buttermilk rusks

Photo: Supplied

South African buttermilk rusks just like ouma used to make

It’s time to get baking for the holiday season and our old-school, proudly South African buttermilk rusks with a healthy twist is a great place to start.

buttermilk rusks

Photo: Supplied

We’ve all been there, watched the memes and videos and burned our own fingers. Dropping a piece of your bran rusk into your piping-hot cup of tea or coffee and immediately dunking your hand into the cup before using a spoon to get it back. Either that or trying to dunk the last little bit of dry rusk into the cup and soak it. Let’s remember those memories fondly when we bake and enjoy these proudly South African buttermilk rusks.

South African buttermilk rusks tips

You can either mix the dough by hand if you like baking the old-school way or use your stand-mixer as per the notes below. These health rusks are easy to make and you can get loads of variations out of it. You can even substitute some of the All-Bran cereal with regular unprocessed bran too. You can add nuts, cranberries, raisins or a combination of them but make sure about the consistency. They are best dried-out overnight on a very low oven setting.

It’s time to get baking for the holiday season and our old-school, proudly South African buttermilk rusks with a healthy twist is a great place to start.

Last updated 2 November 2022

South African buttermilk rusk recipe

3 from 50 votes
Recipe by Irene Muller Course: DessertCuisine: South AfricanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

20

minutes
Cooking time

45

minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 kg 1 self-raising flour

  • 5 ml 5 salt

  • 5 ml 5 Baking powder

  • 500 g 500 butter (grated)

  • 300 g 300 All-Bran Flakes

  • 3 3 eggs

  • 1 tbsp 1 honey (add more if you want it to have a sweeter taste)

  • 500 ml 500 buttermilk / low-fat

  • 1 small cup 1 cranberries, raisins, nuts or goji berries can be added.

Method

  • Preheat oven to 180°C.
  • Lightly grease a small oven dish.
  • Mix dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
  • Rub soft margarine/butter into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until it looks like breadcrumbs.
  • Beat eggs and buttermilk. Stir egg mixture into dry ingredients until it is blended well.
  • Place into baking dish. Bake for 45 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean and dry. Cut into slices when slightly cooled.
  • Place on a baking try once it has completely cooled  and dry rusks for six to eight hours overnight on a very low setting (100°C).

Notes

  • You can use your mixer, starting with mixing the eggs before adding the buttermilk, honey and melted margarine/butter and then the dry ingredients. And then it’s as easy as putting it all in an ovenproof dish.

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @the.south.african on Instagram and hashtag it #recipes

Like this recipe?

Follow us @thesouthafrican on Pinterest

Looking for more tasty and traditional South African recipes to prepare for your family and friends? Just have a look at our recipe page, we have excellent suggestions for you to try.

If you would like to submit a recipe for publication, please complete our recipe form here.