The traditional Icelandic Christmas bread made from thin fried dough is laufabrauð.
Its name means “leaf bread,” referring to the delicate patterns cut into each round cake. The bread originated in northern Iceland but is now made and eaten across the country, especially during the Christmas season. The cakes are unusually thin—typically about 15 to 20 centimeters wide—and are briefly fried in hot tallow or oil.
Before frying, families decorate the dough with geometric designs, often rows of overlapping V-shaped cuts that resemble leaves, braids, snowflakes, or letters. A specialized brass tool called a laufabrauðsjárn can create the patterns, although many people cut them by hand.
Laufabrauð is commonly prepared as a family activity during the Christmas period, with several generations participating. It is easy to confuse with other European holiday breads: Vánočka, panettone, and stollen are enriched or yeasted loaves, while laufabrauð is a crisp, patterned fried flatbread.