SOUTH AFRICAN RUSKS / BISCUITS

South African Rusks / Biscuits image

Provided by Wendy-Bob

Categories Dessert

Time 2h30m

Yield 50 rusks

Number Of Ingredients 8

250 g butter
25 g butter (extra)
750 g plain flour
460 g caster sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
400 ml milk
2 tablespoons white wine vinegar (or you can use red)

Steps:

Preheat oven to 190c / 375f.
Mix the 250g butter into the flour either with your hands or in a blender.
Add the sugar, salt and baking powder and then mix in the milk and wine vinegar until you have a smooth dough.
Grease a large baking tray with some of the remaining butter.
Divide the dough into 3 equal portions.
Wet your hands with a little cold water and quickly roll the dough into long dough sausages, about 30cm long.
Arrange the dough sausages in parallel lines on the tray, dotting a few bits of extra butter in between.
Bake for 45mins - 1hour until the tops are golden and crusty.
Remove from the oven and turn the oven temperature down to 150c / 300f.
The dough sausages will have joined together so cut down the lengths to separate them and then cut each sausage into 3cm pieces.
Leave them to cool for a bit so that they are more manageable, then list them up and break them in half down the middle so they look nice and rustic.
Return them to the baking tray, this time laying them on their sides and bake in the oven for a further hour (30 mins each side) to dry them out.
Let them cool completely before storing in a closed container or paper bag, where they will keep well for up to around 5 days.