Rusk Biscuit Recipes

SOUTH AFRICAN RUSKS / BISCUITS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 190c / 375f.
• Mix the 250g butter into the flour either with your hands or in a blender.
• Add the sugar, salt and baking powder and then mix in the milk and wine vinegar until you have a smooth dough.
• Grease a large baking tray with some of the remaining butter.
• Divide the dough into 3 equal portions.
• Wet your hands with a little cold water and quickly roll the dough into long dough sausages, about 30cm long.
• Arrange the dough sausages in parallel lines on the tray, dotting a few bits of extra butter in between.
• Bake for 45mins - 1hour until the tops are golden and crusty.
• Remove from the oven and turn the oven temperature down to 150c / 300f.
• The dough sausages will have joined together so cut down the lengths to separate them and then cut each sausage into 3cm pieces.
• Leave them to cool for a bit so that they are more manageable, then list them up and break them in half down the middle so they look nice and rustic.
• Return them to the baking tray, this time laying them on their sides and bake in the oven for a further hour (30 mins each side) to dry them out.
• Let them cool completely before storing in a closed container or paper bag, where they will keep well for up to around 5 days.

SOUTH AFRICAN TRADITIONAL RUSKS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line a high-rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper, letting the paper overhang the sides for easy removal.
• Combine flour, ground All-Bran®, white sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
• Melt butter in a saucepan over low heat. Remove from the heat and mix in cream. Add flour mixture and mix until well combined.
• Spread out batter into the prepared baking sheet and use a knife to cut into slices; this will make removing the rusks easier once baked.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 50 minutes. Reduce heat to 160 degrees F (70 degrees C) and leave rusks in the low temperature oven for 4 hours to dry. Remove from oven and allow to cool.
• Cut into 80 slices.

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.

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.

BISCUIT BREAKFAST SANDWICHES

Steps:

• Make the biscuits: Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 425 degrees. Butter a small baking sheet. (Keep the cubed butter cold.)
• Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add the cold butter and toss to coat, then cut the butter into the flour using a pastry cutter or rub and pinch it in with your fingers until the mixture resembles coarse sand with no bits larger than the size of gravel.
• Add the milk all at once and quickly stir with a fork until the dough comes together in a shaggy mass. Use the fork to scoop and drop 4 even mounds of dough onto the prepared sheet, spacing apart. Gently pat the tops and sides to form round pucks; it's OK if the tops are a little craggy.
• Bake until golden brown, 20 to 23 minutes. Let cool on the pan on a rack while preparing the fillings.
• Make the fillings: Beat the eggs in a medium bowl until well mixed but not frothy. Season very generously with salt and pepper and beat again. Heat a medium nonstick or well-seasoned cast-iron skillet over medium until hot, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the butter, turn the heat to low and swirl the butter to evenly coat the bottom of the pan. When the butter has melted about halfway, add the eggs all at once. Cook, stirring gently, until mostly set but still a little wet, 1 to 2 minutes, then spread in an even layer.
• Once the bottom and edges are fully set, turn off the heat and cut the egg pancake in quarters using the spatula. Set a slice of cheese over each quarter. Slice each of the biscuits in half and spread jam on both halves. If you want bacon, sausage or ham, place them over the bottom halves. Slide the cheesy egg quarters over the bottom halves (or meat) and fold over any corners that stick out. Sandwich with the top halves and serve warm.