Flatbread & Cookies

Flatbread 

pictures by Kuki

Flatbread has been an important part of Norwegian life for centuries, mainly because it could survive long, cold winters. People originally made it as a practical way to store grain when fresh bread wouldn’t last. Farmers used to bake huge batches that could stay good for months at a time. Because it was so durable, it became the perfect food to bring on long journeys, especially for sailors and shepherds.

Traditional flatbread was usually made from barley, oat, or rye. The grains that grew well in the tough climate. The dough was rolled out very thin and cooked on a hot griddle or stone. Once dried, it turned crisp and stayed fresh without any special storage. People typically ate it with butter, cheese, or different kinds of cured meats. It often showed up alongside porridge or stews as an easy, everyday addition.

For many families, flatbread was the daily staple while fluffy, leavened bread was saved for holidays.

Today, flatbread is still a big part of Norwegian food culture. It’s commonly served with traditional dishes like rakfisk and lutefisk. You can find softer or flavored versions now, but the classic crisp style is still loved. Even with all the changes in modern cooking, flatbread remains a link to Norway’s past and its long-standing food traditions.

I had the chance to bring this old but still on-going tradition to life last week and made some of my own. And I used a following recipe that was provided to us in our class:

Flatbread with Oats (40 pieces) from Go'Bitar fra Besta si kokebok

Ingredients:

• 1 kg whole wheat flour (coarse)
• 1.5 liters boiling water
• 2 teaspoons salt 
• Oat flour
• Wheat flour

Preparation:

1. Pour boiling water over the whole wheat flour and salt. Let it sit overnight.
2. Knead in oat flour and wheat flour. The dough should be smooth and easy to work
3. with. 
4. Roll out the dough on a floured surface, using a mix of oat flour and wheat flour for rolling. Check to make sure the dough doesn't stick to the surface. 
5. Bake the flatbread on a hot griddle until golden brown on both sides.

1. After baking, fold the flatbread into two and then into four. Store them in a brown paper bag

Observation:

Following the recipe I quickly noticed that the dough was way too wet so I ended up mixing in extra flour until it thickened to a firm enough texture so I could form it into balls of 60g. I also had a steep learning curve figuring out how to roll the dough on the stick to transport it on the hot plate so it wouldn't get injured. 

pictures by Kuki

Linzer cookies or Linecké koláčky 

Linzer cookies are a classic treat inspired by the famous Austrian Linzer torte. They’re made from a buttery nut-based dough that gives them a rich, tender texture. Two cookies are sandwiched together with a layer of sweet jam. A small cutout on the top cookie lets the jam peek through, giving them their iconic look. They’re quite popular Christmas cookies in Slovakia that make the home feel warm and nice. That's why I decided to make them!

picture by Kuki

I followed a Slovak recipe from Jana Štrbková:

Ingredients:

• 150 g cold butter
• 60 g powdered sugar
• 1 packet vanilla sugar
• a pinch of salt
• 2 egg yolks
• 260 g all-purpose flour
• 2 tbsp cold water
• 300 g apricot jam

    For dusting:

• powdered sugar

Instructions:

1. Grate the cold butter on the large holes of a grater into a bowl. Add the sifted powdered and vanilla sugar, a pinch of salt, egg yolks, flour, and 2 tablespoons of cold water. Knead into a smooth dough by hand or using a mixer with a paddle attachment. Work quickly with this type of shortcrust dough so the butter doesn’t melt. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate it for one hour.
2. Place the chilled dough on a floured surface and roll it out to about 0.3–0.5 cm thickness. Cut out pairs of shapes as desired.
3. Bake on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper in an oven preheated to 180 °C for about 12 minutes, until golden.
4. Dust the top pieces of the cookies with powdered sugar while they are still warm. Spread apricot jam on the bottom pieces and sandwich them together.

Observation:

For time saving reasons I put the dough into the freezer so it would toughen up faster while making flatbread. It turned out to be too hard in the end so i had to wait a little bit for the butter to soften up again so I could roll it out thin. I also used the black currant jam we made in the beginning of the semester for this cookies and the combination turned out to be fabulous and so tasty!

pictures by Kuki

References:

Gundersen, Mathew Paul. “Norwegian Flatbread: A Traditional Favourite.” Life in Norway, 22 Apr. 2020, https://www.lifeinnorway.net/norwegian-flatbread-a-traditional-favourite/. 

“Flatbrød.” Wikipedia, 27 Apr. 2025. Wikipedia, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flatbr%C3%B8d&oldid=1287633575. 

Ani. “Norwegian Flatbread.” Chef Ani, 27 Feb. 2019, https://chefani.com/norwegian-flatbrod-flatbread/.