Laufabrauð — 'leaf bread' — is the Icelandic Christmas flatbread: thin rounds of wheat dough, decoratively cut with leaf-like patterns, then deep-fried until crisp and golden. The cutting is a family ritual in the weeks before Christmas, with everyone gathered around the table with knives and a special laufabrauðsjárn (decorative iron). Listed on the Slow Food Ark of Taste.
Laufabrauð (literally 'leaf bread') is an Icelandic Christmas tradition, listed on the Slow Food Ark of Taste. The bread is a thin round of wheat (sometimes mixed with rye or barley) dough, hand-decorated with intricate cut patterns resembling leaves, then deep-fried until crisp. The making is a communal ritual — families gather in the weeks before Christmas to cut the patterns (a process called a laufabrauðsstofa or 'leaf-bread party'), using a special wheel tool called a laufabrauðsjárn. The bread is eaten throughout the Christmas season, often with hangikjöt (smoked lamb) or butter. Its origin is in the north of Iceland, where wheat was scarce and the thin dough stretched the precious flour.
A thin, crisp, golden disc, light as a leaf, with a delicate pattern cut through it. Bite in: it shatters like the best pastry, with a clean wheat flavor and a hint of the frying fat. Some versions are sprinkled with sugar. Eat it at Christmas, with hangikjöt, or just by itself — it is impossible to eat just one.
The dough is a simple wheat-water-fat-salt dough, rolled paper-thin (1-2 mm) — the thinness is essential for the crispness and for the decorative cuts to hold. The cutting is done freehand with a knife or with a laufabrauðsjárn (a small decorative wheel), creating leaf/geometric patterns; the dough is folded slightly to create the cuts, then pressed flat. The frying must be fast (the bread floats and crisps in 30-60 seconds per side) at 180°C — too slow and the bread absorbs oil. Drain on paper and eat fresh.
Variations
Some mix rye or barley flour; some sprinkle with sugar; the patterns vary by family tradition; some are larger, some smaller.
On the Palate
Where Laufabrauð sits in the Icelandic flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 12How it's made
8 steps · 1 hour active + 30 min waiting
- 132 min
Make dough: 500 g flour, 250 ml boiling milk, 50 g butter, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp salt; knead smooth; rest 30 minutes.
- 28 min
Divide into 12 balls; roll each to a 1-mm-thin round.
Watch outRoll each round to barely a millimetre, thin enough to nearly see through — any thicker and it won't crisp and the cut patterns won't hold.
- 310 min
Cut decorative patterns with a knife or laufabrauðsjárn (leaf/geometric designs), folding slightly to cut, then pressing flat.
- 43 min
Prick the surface to prevent puffing.
- 53 min
Heat oil to 180°C.
- 612 min
Fry one round at a time, 30-45 seconds per side, pressing it under the oil with a slotted spoon.
Watch outThe oil at one-eighty should crisp each round in well under a minute a side — fry it slow and the thin bread just soaks up oil and goes limp.
- 73 min
Lift out; drain on paper.
- 81 min
Sprinkle with sugar if desired; store in an airtight tin.
