Rhubarb scones

Learn how to make rhubarb scones with this easy recipe. These rhubarb tea biscuits are made from a scone dough with chopped fresh rhubarb mixed in. Scroll to find my recipe for homemade scones with rhubarb below.

These little rhubarb scones are among the best rhubarb recipes I've baked. Scone dough is so rich and lightly sweetened. It is a lovely complement to tangy pink rhubarb. Once baked, they are tender on the inside with a slightly crunchy exterior.

Jump to:

• The baking ratio to make scones
• What you need to make these fruit scones
• Substitutions
• Technique
• Adding fruit to scones
• Special equipment
• What to serve with scones
• Storing scones
• 📖 Recipe
• Frequently asked questions
• Other fruit scones to try

The baking ratio to make scones

The baking ratio for the basic scone dough is very close to the 1-2-3 biscuit ratio. I wanted something a little daintier that you could serve with lightly-sweetened whipped cream and a cup of tea. 

What you need to make these fruit scones

If you want to make cream scones with rhubarb, you will need the following ingredients:

• flour is needed to bind all the ingredients together and give the scones structure. If you don't use enough flour, your scones may spread too much as they bake. I used a combination of all-purpose and whole wheat, but you can stick to using just all-purpose, if you prefer
• granulated sugar though used sparingly in this recipe is important to help tenderize the scones and preserve them so they don't dry out too fast.
• baking powder is a complete chemical leavening agent that doesn't require any special ingredients to work, as long as you add moisture (in this case from butter and cream) and heat (when you bake the scones in the oven). Baking powder is different than baking soda. Do not use baking soda, which requires adding an acid to help baked goods rise. Read up on baking soda vs baking powder if you are unsure of the difference.
• salt is really important to balance out the sweet flavour. Don't skip it. I like to use Diamond Crystal fine kosher salt, but table salt will work, though the cookies will be saltier and you may want to halve the salt in that case.
• butter, preferably unsalted butter because you will add salt to the dough, but if you have salted, it will work. Just adjust the salt in the recipe accordingly, otherwise your cookies may be too salty
• fresh rhubarb, chopped into small pieces.
• whipping cream (35 % fat) adds moisture and fat to the dough, leading to a more tender and light scones that doesn't go stale too quickly.

Substitutions

Scone recipes are pretty simple at their core, so substitutions are limited. Here are some options to explore:

• cream vs milk: I like using whipping cream instead of whole milk to make scones because I want richer scones. Half-and-half or even whole milk can work here, but I find the extra fat in cream helps prevent these from going stale too quickly. All roads lead to making the best scones! If you want to use buttermilk, you will have to make other adjustments (see below).
• baking powder: because you will use cream as the liquid in this recipe, baking powder is the chemical leavener of choice. If you prefer to use an acidic dairy, like buttermilk, you will likely need to add a small amount of baking soda to balance out that acidity and to ensure the dough has enough leavening once in the oven.
• flour type: this recipe works with all-purpose flour, or half whole wheat, half all purpose.
• sugar: I use granulated sugar in these scones because I don't want to add too much flavour. That being said, maple sugar would be amazing in this recipe and a great compliment to the rhubarb.

Technique

Scones are easy and the list of ingredients is short, that's for sure. Still, it's important to do the steps correctly because the method to mix the ingredients has an impact on the texture of them. Overwork the dough, and they may be tougher than you would like.

Start by mixing the dry ingredients together (flour, leavening agents, and sugar) together so that they are evenly combined. Then you can add in the cubes of cold butter. Work them into the flour with your finger tips. Alternatively, you can use a pastry cutter to cut the butter into the dry mixture. The goal is to work the butter into the flour enough so that you have a crumbly mixture with pieces of butter of different sizes.

I like to add the fruit at this stage because I find it easier to mix it into the dough evenly at the dry stage, before adding the wet ingredients.

Once your fruit is evenly mixed in, you add the wet ingredients, in this case cream, and work it into the mixture to form a shaggy dough. There will be flour at the bottom still that hasn't been hydrated yet.

Dump the dough onto your work surface and use your hands or a bench scraper to help you draw the dry bits into the dough to form an even dough. You can then pat out the dough to the desired thickness. If the dough is sticking to the work surface, flour it very lightly. I usually pat it out to a little under an inch thick, which should give you 12 small scones.

At this point, you can cut out your scones with a cookie cutter or use a knife to divide into 12 equal pieces (they can be square or round scones). Then once you transfer them to your parchment-lined baking sheet, brush the tops of the scones with a little cream or milk, and the sprinkle them with turbinado sugar to add a little crunch and sweetness to the tops.

Adding fruit to scones

To incorporate fresh fruit in 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 cream (or milk). This is the same technique used for the pear and chocolate scones and for the scones with blueberries.

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.

Special equipment

Scones are easy and you don't need any small appliances to make them. Just a bowl and a whisk, and an oven to bake. It's likely you have everything you need, but here's a rundown of the tools I use to make scones:

• whisk—I like the Danish dough whisk because it's easier to clean than a balloon whisk
• scraper to help incorporate the shaggy bits of dough with the rest without warming it with your hands
• cookie cutters, either round or with a fluted edge
• large sheet pan—a half sheet pan can fit 12 scones if they aren't too big!
• pastry brush—for brushing excess flour off doughs and for brushing on cream or egg wash.

What to serve with scones

Once you've made these rhubarb tea biscuits, you can serve them with:

• whipped cream (lightly sweetened or even unsweetened)
• homemade rhubarb jam
• lime marmalade
• apricot jam
• blueberry jam

Really any homemade jam will work with these, but my preference is rhubarb jam or lime marmalade. Blueberries work surprisingly well with rhubarb, as you can see with this blueberry rhubarb crumble.

Storing scones

Cream scones like this recipe with rhubarb can be stored at room temperature. You can reheat them in the oven or a toaster oven to serve them warm, but I find that scones made with heavy cream, butter, and some sugar, don't go stale too quickly. They will last a couple of days stored in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.

You can also freeze the unbaked scones:

• Freeze the unbaked scones on a parchment-lined sheet pan until frozen solid
• Transfer to a freezer bag to store long term
• Bake from frozen—note that they will take longer to bake from frozen

You can also freeze baked scones in a freezer bag. Defrost them overnight in the refrigerator and warm in a toaster oven to serve or defrost and warm the frozen scones directly in the oven.

📖 Recipe

Frequently asked questions

Other fruit scones to try

Adding fruit to scones is a great way to jazz them up. Here are some other recipes to try:

• apple pie scones
• blueberry scones
• pear scones with chocolate