Glazed Strawberry Rhubarb Scones

These strawberry rhubarb scones are big and fluffy, buttery, moist, flaky, lemon-glazed and positively full of fruit! This recipe ensures that each and every scone comes with its very own strawberry-rhubarb patch in the center, and they take less than an hour to make!

I absolutely love strawberry-rhubarb! Together, they’re the flavor of summer! I top panna cotta with strawberry-rhubarb compote, I add it to vanilla cheesecake mousse cups, and heaven knows, it’s not officially summer until the first strawberry-rhubarb pie comes out of the oven!

This scone recipe is absolutely perfect for Mother’s Day, bridal showers, baby showers, or any lovely summer holiday! I especially love them for sunny picnics and brunch in the garden!

Why This Recipe is Special 

They are FULL of fruit – I find most strawberry-rhubarb scone recipes have you fold the fruit into the dough while mixing, which doesn’t evenly distribute it throughout each scone. You get some with lots, and others with just a few bits, or none at all. In this recipe, we’re going to add fruit directly to the center of each, so that every scone has LOTS of fruit inside.

They are moist, flaky, and fluffy – It’s a little tricky to make a scone that’s not dry but IS flaky. It’s especially tricky to make a scone that has a fluffy, moist texture that’s also crisp on the exterior. This recipe does it all!

Just one leaves you perfectly satisfied – These scones are nice and BIG. You only need one to be perfectly happy.

Ingredient Notes

Strawberries – Make sure to use fresh, firm, not over-ripe strawberries. If they’re too ripe, they’ll turn a little to mush when they cook. However, you can use frozen strawberries as long as they haven’t been thawed first. Dice them frozen and stuff the scones while still frozen.

Rhubarb – Use fresh rhubarb. If you use frozen rhubarb, I find too much liquid releases as they cook and the centers of the scones may get soggy.

Lemon – This is for the glaze. If you want to make a strawberry glaze, I would still use lemon juice, but also juice a strawberry and add that juice to your glaze too.

Kosher salt – Make sure to use a flaky salt for this recipe. Kosher salt or flake salts give a surprising pop of flavor that’s much more exciting than if you use table salt.

Vanilla extract – As always, use a real vanilla extract (not imitation).

How to Make This Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 400 F. (200 C.), line a baking sheet with parchment paper and chop 4 oz. unsalted butter (1 stick) into small pieces. This helps to soften it a little for when you’re ready to mix it into dough. Some folks say you should only mix cold butter into the dough, but personally, I find it distributes easier when it’s slightly soft.

2. Dice 2-3 large strawberries into small pieces. You should have about 2-4 oz.

3. Dice 1 stalk of rhubarb into small pieces. You should have about 2-4 oz.

4. In a small bowl, add ½ tsp. sugar to diced strawberries and rhubarb. Gently stir to coat.

5. In a small mixing bowl, mix ½ cup heavy cream, 1 tsp. real vanilla extract and 1 beaten egg. Set aside.

6. In a large mixing bowl, add 2½ cups flour, 1 tsp. baking powder, 1 tsp. baking soda, ⅓ cup sugar and ½ tsp. kosher salt. Gently mix with a whisk or spoon. Add 4 oz. sliced butter into the bowl. Use your hands to mix into a crumbly dough. You don’t need it to be completely solid – in fact, you don’t want it to be. You want tiny pieces of butter to remain.

7. Pour cream, extract and beaten egg into the crumbly dough bowl. Stir with a spoon until mixed, then use your hands to make sure it’s thoroughly combined – but don’t over-kneed. It doesn’t have to be 100% evenly mixed, and shouldn’t be. Just enough that it’s all come together.

8. Take a baseball-sized amount of dough and roll it into a ball. (Keep in mind, you’re going to use a cookie-cutter or wine glass to cut excess dough around the sides to give it a pretty shape. But if you don’t have a cookie-cutter or glass to do this, use at least 2 tbsp. less dough).

9. Flatten it out a bit, and add a heaping tablespoon of diced strawberries and rhubarb to the center. Roll it back up into a ball, making sure to keep the fruit centered. 

10. To get a nice shape to your scones, add flour to a surface, place your stuffed dough ball on top and use a large, round cookie cutter to cut excess dough around the sides. I find a wine glass does the trick perfectly. If you’re not doing this, just make sure to gently press the dough ball down a little when you put it onto the baking sheet so it’s not completely round. 

11. Stuff all of your scones and place them on the parchment-lined baking sheet an inch apart, or more. Bake for 18-20 minutes. The tops should just be very slightly brown. Once done, allow them to cool for 10 minutes.

12. Mix ½ cup powdered sugar with 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice. It may not seem like enough juice to make a glaze at first, but it quickly melts down into a perfect glaze when you start to mix. Brush each scone with the glaze, and refrigerate them for 15 minutes to set the glaze and serve.

A Few Common Questions

A Few Tips

1. If you don’t want to stuff each scone individually – no worries, just fold the strawberries and rhubarb into the dry crumbly dough before mixing with the wet ingredients.

2. As mentioned above, if you’re baking in a hot kitchen – I suggest refrigerating your raw scones before baking them for at least 20 minutes. This helps them stay more firm while baking.

3. These scones are especially delicious when toasty – but they should be refrigerated right after baking to allow the glaze to set. So I suggest allowing them to cool, then reheat them at 375 F. (190 C.) for 5-7 minutes before serving.