Best Rusks Ever (aka Bloemfontein Beskuit)

These rusks, friends, are so good that you will literally want to eat every crumb (off the floor)! Let me explain.

Two key ingredients for a real South African bush holiday are braaivleis & rusks. So I first made this recipe ahead of our trip to the Kruger National Park last year.

Our car was so so full! So when we opened the back on our very first night, the entire ginormous container of rusks came tumbling out. There were rusks everywhere. I felt like I wanted to cry – I worked so hard to bake them & they are soooo yummy. Then, synchronized & in silence, Ernie & I started to pick up the rusks that weren’t broken, dusted them off, blew some in the wind, checked for traces of grass or leaves & never spoke of the-rusks-that-landed-on-the-floor-episode ever again as we enjoyed our rusks every morning.

Here is how you make them:

Best Rusks Ever

500g butter

1,5 cups of brown sugar

1kg (6 cups) of self-raising flour

3 cups of muesli

3 cups of other ingredients that you fancy – you can mix up any combination of desiccated coconut, nuts, raisins, seeds, raisins, Al-Bran or dried cranberries to get your 3 cups

3 teaspoons of baking powder

1 teaspoon of salt

3 eggs

500ml of buttermilk (or two cups of plain full cream yogurt mixed with two tablespoons of water to make it slightly runnier)

15ml lemon juice

1. Pre-heat your oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2. Generously spray a baking tray with non-stick spray.
3. Sift all the dry ingredients (self-raising flour, muesli, your coconut / nuts / raisins, baking powder & salt) together.
4. Heat the butter & brown sugar mixture for 3 minutes on high; stir & heat for one more minute on high.
5. Combine the butter & flour mixtures.
6. Whisk eggs, buttermilk & lemon juice together.
7. Add your egg mixture to the butter & flour mixture.
8. Add your batter to the baking tray in a smoothish layer.
9. Bake at 180 degrees Celcius for 30 minutes.

To dry your rusks: Once they come out of the oven, give them a few minutes to cool down. Now cut them into finger length pieces & place them on a drying rack. When you have all your rusks cut, place them straight onto the oven rack in the oven (with only the fan on). Leave them overnight until completely dry.

All the love & butter in this recipe makes them the ultimate tea time or breakfast dunkable snack. My best advice is to bake them & give them away as quickly as possible before you eat 12 in one go!

You should bake them. They’re worth it. Trust me.

Yolandi ♥

Images: Andrea Caldwell for aZestyLife.

Ps. This recipe was passed on to me by my mom-in-law. It is also known as the “Bloemfontein Beskuit”. If you know more about the creator of these rusks or why they’re called “Bloemfontien Beskuit”, please let me know.