I can’t even begin to describe how amazing these Vegan Nut and Seed Rusks came out! We all know how tempting a cup of sweet tea and good old rusks (or beskuit, as the Afrikaners call it) can be. This Classic All Bran rusks recipe are my favourite and so easy to make. But… I really wanted to create a version that is dairy free, gluten free and low in carbs and refined sugar.
Classic Rusks, just better
As the cooler weather makes it appearance here in South Africa, the craving for warming and comforting meals, dishes and drinks are on the rise. I mean, that is what winter is all about right? The classic South African rusk comes in many forms and flavours, each with their own little history. To put it simply, a rusk or beskuit is a hard, dry biscuit or twice-baked bread. Since the 1960’s, boerefolk would preserve bread this way, as they traveled long distances across the hectic South African terrain, without refrigeration. Usually, the dry and wet ingredients will be combined, baked, portioned and baked again in a low oven to dry these biscuits out.
Healthy Vegan Rusks
For my version, I tried to incorporate a whole lot of healthy ingredients. First off I made my rusks dairy free by adding an almond milk “buttermilk” (almond milk with apple cider vinegar) as part of the wet ingredients. These rusks are also completely vegan. The butter gets replaced with coconut oil and peanut butter, and the “flaxseed eggs” (flaxseed meal and water) replaces the egg. These rusks are also refined sugar-free, and I used maple syrup to sweeten it. The raisins I have used in the batter also ads some lovely natural sweetness.
All about the texture
I used gluten-free almond and coconut flour in my batter that delivers a delicious crumbly (without falling apart) low carb rusk. Almonds, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and chia seeds all make an appearance and ads great nutrition to these delicious morsels. You can’t go wrong by adding the deep and comforting flavours of cinnamon, nutmeg and a pinch of ginger.
Let’s have Tea
Your tea time will be transformed with these healthy, filling and delicious rusks. Best yet, they can last up to two weeks in an air safe container. These healthy rusks will make a great edible gift if you are thinking of spoiling someone special soon…
| Prep Time | 15 min |
| Cook Time | 30 min |
| Passive Time | 7 hours, dry out |
| Servings | dozen |
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons ground flaxmeal
- 6 tablespoons water to activate flaxegg*
- 2 tablespoons peanut butter natural and organic
- 1/2 cup maple syrup or honey/brown rice syrup
- 1/2 cup coconut oil melted
- 1 tablespoon vanilla essence
- 2 cups almond flour
- 1 cup coconut flour
- 1/2 cup organic rolled oats
- 1 cup almonds can chop it into smaller bits
- 1 cup raisins
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds
- 1/2 cup sunflower seeds
- 2 tablespoon chia seeds
- 1 tablespoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- pinch salt
Ingredients Wet Ingredients
Dry Ingredients
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- Pour the apple cider vinegar into the cup of almond milk and set aside. This gives the same taste of buttermilk in your rusks.
- Prepare the flaxeggs. Place the ground flaxmeal in a bowl and cover with water. Mix through until it starts becoming gelatinous. Set aside for 10min.
- Place all the wet ingredients for the rusks in a large mixing bowl and combine.
- Now add the dry ingredients and with a wooden spoon, incorporate the two.
- Preheat the oven to 180degree celsius and prepare a 30 x 30 cm baking tray with non stick spray.
- Push the batter into the baking tray, flattening and pressing down as you go.
- Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until golden brown. Remove from oven and leave to cool.
- Carefully cut the rusks into the desired shape. Cover your wire oven rack with foil and carefully arrange the rusks on it.
- Dry out overnight in the oven set to 70 degrees Celsius. Place in an airtight container.
Flax eggs: Using 1 tablespoon of flax meal with 3 tablespoons of water = 1 egg replacement.
Dairy free buttermilk: 1 Cup Almond milk with 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar = leave for 5 - 7min.
You can chop the seeds and nuts smaller if you like.
They look delish! What can I use as a substitute for almond flour?
Hi Pintoo, thank you so much for the comment! You should be able to use coconut flour here, although I have not tried it yet! Let me know how it goes?
Tastes great! It did not dry out as well like regular rusks. But still an excellent snack for tea time.
Hi Stephanie, thanks so much for the comment! Glad you liked them!
Definitely hits the spot! Great job in putting the recipe together.
Thanks dear for sharing the wonderful recipe . Everyone at my home just loved the rich taste of these rusks .
Thank you so much Ramita!
I subbed rye flour for almond, added dates with little coconut sugar and doubled the sunflower seeds as I did not have pumpkin – an interesting take on SA rusks
Sounds delicious, This is a healthier take on the original, so good!
Hello from Aus!
I added a cup of rice flour, then only 1 cup of almond flour. Dried them out overnight, but kept a few soft ones to eat as they were so delicious!
Hi Angelique, how amazing?! Thanks for the comment and enjoy Aus!
I followed this and it worked well. Thank you.
So happy, thanks Karishma. xoxo
I am a Californian married to a South African and on a mission to make a delicious, yet healthy rusk, haha. This is my second attempt. The first recipe I tried was too cakey. I have baked and am drying these at the moment. The taste is divine, and I am so happy with how healthy they are – but they came out quite crumbly. Perhaps this will not be the case after they have dried out but curious your suggestion if they are too crumbly? I feel like it could use a little more of a binding agent but experimental baking has never worked well for me, doh!
