South African Rusks

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Experience the cherished taste of South African Buttermilk Rusks, a traditional treat with a crunchy exterior and soft interior. Perfect for dipping and enjoying any time of day.

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Course: Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: South African

Keyword: south african rusks, south african rusks recipe, recipe for south african rusks, south african cookie

Prep Time: 30

Cook Time: 6 30

Total Time: 7

Servings: rusks

Calories: 182kcal

Author: S. Claus

Ingredients

10 cups self-rising flour
Pinch salt
1 tbsp baking powder
3 cups granulated sugar
1 ½ cups butter cold
2 eggs large
3 cups buttermilk
2 cups almonds flaked

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350 °F
Over and into a large mixing bowl, sift together the self-raising flour, salt, baking powder, and sugar.
10 cups self-rising flour, Pinch salt, 1 tbsp baking powder, 3 cups granulated sugar
Cut the cold butter into cubes. Rub the butter into the flour and sugar mixture with your fingers to make a finely coated crumb. Similar to the texture of sand. You can also do this in a food processor if you have one.
1 ½ cups butter
In a separate bowl or jug, beat the eggs and buttermilk until combined.
2 eggs
Add the egg and buttermilk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix to a dry dough. The dough should resemble cookie dough.
3 cups buttermilk
Line a rectangular roasting pan with greased parchment paper. Add the dough to the roasting dish and level it out.
Sprinkle the top of the dough with the flaked almonds. For a Christmas cookie without nuts, you can leave the almonds out.
2 cups almonds
Bake for 45 minutes and then turn the oven down to 300 °F. Bake for another 30 minutes until the dough turns a pale gold color.
Leave the baked dough in the pan for 10 minutes to cool and settle.
Carefully turn out the baked dough onto a wire wrack covered with a cloth.
Cut the baked dough into large fingers. Note that they will shrink in their second bake. When cutting your South African rusks up, consider that they should be of a size that is easy to dunk into a mug of coffee or milk.
Turn the oven to 200 °F. Lay the rusks out on baking sheets. It is not necessary to line the sheets or grease them. The point of this next step is to dehydrate them. Ensure you space them out slightly.
Bake the South African rusks at this low temperature for about 4-6 hours. Turn them every hour so that they don’t brown. They should be dried out but not darker in color. If they still feel soft and cakey, dry them for another hour.

Nutrition