The BEST Healthy Biscotti Recipe: Sourdough Rusks (South African Beskuit)
This healthy biscotti recipe is a spin on the South African beskuit (rusks) that we eat like a staple food. We dunk it into MANY coffee and tea’s we have each day, so it may as well benefit from the sourdough long fermentation so that we can easily eat the vitamins from the flour.
Healthy Biscotti
This recipe can be called “healthy biscotti” because it includes a long fermentation with a sourdough starter. If you are new to sourdough, read my post about why sourdough makes baking so healthy for you.
Sourdough starter is what makes this a healthy biscotti recipe, because the sourdough starter breaks open the minerals locked in flour and makes it better available to your body. When you pair this with good quality flour, you are actually eating nutritional food.
We don’t think of bread often as nutritional, but it can be when you use “real” flour and a sourdough starter.
South African Baking
Biscotti like this, South Africans call “rusks” or in Afrikaans “beskuit”. It is one of the most popular baked goods South Africans eat. We drink ample coffee and tea, and it is usually paired with at least one or two rusks. That is why it is very common for most South African housewives to have at least one rusk recipe in their recipe books and well practiced.
There are also many variations of this basic buttermilk recipe. Some add nuts, others oats. Other favourites are anise seeds or muesli rusks because of the “healthy additions”.
I’m pleased to let you know that you can have even the most basic buttermilk riks in a healthy manner – add sourdough! See description above it you missed why sourdough starter in baking is so healthy for you.
Tools You May Need
Kitchen Scale or measuring cups
Measuring spoons
Hand mixer or stand mixer
Directions
Feed your sourdough starter. Here you can watch how I feed my sourdough starter and answer FAQ about sourdough starters.
Mix dry ingredients with butter, then add wet ingredients.
Cover dough for at least 8 hours for a long fermentation
Bake in oven for 60 minutes at 350F (or until the top is golden brown)
Slice rusks and dry in oven for 3-5 hours at 220F.
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Sourdough Biscotti (Beskuit) Recipe
This is a fool proof tasty biscotti recipe that accompany coffee or tea very well! If you make this recipe, please come back and give this recipe a rating!
Sourdough Buttermilk Rusks (Healthy Biscotti Recipe)
Equipment
- Baking Pan
- Mixing bowls
- Measuring cups and spoons or a volume scale
- Whisk
- Butter Knife
Ingredients
- 1250 g Unbleached White Flour
- 250 g Whole Wheat Flour
- 250 g Sugar
- 1.5 tbs Baking Powder
- 8 g Salt
- 500 g Salted butter
- 3 Eggs
- 500 g Buttermilk
- 200 g Sourdough Starter
Instructions
Feed Sourdough Starter
- 8 hours before mixing the recipe, discard all your sourdough starter except 50ml
- Feed sourdough starter 125g flour and 100ml water and mix
Mixing Dough
- Grease a baking pan (we use butter)
- Mix together dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt)
- Slice butter and drop into flour mix
- Rub flour and butter between fingers until the dough lsimilar to soft bread crumbs
- Whisk together wet ingredients
- Make a whole in the flour mix and pour in wet ingredients
- Mix dry and wet ingredients together
- Flatten batter into baking baking pan
- Cover with a tea towel and leave for at least 8 hours for a long fermentation processing
Bake Rusks
- Preheat oven to 350°F
- Bake for 60-80 minutes (or until golden brown on top)
- Remove from oven and let cool on your countertop
- With a butterknife, cut rusks into bite sized
- Pack out individual rusks onto pans
- Dry rusks for 4 hours at 220°F (or until hard)
- Remove ruks from oven and let them cool
- Once cooled, store in cookie tin
Notes
Other Sourdough Cookies & Baked Treats
Sourdough is a great way to make your baked goods a little healthier. This way, the flour will at at least boost your nutrient intake by undergoing a slight fermentation with the sourdough starter.
Some cookie recipes to consider are our standard (but oh so tasty!) Chocolate Chip Cookies. You may also be interested in the pumpkin sourdough cookies.
My Favourite Kitchen Appliances
Also, Pin This Healthy Beskuit Recipe for Later
That’s so great to hear! 🙂
This is a fantastic recipe that I recently came across.
I was looking for additional uses for my sourdough starter, and this rusk recipe fits perfectly.
Definitely will become a regular in my kitchen.
Oh, and the aroma while baking – perfect.