This is my morning routine: make tea, stretch whilst the tea is drawing, pour the tea, dip one of the Best Rusks Ever in the tea. Never fails to get the day off to a good start.

I’m currently on a gap year in Europe. Yesterday, I made tea but I felt like something was missing. Cue, the onset of rusk withdrawal symptoms. Added nostalgia and longing as I look back on the rusk photos I spontaneously took on a wonderful safari in the Timbavati in May.

While I don’t currently have the facilities to make the Best Rusks Ever (maybe I’ll go for this buttermilk small batch instead), it’s about time I posted this recipe. To the many people I’ve been promising it to for months, its a pleasure.

The reason these are the Best Rusks Ever is that they’re the product of trial, error, and experimentation over the years. And they have the stamp of approval from my whole family. And they are our go-to rusks — you will never not find some in our cupboard.

In the hostel, I would always have a jar of rusks to devour with my friends. I looked like a bit of a weirdo walking around the dingy hostel corridors with my tea tray, teapot, and milk jug but, oh, was it worth it. Some of my friends would savagely crunch, others would first soften the rusk in some steaming tea, but what was sure is that they were a hit with everyone. Now, to commemorate being done with school, here is the official Best Rusks Ever Recipe.

At home, we make these rusks about once a month. It makes a big batch, but we also eat them very quickly. And we can never run out. Else there will be some unknown disaster.

How to Make the Rusks

So without further ado, here is the recipe, fine tuned over years and in a neater format than the blotchy and dirty handwritten recipe we use. The one that has been written over and had quantities changed so often that you can only truly know how much of everything to add if you’ve made the rusks a couple of times…

When we make rusks, we normally use a big bowl for mixing the dry ingredients and a smaller bowl for mixing the wet ingredients.

Starting with the dry ingredients, add the All Bran cereal to a large bowl and use your hands to crush it slightly. Then, add the wheat bran, self-raising flour, salt, and sunflower seeds and mix well. Finally, you use your fingers to evenly rub in the grated apple (not quite a dry ingredient but just do it, okay?).

In the smaller mixing bowl, microwave the butter until about halfway melted. You want it to be stirrable, but not just a pool of oil. Then, beat in the sunflower oil and brown sugar using a hand beater. Finally, beat in the amasi. Yep, no egg. The total volume of the wet ingredients should now be 2 liters. If not, add more amasi. This will give you the perfect ratio of wet to dry ingredients. 

I know butter is pricy these days. It’s okay to add more oil and less butter (or vice versa), as long as you keep the overall fat content more or less constant (remember, oil is more fat-dense than butter, so check the ratios online).

Next, pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and use a stiff wooden spoon to mix until well combined. This will take a few minutes – make sure to reach the bottom of the bowl. I know, I know, it’s heavy going, but you can do this!

Spread the mixture into an even layer in a large greased baking tray, but take care to not compress it too much. As a final flourish, you can sprinkle sesame seeds (if you like them) over the dough and use the back of a spoon to lightly press them into the dough. You can use black or white sesame seeds (or both) — we don’t discriminate here.

You will need to bake the rusks for about 30-45 minutes (it varies depending on the depth of the dough and the oven). The rusks are ready to come out when they begin to pull away from the edge of the tray and look brown around the edges and lightly golden on top. The middle should be relatively firm.

Allow the rusks to cool for about one hour. Then, cut your cooked rusk dough (whatever you call it) into rusk-sized pieces in the tray, then remove them, and stack them onto two wire oven racks, with little gaps between them so the air can circulate.

Drying the Rusks

Dry out the rusks for about 8-10 hours at 90°C. This may take longer or shorter depending on your oven, but you need to keep the temperature low so that the rusks don’t burn. 

Since we have solar, we normally let the rusks sit in the oven overnight, then turn on the oven the next morning and let the rusks dry for the day. Otherwise, if you turn on the oven in the evening, the rusks should be perfectly done when you wake up (though that depends how long you sleep for…).

The best way to test if the rusks are done is to try one — it must be completely dry and crunchy throughout.

Once you think you’ve nailed the dryness, allow the rusks to cool, then pack them tightly into an airtight container, or two. The container must be completely airtight, or else your careful effort in drying the rusks will be for nothing, and the Best Rusks Ever won’t be the best for very long.

Print Recipe

The Best Rusks Ever

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Breakfast or Snack

By Tina Lovely – Serves: 2 large containers full of rusks

Prep Time: 1 hour – Cooking Time: 30-45 minutes plus 8-10 hours drying time – Total Time: 10-12 hours

Crunchy without being too hard. Sweet without tasting like a cookie or biscuit. Healthy without feeling like punishment. These are truly the best rusks ever, and they have stood the test of time in my household!

Ingredients

• 6 cups All Bran cereal (bran flakes)
• 6 cups wheat bran (250g)
• 8 cups self-raising flour*
• 1T salt
• 3 cups sunflower seeds
• 2 apples, grated
• 400g butter
• ⅔ cup sunflower oil
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 6 cups amasi (buttermilk), room temperature
• sesame seeds (optional)

Instructions

1

Preheat the oven to 180°C. Spray a large baking tray (30x65cm) with nonstick spray.

2

Add the All Bran cereal to a large bowl and use your hands to crush it slightly. Add the wheat bran, self-raising flour, salt, and sunflower seeds and mix well. Use your fingers to evenly rub in the grated apple.

3

In a mixing bowl, microwave the butter until about halfway melted. Beat in the sunflower oil and brown sugar using a hand beater. Beat in the amasi. The total volume of the wet ingredients should be 2 liters. If not, add more amasi.

4

Pour the wet ingredients in the bowl of dry ingredients and use a stiff wooden spoon to mix until well combined. This will take a few minutes - make sure to reach the bottom of the bowl.

5

Spread the mixture into an even layer in the tray, but take care to not compress it too much. Sprinkle sesame seeds (optional) over the dough and use the back of a spoon to lightly press them into the dough.

6

Bake for about 30-45 minutes (it varies depending on the depth of the dough and the oven). The rusks are ready to come out when they begin to pull away from the edge of the tray and look brown around the edges and lightly golden on top. The middle should be relatively firm.

7

Allow the rusks to cool for about one hour. Cut into rusk-sized pieces in the tray, then stack them onto two wire oven racks, with little gaps between them so the air can circulate.

8

Dry out the rusks for about 8-10 hours at 90°C. This may take longer or shorter depending on your oven, but you need to keep the temperature low so that the rusks don’t burn. The best way to test if they’re done is to try one — it must be completely dry and crunchy throughout.

9

Allow the rusks to cool, then pack tightly into an airtight container.

Notes

I know butter is pricy these days. It’s okay to add more oil and less butter (or vice versa), as long as you keep the overall fat content more or less constant (remember, oil is more fat-dense than butter, so check the ratios online). *If you can’t get your hands on self raising flour as easily as you can in Southern Africa, simply use 8 cups of cake flour and 3 tablespoons of baking powder.