Whole Wheat Buttermilk Rusks Recipes

BUTTERMILK RUSKS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 240°C.
• Sift the dry ingredients and stir til well mixed.
• Cut in butter - the mixture should resemble corn meal when done.
• Beat buttermilk and egg together and add to dry ingredients.
• Mix to a firm dough.
• Pinch off golf ball sized pieces of dough and press lightly into rectangular shape approx 2cm thick.
• Place close together in two greased loaf pans (30cm x36cm x 7cm) and brush the sides of each row of balls with oil so that the rusks will break apart easily after being baked.
• Brush with diluted milk.
• Bake at 240C for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to 190C and bake for further 50 minutes.
• Turn out on cooling rack and break in two or three places so that the rusks will cool more quickly.
• When cool, break neatly into individual rusks and allow to dry out in a very low oven (120C).

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.