South African buttermilk rusks

Name: South African buttermilk rusks
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 50 min
Total time: 6 h 45 min
Ingredients: 1 kg all-purpose flour; 30 g baking powder; 1½ tsp salt; 200 g sugar; 250 g butter, cold, cubed; 500 ml buttermilk; 1 egg

Contains egg (no meat or fish)

Karringmelkbeskuit

Lightly sweet buttermilk bread baked, broken into fingers and then dried slowly until crunchy all the way through. Made for dunking in coffee or tea.

South African buttermilk rusks is a South African sweet, ready in about 6 hours 45 minutes and made with all-purpose flour and buttermilk. It serves 40 and is rated easy to cook.

Start cooking

No licensed photograph of this dish yet.

Prep: 25 min
Cook: 50 min
Rest: 5 h 30 min
Total: 6 h 45 min
Serves: 40
Level: Easy
Calories: 162

Drying can take up to overnight in a very low oven.

Ingredients

40 rusks

1 kg All-purpose flour (opens in a new tab)Contains wheat, gluten
30 g Baking powder (opens in a new tab)
1½ tsp (9 g) Salt (opens in a new tab)
200 g Sugar (opens in a new tab)
250 g Butter (opens in a new tab), cold, cubedSwap: Plant-based butter (Margarine is often used in South African home recipes.)Contains milk
500 ml Buttermilk (opens in a new tab)Contains milk
1 (50 g) Egg (opens in a new tab)Contains eggs

Equipment

Method

1
Step 1
Heat the oven (opens in a new tab) to 180 °C and grease a deep 30 × 20 cm baking dish (opens in a new tab) or two loaf tins. Mix the flour, baking powder (opens in a new tab), salt and sugar (opens in a new tab), then rub in the butter (opens in a new tab) until it looks like breadcrumbs.
- 10 min
- 180°C
- Mixing bowl (opens in a new tab)
- Baking dish (opens in a new tab)
2
Step 2
Whisk the buttermilk (opens in a new tab) and egg (opens in a new tab), add to the dry mix and stir to a soft, sticky dough without kneading.
- 5 min
How it looks · Photo: Kampus Production on Pexels
3
Step 3
With floured hands, roll into balls the size of an egg (opens in a new tab) and pack them snugly side by side in the dish.
- 10 min
4
Step 4
Bake 45–50 minutes until golden and a skewer in the centre comes out clean. Cool in the dish 10 minutes, then turn out and cool completely.
- 50 min
- 180°C
- Oven (opens in a new tab)
- Cooling rack (opens in a new tab)
5
Step 5
Break the loaf along the ball lines (or cut into fingers with a bread knife (opens in a new tab)). Spread on racks over trays and dry in the oven (opens in a new tab) at 80–100 °C for 4–6 hours, door slightly ajar, until bone-dry and hard right through.
- 300 min
- 90°C · door ajar
- Bread knife (opens in a new tab)
- Cooling rack (opens in a new tab)
- Oven (opens in a new tab)
Break one open: if the centre is still soft it will go mouldy in the tin.

About this dish

Origin: South Africa · Well documentedA long-standing Afrikaner home-baking tradition; dried rusks kept well on long journeys.Also popular in NamibiaMore food from South Africa
Dish: Breakfast · Snack · Sweets & confectionery · Breads & flatbreads
Cooking method: Oven-baked
Taste: buttery, sweet, tangy
Diet: Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · No nut ingredients
All labels
Vegetarian (lacto-ovo) · Eggetarian · Pescatarian · Flexitarian-friendly · No nut ingredients · Alcohol-free · Pork-free · Beef-free
Worked out from the ingredients. How labels work
Good for: Make-ahead · Budget-friendly · Portable / lunchbox
Cook more with: All-purpose flour · Buttermilk · Baking powder · Sugar · Butter · Egg
Techniques: Baking · Kneading

Allergens

Contains: Milkfrom butter, buttermilk
Contains: Eggsfrom egg
Contains: Wheatfrom all-purpose flour, baking powder
Contains: Glutenfrom all-purpose flour, baking powder

Based on typical versions of these ingredients and not verified allergen-free. Brands differ and cross-contact happens, so always check labels. For severe allergies, follow your clinician’s advice.

