Brown cheese made from whey, milk and cream, boiled until the sugars caramelise. Sliced thin with a cheese plane onto crispbread, waffles or a sourdough loaf.

Brunost dates to 1863 when dairymaid Anne Hov first added cream to the whey in the Solbråsetra dairy in Gudbrandsdalen; it has been Norway's most definitive food export ever since. The caramelised brown cheese was patented as Gudbrandsdalsost by TINE in 1866 and became a Norwegian breakfast and lunch fixture. Oslo's Hagen Konditori, the Mathallen brown cheese counter and Solberg & Hansen sell the canonical version sliced thin onto crispbread or sourdough.

Where to eat Brunost in Oslo

3 editor picks for Brunost in Oslo, ranked by editorial score. All Oslo signature dishes · Brunost across every city.

  • Mathallen Oslo

    Mathallen Oslo on Vulkan opened in 2012 as the city's permanent food hall, with 30 producer-led stalls, the Hitchhiker and Fenaknoken counters.

    DetailsDirections

  • Bondens marked Birkelunden

    Bondens marked Birkelunden is the Grünerløkka producer farmers market at Seilduksgata 23B, with rotating small-farm producers, Norwegian heritage cheese.

    DetailsDirections

  • Kaffistova

    Try Norwegian home cooking, raspeballer and meatballs

    Kaffistova on the ground floor of Hotell Bondeheimen on Rosenkrantz' gate has served Norwegian home cooking since 1901, with raspeballer, boknafisk.

    DetailsDirections

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Make it at home

Serves 1245 minEasy

Ingredients

  • 3 large eggs
  • 100g caster sugar
  • 500ml buttermilk (or whole milk soured with 1 tbsp white vinegar)
  • 100g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
  • 300g plain flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground cardamom
  • 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
  • 200g Gudbrandsdalen brunost, for serving
  • 200g lingonberry or wild blueberry jam, to serve
  • 150g creme fraiche or rommekolle, to serve

Method

  1. Whisk the eggs and sugar in a large bowl for 2 minutes until pale and frothy.
  2. Whisk in the buttermilk, then the cooled melted butter.
  3. Sift in the flour, baking powder, cardamom and salt. Whisk to a smooth, pourable batter, just thicker than double cream. Rest for 20 minutes; this gives the cardamom time to bloom.
  4. Heat a heart-shaped waffle iron to medium-high and brush with a little melted butter.
  5. Pour about 100ml batter into the centre, close the lid and cook for 2 to 3 minutes until golden and crisp at the edges. The waffle is done when steam stops rising.
  6. While the waffle is still hot, plane thin slices of brunost over the top so they soften into the surface.
  7. Top with a spoon of lingonberry jam and a dollop of cold creme fraiche. Eat immediately.

Editor tip. Slice brunost with a Norwegian ostehøvel (cheese plane) for the proper paper-thin shavings; a knife gives chunks that refuse to melt.

Common allergens: Dairy, Gluten, Egg.