lamb „hangikjöt“. But it is also delicious powdered with icing sugar!

​Have fun preparing a typical Icelandic dish!