Hi Chelsea, Thank you so so much for the comment and greetings from SA! They do tend to be a bit more crumbly because of the flours used, however, you can add a little more almond “buttermilk” to make the batter more moist before baking. Also try and chop your nuts and seeds finer that can also help. I am actually playing around with oat flour, so will report back with my findings. Enjoy!
Hi Anina, I loove your Rusk recipe! Will definitely make them again! I also found they are crumbling when trying to cut them for the drying process..But they dried lovely! and I eat the dried out crumbs with my Muesli ! I added half cup Oatbran (can’t use Sunflower seeds).
I like rye flour in a rusk and next time I will leave out the Coconut flour for a change in taste! Have you made the rusks with Oat flour yet? Greetings amids our awful new “Cov/19” word…from Centurion,
Annelise***
Hi Annelise, thank you for the message! No, I haven’t actually tried them with Oat flour yet, but will sure give a go. Greetings, and stay safe xxx
Hi Anina do you have a suggestion for what to use instead of the coconut oil? I’m craving some rusks ( I’m originally from South Africa married to an American) and being in California at home during this pandemic I am looking for some comfort food and I love rusks
Hi Gene, you can use a sunflower or light olive oil – it’s basically part of the fatty component and helps with binding so any of those will do. Enjoy!
What a yummy balanced rusk 🙃 and it’s all healthy too! Came out perfectly and didn’t fall apart. Great for dunking and on its own 😉
I changed up the 1 cup almond milk for a cup of coconut and rice milk; and the 2 cups of almond flour for 1/2 cup of coconut flour (+ added one more “flax egg” because of the coconut flour. I also used molasses as the sweetener component as we didn’t have maple/ agave syrup. Worked really nicely together!
Thanks for the awesome recipe, Anina!
Hi Nicolene! Thank you so much for the comment and that awesome variation. I love how adaptable the recipe is. Enjoy!
Hi there. This looks great. I have started low carb living and this would be a replacement i can try. My mom make THE BEST buttermilk rusks but its loaded with sugar.
My question- can i replace the maple syrup wuth xylitol? And what can i sub the rolled oats for?
Hi Michelle, yes you can replace the maple syrup with xylitol, maybe just add a little more almond milk to help with binding. I haven’t tried replacing the oats in this recipe, but I reckon if you add a little more almond and coconut flour to make up for it, it will work. Enjoy!
Hi Anina. These look really great, I can’t wait to try them. Just wondering if the peanut butter can be excluded from the recipe? If not, can I use any other nut butter? Thanks!
Hi Allie, you can use any type of nut butter! xoxo
Hi Anina,
Thank you for this recipe! What is the shelf life of these rusks once made?
Hi Marny, they will be good if you keep it in an airtight container for up to 1 month. Also make sure the nuts and seeds you use in the recipe are fresh. Enjoy!
Hi Anina
What can I replace the peanut butter with in your Vegan Nut and Seed Rusks?
Amanda
Hi Mandy, the Cinnamon doesn’t affect the sweetness of the dish, it actually enhances and deepens the beef flavour here as there is a long cooking time on the beef. Since you are only using the sticks, the flavour is not overpowering. You can of course leave it out completely if you wish. Enjoy!
Hi Mandy, any other other nut butter will work well here. Let me know what you think! xoxo
Hi Anina
How would one go about substituting normal flour into this recipe?
Hi Candice, I haven’t tried this recipe with normal flour – however, I do think it is doable to use about two cups of normal flour (in place of almond and coconut flour) with the rest of the dry ingredients. You can always add more flour once you mixed it all together, if it’s still a bit wet. Would love to know how they turned out xoxox
Made these over the weekend and came out quite lovely. Actually enjoyed them once they came out the oven, so delicious. I replaced the vinegar with lemon juice, used honey and instead of one cup of almonds I only used half a cup. I also followed one of the other comments and used 1 cup of almond flour and 1 cup of brown rice flour. It worked well. Thank you.
So glad to hear it! Thanx for sharing!
Hi Anina, so my daughter has PCOS and is on a very strict diet. NO sugar of any type, not even sweetener, do you think I could replace the syrup with apple sauce? I am going to use coconut flour and wholemeal flour and a soya plain yogurt. I will let you know how they turn out.
How much calories are these rusks ? Loved making them !! xo
Thanx Remi, I haven’t worked out how much calories these are, but they are packed with goodness! xxx
Hi, I’ve been looking for a gluten-free rusk recipe and these look fantastic!
We’ve recently had to adopt a gluten-free diet due to a health problem. But we’re not vegan and almond milk is not easily available; is it possible to substitute yogurt or buttermilk? And would real eggs work in this recipe?
Thank you for your time and trouble (:
Hi, yes you can add buttermilk or yogurt and two eggs, enjoy!
Hi again, I was just re-reading the comments and I was wondering if oat flour would work in this recipe (instead of the almond/rice flour)?
Hi Irene, I have yet to try but I am sure it will work. xxx
Hey, I would love to make these for my fellow American friends and all my SA friends. I live in South Korea so it is hard to find almond and coconut flour. How would you recommend I substitute bot of those for all purpose flour? Your advice would be highly appreciated.
Thank you