Want to make these mini rhubarb scones? Scroll to find my recipe for homemade rhubarb scones below.
Rhubarb season is a real treat because where I live, the rhubarb is one of the first local summer fruits to make an appearance at the market, usually in late spring. These little rhubarb scones are among the best rhubarb recipes I've baked: because scone dough is so rich, it is a lovely complement to the tangy rhubarb. I had a craving for something simple with a little rhubarb and so I made these rhubarb scones with a similar ratio to the 1-2-3 biscuits, but these are basically rhubarb scones, really. I made them small because I didn't want to make big hunks of scone or biscuits that take up half the plate. I just wanted something a little daintier that could be dipped into some lightly-sweetened vanilla whipped cream with a cup of tea.
For this recipe, I used milk instead of cream, but by all means, if you want richer scones, you can replace the milk with the same volume of cream, whether that's half-and-half, or even 35 % whipping cream (unwhipped, of course). All roads lead to making the best scones!
To incorporate fresh fruit into a recipe for scones, ideally, you would mix the fruit with the dry ingredients before adding in the liquid. So in this case, once the butter and dry ingredients are incorporated to form a crumbly mixture, then you mix in the chopped rhubarb, and finally the milk. This is the same technique used for the pear and chocolate scones.
Another option is to stuff the scone dough with fruit, like in these apple pie scones. This method creates a distinct fruit layer in the middle of the scone, which is quite interesting. However you choose to incorporate fresh fruit in your scones, the contrast between the rich sweet scone dough and the fresh fruit pieces is really lovely and I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
If you prefer to bake scones with dried fruit to make a more traditional fruit scone, try these date scones, which have the most delicious orange blossom icing drizzled on top.
Make these mini rhubarb scones and serve them with whipped cream and a jar of homemade rhubarb jam.
Mini rhubarb scones
Equipment
Ingredients
- 94 grams (¾ cup) whole wheat flour
- 94 grams (¾ cup) all-purpose flour
- 7.5 mL (1½ tsp) baking powder
- 1.25 mL (¼ tsp) Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt
- 50 grams (¼ cup) granulated sugar
- 77 grams (⅓ cup) unsalted butter cold, diced
- 100 grams (¾ cup) fresh rhubarb ~1.5 stalks, sliced
- 125 mL (½ cup) milk (2 % fat) plus more for brushing on the biscuits before baking
- 2.5 mL (½ tsp) pure vanilla extract
- Turbinado sugar for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Line a couple of baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Mix together the flours, baking powder, salt, and sugar in a large bowl with a whisk.
- Drop in the butter and work it in with your hands until you get a coarse crumb. Stir in the rhubarb.
- Add the milk and vanilla, and mix it in with a fork to form a rough dough. Don't overwork it.
- Drop the dough onto a lightly-floured work surface.
- Roll to about ¾" thick and cut with 2 ¼" cookie cutters.
- Transfer the scones to the baking sheets. You can press the scraps together gently to make a few extras and use up all the dough.
- Brush the scones with a little milk and sprinkle with turbinado.
- Bake for about 20 minutes until the bottoms begin to turn nice and golden. Let cool before serving with a little whipped cream.
Notes
Nutrition
Nancie says
No rhubarb in the ingredients?
Janice says
uh oh! Hah! Thanks for pointing that out! I'll fix it now 😉
Aimee @ Simple Bites says
This post is serendipitous! I was just thinking....I wonder if Janice would trade fresh eggs, peas and plenty of garden produce in return for a small weeding session in my garden while I'm in BC in July..... I hate coming home to a wild garden with rotting produce....
Should I message you??
Love the scones. So pretty!
Janice says
I'd love to help out! Yes!
Maria says
Janice,
Thank you so much for your website!
I have a question about these scones. Normally scones turn stale pretty quickly. This particular recipe is based on your cookie dough recipe though.
Do the scones stay fresh longer? Could they be made a day ahead?
Janice says
Hi Maria, You could try simply chilling the scones on a sheet pan and then bake them the next day. You'll probably need to add a few minutes to the baking time. Hope this helps!
If you want to make them way ahead of time, another option would be to freeze and bake from frozen, or bake, cool then freeze, and reheat in a warm oven to serve.
June @ How to Philosophize with Cake says
That is so funny!! I wish I was a good weeder, I'm not so keen on that sort of thing...or gardening in general...I kind of lack the discipline for keeping plants alive, lol 😛 These biscuits sound delicious!
Janice says
I am the same! Currently struggling with 4 potted herb plants and a couple strawberry plants, haha! I want to be a gardner, but I lack the know-how (and possibly the patience).
Sharron Wall says
Did you notice that the print version of the recipe is missing the rhubarb?
Once I figured that out...5 stars.
Sharron Wall says
oopps--went back and it's there...sorry! And now I see the earlier comment, which didn't scroll open at first.
Janice says
It's totally my fault! I somehow skipped the rhubarb completely when I typed up the recipe. I'm so sorry about that!
Shareba @ In Search Of Yummy-ness says
I find it so much easier to clean other people's houses rather than my own. I'm not sure why... but I would assume it's similar to the appeal of weeding other people's garden. I'd love to have a well-organized workspace, room, house, kitchen but the reality is that even when I do tidy up, things happen and everything is a mess for weeks again.
On another note, your biscuits are lovely. And anything that can be eaten with copious amounts of whipped cream is right up my alley 😉
Janice says
I am also much better at cleaning other people's spaces! Yet I hate cleaning, but helping somebody else clean just sounds like fun. Weird!
Joanne says
Lovely. I used frozen rhubarb. Still delicious!