A huge sourdough geek I may be, but sometimes you just need a good way to have fresh bread on the table for dinner… oh, and it’s already 4pm. Look no further than traditional Finnish potato flatbread! This incredibly easy four-ingredient Finnish flat bread has no leavening agent at all, making it a true blue flatbread. If you’ve got some leftover mashed potatoes sitting around, you can have this Finnish flatbread on the table in 15-20 minutes.
Starchy mashed potatoes give this bread a nice chewiness, and it’s absolutely delicious served warm from the oven with butter. Even better- fancy up your butter with some garlic or fresh herbs- it’s practically a gourmet side dish!
Tools & Equipment for Finnish Potato Flatbread
- Large mixing bowl
- Baking sheets
- Pastry cutter
- Wooden spoon
- Kitchen scale-optional
- Measuring cups and spoons
Ingredients for Finnish Potato Flatbread
- 1 cup (250 g) leftover mashed potatoes (just potatoes, no butter or cream added)
- 1 1/2 cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt or kosher salt
- 1 egg
The Process: How to Make Finnish Potato Flatbread
Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Line a baking tray or two with parchment paper and set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together the potatoes, flour and salt until they form a uniform sandy texture. I usually use a pastry cutter for this.
Add the egg to the bowl and use a wooden spoon to mix thoroughly until the mixture forms a uniform, smooth dough.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and use a bench knife to cut into equal portions. Size and number depend on the size of flatbreads you would like! This dough will make 10 45-50g flatbreads or 5 90-100 g flatbreads.
Place one piece of dough on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Use your hands to smooth out the dough into a smooth round disk, about 1/4-1/2 inch thick.
Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.
Use a fork to prick each flatbread in columns.
If you made 10 small breads, bake in the preheated oven for 8-12 minutes; if you made larger ones, for 12-15, until lightly golden brown.
Let the breads cool on the pans for 5 minutes, then enjoy warm, with butter.
Alternatives
Replace up to half the flour with whole wheat flour, barley flour or rye flour for a heartier version! You can try replacing even more of the flour, but since whole grain flours are “thirstier” it may make for a drier flatbread.
I’d also love to encourage you to swap out the mashed potatoes for mashed sweet potato, but I have to confess that I have not done this yet, and therefore I’m not positive what the effect would be on the texture of the dough or the amount of flour required… I will update this section once I’ve given this a shot!
Finnish Potato Flatbread (Perunarieska)
Ingredients
- 1 cup 250 g leftover mashed potatoes (just potatoes, no butter or cream added)
- 1 1/2 cups 180 g all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt or kosher salt
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. Line a baking tray or two with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together the potatoes, flour and salt until they form a uniform sandy texture. I usually use a pastry cutter for this.
- Add the egg to the bowl and use a wooden spoon to mix thoroughly until the mixture forms a uniform, smooth dough.
- Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and use a bench knife to cut into equal portions. Size and number depend on the size of flatbreads you would like! This dough will make 10 45-50g flatbreads or 5 90-100 g flatbreads.
- Place one piece of dough on the parchment-lined baking sheet. Use your hands to smooth out the dough into a smooth round disk, about 1/4-1/2 inch thick.
- Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough.
- Use a fork to prick each flatbread in columns.
- If you made 10 small breads, bake in the preheated oven for 8-12 minutes; if you made larger ones, for 12-15, until lightly golden brown.
- Let the breads cool on the pans for 5 minutes, then enjoy warm, with butter.
What Should I Make Next?
More Finnish flatbread:
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Did you make this recipe? Let me know how it went in the comments! If you share on Instagram, please tag me at @sisuhomemaker. And I always love to hear from you- send questions, comments, concerns, etc to carol@sisuhomemaker.com!
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