Learn how to make rusk biscuits that are perfectly crunchy and sweet! Dipped in dark chocolate and white chocolate, my rusk recipe is easy to follow and makes a fun and festive snack to serve to family and friends.
Rusk is a popular Japanese biscuit that’s sugary, buttery, and crunchy. It’s often given as a small gift, called omiyage (something between $10 and $20), to colleagues, neighbors, and professionals, as a gesture of politeness. It makes a great gift because it has a long shelf life compared to other foods and snacks, and also looks upscale.
The best part? Rusk is actually very easy to make! Make a basket full of rusk in under an hour and impress everyone at your dinner table with this delicious snack. Only 4 essential ingredients are needed and the steps are simple and straightforward.
What Is Rusk?
Rusk is a general term used for a hard and dry twice-baked biscuit or bread that’s enjoyed as a snack. There are many different variations of rusk across the world and most of them are served in a similar fashion.
In Japan, rusk is made of sliced bread – either from a baguette or milk bread (shokupan) – that’s coated with butter and sugar, or dipped in chocolate. The bread is then baked in the oven until it’s completely dry and crispy, much like a crouton.
Rusk Ingredients
- French baguette: A regular size french baguette, preferably a little stale – 1-2 days old – so it holds less moisture. If the baguette you are using is very fresh, please refer to the recipe tip section for additional information.
- Milk: Regular milk or a dairy-free alternative like soy milk or oat milk.
- Chocolate: The choice is completely up to you when it comes to the type of chocolate to use. I decided on a mix of white and dark chocolate to give my rusk a festive look. But feel free to use milk chocolate, strawberry chocolate, any type of chocolate!
- Decorations: Again, this is up to your liking. Using decorations can add some sweetness or it can just be for esthetic purposes. I like to dress mine with some gold leaves and do a zig zag pattern with royal icing.
How To Make Rusk
Scroll down to the recipe card for the full recipe.
- Preheat the oven to 310ºF and cover a baking sheet with parchment paper or nonstick foil.
- Put the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl or container and add the milk. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir to combine the two. Microwave for 10 seconds, stir again, and repeat this step until you achieve a smooth chocolate sauce.
- Cut the baguette into 1cm-thick slices and dip the slices in the melted chocolate.
- Place the dipped slices on the parchment paper and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Flip the slices and bake for another 15 minutes or longer, until the bread is completely dry.
- Transfer the rusk to a cooling rack and let them cool to room temperature. Decorate them and enjoy!
Recipe Tips
For a fresh baguette, bake the slices first (before baking them again). If the baguette you are using is fresh and chewy, slice it first and bake the slices at 240ºF for 7 to 8 minutes on each side.
Let the slices cool to room temperature before dipping them in chocolate and baking them again. Adding this extra step should yield dry and crispy biscuits.
Serving Suggestions
In Japan, rusk comes in many different colors and flavors. As mentioned above, have fun with them or serve them as is! Whether they are decorated or not, I can promise you that people will be wowed by them.
Personally, I think adding a few gold leaves makes rusk look even more luxurious and festive for the holiday season or a special event. Using some royal icing adds sweetness and turns them into a proper dessert that can be enjoyed with a cup of coffee or a royal milk tea. Sprinkling some icing sugar on top mimics snow, making them the perfect Christmas biscuit. The options are endless!
Other tasty cookies you might like to try: Coconut oatmeal cookies, almond tuiles, matcha mochi cookies, peanut butter cookies, honey cornflake cookies, chocolate chip cookies, chocolate espresso cookies, nutella biscotti.
Did you like these rusk biscuits? Are there changes you made that you would like to share? Share your tips and recommendations in the comments section below!
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Rusk
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: about 35–40 biscuits 1x
- Category: Desserts
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Japanese
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
Dipped in dark chocolate and white chocolate, these rusk biscuits are sweet and crispy and make a fun snack to serve to family and friends.
Ingredients
- 1 1-2 days old French baguette (scroll to the bottom of the recipe steps if the baguette you are using is fresh and moist)
- 50g dark chocolate
- 50g white chocolate
- 180ml milk
- Gold leaves, icing, and other decorations (optional)
Instructions
- Turn the oven on. Preheat the oven to 310ºF.
- Prep the baking tray. Cover a baking tray with nonstick foil or parchment paper. Set aside.
- Slice the bread. Slice the baguette into 1 cm-thick slices, for a total of 30 to 40 slices.
- Melt the chocolate. Break the white chocolate into small pieces using a knife and transfer the chocolate to a glass bowl. Add half of the milk (90ml) and microwave on high for 30 seconds. Stir and microwave again for 10 seconds. Stir and microwave for an additional 10 seconds if needed. Keep repeating this step until the chocolate has fully melted and combined with the milk. Do the same for the dark chocolate, using a different glass bowl.
- Dip the bread. Dip 10 slices of bread, one by one, in the melted white chocolate. Let it soak until both sides are coated, but do not leave it for too long as it will get soggy. Do the same for the dark chocolate.
- Bake the rusk. Place each slice of chocolate bread on the parchment paper and bake in the oven for 13 minutes. Take the bread out of the oven and flip it. Bake for an additional 13 minutes.
- Let the rusk cool to room temperature. Take the slices out of the oven and transfer them to a cooling rack. Once the rusk reaches room temperature, check the center – if it’s wet or moist, bake it for an additional 3 to 5 minutes on each side until it’s completely dry and crunchy.
- Decorate and enjoy. When the biscuits are completely dry, have fun decorating them and making them look festive!
Fresh Baguette. For a fresh baguette, I recommend baking the slices first before dipping them in chocolate and baking them again.
- Preheat the oven to 240ºF and bake the slices for about 7 minutes on each side (total of 15 minutes).
- Take the sliced bread out of the oven and let them cool to room temperature. Follow the recipe steps from here.
Notes
Storage: Store rusk in a storage container and keep it somewhere dark and cool. Refrigerating is not necessary.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 biscuit
- Calories: 35
- Sugar: 1.7g
- Sodium: 48mg
- Fat: 1g
- Saturated Fat: 0.6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0.1g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 5.5g
- Fiber: 0.3g
- Protein: 1.1g
- Cholesterol: 0.4mg