Nutrition

162 kcal per serving

Calculated

1 serving ≈ 38 g · recipe makes 40

Where the energy comes from

Protein 8%
Carbohydrate 61%
Fat 31%

Nutrition per serving and per 100 g
Nutrient	Per serving	Per 100 g
Energy	162 kcal	433 kcal
Protein	3.2 g	8.6 g
Carbohydrate	24.9 g	66.4 g
Net carbohydrate	24.2 g	64.6 g
Sugars	5.8 g	15.3 g
Added sugars	5 g	13.3 g
Fibre	0.7 g	1.8 g
Fat	5.6 g	14.9 g
Saturated fat	3.4 g	9 g
Trans fat	—	—
Cholesterol	19 mg	50 mg
Sodium	228 mg	609 mg
Salt equivalent	0.6 g	1.5 g

Vitamins & minerals per serving

Potassium: 50 mg
Calcium: 65 mg
Iron: 1.3 mg
Magnesium: 7 mg
Vitamin A (RAE): 47 µg
Vitamin C: 0 mg
Vitamin D: 0 µg
Vitamin B12: 0.1 µg
Folate (DFE): 74 µg

How these numbers were made

Calculated from USDA FoodData Central (SR Legacy) per-100 g values and the listed quantities.
“—” means the value isn’t known for enough of the ingredients; it is never zero by default.
Values are estimates for guidance, not for medical dosing. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. fdc.nal.usda.gov.

Good to know

Tips

Drying overnight in the switched-off oven after a few hours at low heat saves energy.

Common mistakes

Drying at too high a heat browns the rusks before the centres dry.

Serve with

Dunk in strong coffee or rooibos for breakfast.

Storage

Completely dry rusks keep in an airtight tin for 4–6 weeks.

Variations

Muesli rusks (South Africa): Replace a quarter of the flour with oats, seeds, bran and raisins.
Aniseed rusks: Add 2 tsp aniseed to the dry ingredients.

Original editorial recipe · FriendsPantry editorial · Not yet independently reviewed · Added 29 Oct 2026 · Updated 8 Nov 2026

Recipe DNA

How this dish is built

Compare with

Grouped by each ingredient’s role in the dish. Each band’s width is its share of the dish by weight. Choose a component to see what it does.

What the dish is built around

Main ingredient

All-purpose flour1000 g
Butter, cold, cubed250 g
Buttermilk500 ml · 515 g
Egg1 piece · 50 g

Used in steps 1, 2

Baker’s notes

Customise in Bread & Bakery

Timeline and readiness cues

Mix and knead · about 25 min
Mix only until no dry flour remains — overmixing makes it tough and tunnelled.
Rest · about 5 h
Covered so it doesn't dry out; relaxed dough rolls and shapes without springing back.
Bake · about 50 min at 180 °C
Risen and golden; a skewer in the centre comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs; the top springs back.
Cool · about 30 min
Cool on a rack before slicing — the crumb is still setting; cutting hot bread makes it gummy.
Start to finish: about 6 h 45 min. Times are a guide — warmth changes everything; follow the cues.

If something goes wrong

Pale crust
Likely causes
- Oven too cool
- Too little sugar or no milk/egg for browning
- Over-fermented (yeast ate the sugars)
What to do
- Check the oven with a thermometer
- Brush with egg wash or milk
- Shorten the fermentation
Burnt bottom
Likely causes
- Tray too close to the heat
- Dark tray absorbs more heat
- Too much sugar in the dough
What to do
- Bake on the middle shelf
- Double up trays or use a light-coloured one
- Lower the temperature 10–15 °C and bake a little longer
Cracked or domed top
Likely causes
- Oven too hot (crust sets before the centre rises)
- Too much leavening
- Overmixed batter
What to do
- Lower the oven 10–15 °C
- Use the exact leavening amount
- Fold just until combined
Dry or crumbly
Likely causes
- Too much flour (scooped, not weighed)
- Over-baked
- Too little fat or sugar
What to do
- Weigh flour, or spoon it into the cup and level
- Check 5 minutes early
- Don't cut fat or sugar by more than a quarter without another moisture source

Reviews & corrections

Reviews come from signed-in cooks and appear after a moderator checks them. We never show made-up ratings.

Koeksisters
South African · 2 h 45 min · 186 kcal · Contains egg
Melktert
South African · 3 h 35 min · 357 kcal · Contains egg
Buttermilk pancakes
American · 35 min · 449 kcal · Contains egg
Malva pudding
South African · 1 h 10 min · 489 kcal · Contains egg