Homemade Rusk Recipes

GRANDMA SALLY'S SWEDISH RUSKS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Spray a 9x13-inch baking pan with cooking spray.
• Beat sugar, shortening, and milk together in a large bowl with an electric mixer until well combined. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Mix flour, baking powder, cardamom, and salt together in a bowl. Add to the wet ingredients in batches, mixing after each addition until incorporated. Pour batter into the prepared baking pan.
• Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Run a table knife around the edges to loosen. Invert carefully onto a serving plate or cooling rack and let cool completely, about 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
• Cut cake into three 3-inch strips lengthwise and thirteen 1-inch strips crosswise for a total of 39 pieces. Lay pieces on their sides on 2 cookie sheets. Sprinkle the top sides of the cookies with 1/2 of the cinnamon sugar.
• Bake rusks in the 250 degrees F (120 degrees C) oven for 45 minutes. Remove from the oven, flip rusks, and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon sugar. Bake until golden brown, 15 to 20 more minutes.

DUTCH RUSKS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400°F degrees.
• Proof the yeast in 1/2 cup of the lukewarm milk with 1 teaspoon of the sugar.
• When you have a yeast sponge, add the rest of the milk, sugar, and soft butter. Stir in the flour, cup by cup, until you have a dough that you can knead. Work until smooth and shiny, then place in a large buttered bowl, cover with a towel and put in a warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.
• Take the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface, knead for a few minutes and roll into ropes, about 2 inches thick. Bread off pieces, about the size of an egg, and shape into little round buns.
• Place these on buttered baking sheets, cover with a towel and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 45 minutes.
• Bake in the oven until they are pale gold, about 15 to 20 minutes.
• Cool on a rack.
• After they have cooled, use a big fork to slice the top half off each bun. Place both tops and bottoms on a baking sheet; they can be rather close together.
• Bake in a 400 degrees oven until light brown, about 10 to 15 minutes. Turn off the heat and let them get crisp.
• Let cool completely before eating.
• These will keep crisp and fresh for a long time. If they do get soggy, put them back in a low oven and let them crisp again. 60 rusks. Do not freeze.
• Breads Of The World.

ALMOND RUSKS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar and oil. Combine flour, almonds, baking powder and salt; gradually add to sugar mixture until well combined. Chill until firm. , Divide dough into three pieces. Roll each piece into an 8-in. x 2-in. rectangle; place on a greased baking sheet. , Bake at 350° for 15-20 minutes or until firm to the touch. Cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 300°., Carefully cut each rectangle into 1/2-in. slices. Place slices cut side down on baking sheets. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Remove to wire racks to cool.

SOUTH AFRICAN RUSKS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly mix the dry ingredients.
• Combine all the wet ingredients, pour them into the dry ingredients, and stir until you have a soft dough, similar to biscuit dough.
• Turn the dough onto a well-floured surface and roll or pat it to about a 1/2 inch thickness.
• Cut the dough into rectangles about 2 by 4 inches.
• Bake the rusks about 2 inches apart on buttered baking sheet for about 25 minutes until the tops are crisping and browning a little.
• Loosely pile the rusks on a baking sheet and keep them in a 200 degree oven all day or all night (about 12 hours) to dry.
• The finished rusks should be very dry and hard.
• Cool and store in an airtight container.
• Rusks will keep for weeks.
• Variations Oatmeal-Raisin Rusks: Reduce the white flour to 1 1/2 cups and add 2 cups rolled oats and 1/2 cup currants or chopped raisins.
• Almond Rusks: Add 1 cup chopped almonds and omit the cinnamon.
• Peanut Rusks: Add 1 cup coarsely chopped peanuts.

BUTTERMILK RUSKS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Grease cake pans. You can use 9x13-inch pans, round cake pans, or loaf pans.
• Melt butter in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Remove from heat and mix in sugar, buttermilk, and eggs.
• Combine self-rising flour, granola, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add to the butter mixture and mix until well combined. Batter will be sloppy. Divide into thirds, and then divide each third into small balls. Place into the prepared cake pans side by side.
• Bake in the preheated oven until cooked fully through, 45 to 60 minutes. Remove from oven and gently place on baking sheets.
• Reduce oven temperature to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C). Bake rusks on low temperature until dry and crunchy, 2 to 3 hours. Depending on the size of your rusks this can take several hours.