These decadent rusks are laden with pockets of caramelised white chocolate, toasty pecan nuts and fragrant chai spice, the perfect winter treat.
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Question: if it’s winter and you haven’t baked a batch of rusks, is it really winter at all? I don’t think I can ever remember a winter that didn’t start with my mother making a ridiculous amount of rusks. It happened like clockwork and it was (and still is) the only time I ever eat rusks. My mom’s recipe is always my go-to and I love giving it different variations – like these Maltabella rusks I made 2 years ago and this White Chocolate Pecan Chai version is probably the most decadent one yet!
While playing around with the recipe, I realised that Nutriday Double Cream yoghurt makes an even more delicious rusk than buttermilk – which is convenient because most of us have a tub in our fridge but don’t generally have buttermilk ‘lying’ around. The slight acidity and extra creaminess of the yoghurt is just perfect with the white chocolate!
To make them super decadent, I packed some of my white baking chocolate (which you can buy here) on top so that when it bakes, it comes out super caramel-ly and each bite is filled with caramelised white chocolate.
The best part is that you can double or even triple the recipe and store it in an airtight container for whenever the craving hits!
- 500g self-raising flour
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp fine salt
- 100g pecan nuts, toasted
- 240g soft brown sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 250ml NutriDay Double Cream Yoghurt
- 250g salted butter, melted
- 3 tbsp chai spice (see recipe below)
- 100g white baking chocolate drops, chopped plus 100g extra (optional) for topping
- Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced).
- Line a 23 x 33cm deep roasting tray. Mix the dry ingredients together.
- Combine the eggs, yoghurt, melted butter and vanilla and mix into the dry ingredients.
- Add a little milk, if necessary, to form a soft dough.
- Press into a greased roasting tray and arrange the extra white chocolate drops on top (if you like). Bake for 40 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean. Slice into fingers when cool and place in a low oven at 100°C with the door ajar until crisp and dry.
- Store in an airtight container.
- 1 tbsp (15ml) ground cardamom
- 2 tsp (10ml) ground allspice
- 2 tsp (10ml) ground nutmeg
- 4 tsp (20ml) ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp (10ml) ground cloves
- 2 tbsp (30ml) ground ginger
- Combine all the spices together and store in an airtight container.
Oh Katelyn!! Your recipies make me happy👏👏 These rusks looks great, and I would like to try them! But😯I can’t eat pecans, would it still be great if I used cashew nuts? Because, let me tell you, I love chai spices! So would love to try this recipe!
Thanx, Leana.
Hi Leana! Of course you can leave out the pecans and swop them out for any nuts of your choice – cashews would be yum as would walnuts, macadamias or toasted almonds! Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
These are soooo good!! Had to stop the kids (and myself) from eating too many before getting the final baked rusksl into the oven to be dried out! They are just that yummy. Thank you for sharing the recipe Kate!
You mention vanilla that you have to add to the wet ingredients, but there is no vanilla listed under the ingredients?
And if I want to use buttermilk, is it the same amount, 250ml?