I have many recipes for rusks but these are the ones I always come back to. I got this recipe from a South African magazine many years ago (Your Family – May 1987). It was runner-up in a competition to find the best rusks and it is a definite winner in my opinion. It is versatile as you can tweak the ingredients to suit what you have in the pantry. For example you can use sunflower seeds instead of flaxseeds, you can add a handful of dried fruit such as raisins, currants or sultanas, or you can substitute any dry cereal for the muesli.
1 kg self-raising flour
8 ml baking powder
8 ml salt
250 ml muesli
250 ml digestive bran
100 g raisins (optional)
100 g sultanas (optional)
100 ml sesame seeds or flaxseeds (or both)
300 ml coconut
375 ml brown sugar
500 ml plain yoghurt or buttermilk
500 g butter or margarine, melted
2 large eggs, beaten
Combine all dry ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Add the yoghurt/buttermilk and melted butter/margarine to the beaten eggs, add to dry ingredients and mix well. Press dough in a greased roasting pan or two large oven trays. Sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired.
Bake at 180 C until golden brown (about 50 minutes in roasting pan or 40 minutes in oven trays).
Cut into rusks and spread out on oven trays. Leave to dry out in the warming drawer overnight (or in the oven for about 5 hours at 100 C).
Makes about 64
The Biscuit Barrel 
Wow, wonderful blog. Good luck, it looks great and I love the photos that go with it
Thanks Barb. I’ll do my best to keep it updated and interesting.
Hi Pam
Barbara referred me to your Blog. Well done – the recipes and photos are great. Keep up the good work. I have started a little business called Food on Safari which does menus and shops for people going to the bush, so this will be very helpful. Do you take orders? I don’t do the cooking for this business but it is always useful to have contacts for people who can cook and bake.
Love Gail x
Hi Gail
Thanks for your kind comments. No, Gail, I don’t take orders. I have started this blog because I like to bake but I have no desire to do it on a large or even small scale. I am not passionate about cooking, only baking hence the recipes for meals are few and far between. Good luck with your business – it sounds like a great idea and I’m sure you will do very well.
Love Pam
Thanks Pam. I am going to try out your rusks anyway and will let you know what I think! I gave your Macaroni recipe to my niece who has 3 kids and I am sure it will be a hit in that household!
Love Gail
I hope the rusks are successful, Gail. Thanks for visiting my blog.
Love Pam
Am trying these today, haven’t any SRF but will make a plan!! Will keep you posted!
I’m holding thumbs they turn out well. You can use ordinary flour with baking powder but not sure about how much.
Pamela, I just now found your Blog and am so delighted. I already asked about corn flour. Now I’ll ask about rusk. Is it a cookie since it has sugar in it? I fell in love with the European rusk, a crisp and light … um … bread, cracker, crust? I don’t find them here in the USA. Thank you for your information. And I wish you a joyful, healthy, safe Merry Christmas. Margaret
Hi Margaret. Rusks are very popular in South Africa. We usually eat them in the mornings with early coffee and “dunk” them in the coffee to soften them. They can be eaten any time really, usually with coffee or tea. I guess they can be classed as a biscuit. Thanks for your Christmas wishes. Hope you have a joyful Christmas too.