Health Rusks

Ingredients

700g butter

875ml buttermilk

500g sugar

4 eggs

1 packet (400g) Kellogg's Honey and Nut Flakes

1 packet (400g) Kellogg's All Bran with Berries (or the Fruitful Bran)

100g unsalted hazel nuts, crushed

200g unsalted cashew nuts, crushed

200g unsalted almonds, crushed (I place all the nuts in a bag and use my marble rolling pin to crush)

100g sun-dried cranberries

100g dried, diced apple

50g roasted sesame seeds

1T ground cinnamon

1T ground pimento allspice

1T ground mixed spice

a sprinkling of freshly ground nutmeg

1,5kg self-raising flour

50ml baking powder

7ml salt

Method

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. 

Grease ovenproof dishes or bread tins.

Melt the butter in quite a large pot.  Remove from the heat, and use a whisk to beat in the buttermilk, sugar and eggs - mix well.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together in a big mixing bowl.  I crush the bran flakes a little so that everything can mix better. 

Now add the butter mixture to the dry ingredients - use a wooden spoon.  Mix well.  The mixture will be 'loose and sticky'.

Today I made balls and placed them in the greased ovenproof dishes (and I must say that it separates much easier than when you have to use a knife to cut into portions).

Bake for between 45 minutes and 1 hour.  Allow to cool.  Break into rusk-size portions, or use a sharp knife if you didn't roll into balls.  You should get around 7 dozen rusks out of the above.  Place onto the oven rack, and leave to dry out at 70 degrees Celsius, with the door slightly ajar (so that all the moisture can escape.)