Rhubarb Crumble Scones

Tender, buttery scones full of juicy, red rhubarb and spicy, sweet crystallized ginger - all topped off with a buttery oat crumble. These Rhubarb Crumble Scones are such a fun, delicious way to use rhubarb and my spin on a classic English rhubarb crumble in scone form! Grab all of my scone making tips and tricks below along with this lovely springtime scone recipe.

Recipe Background and Details

When I set out to make a rhubarb scone I didn't want to just take my Vanilla Bean Scone, add rhubarb, and call it done. I wanted something as special and unique as rhubarb itself. After plenty of time imagining, I finally had the revelation to make a mash up of a scone and the classic English rhubarb crumble dessert. The rest is delicious history, my friends. As you can see from these photos, it worked beautifully! I think I'll be topping all of my scone recipes with this oat crumble topping from now on!

These pretty scones would be perfect for Easter or Mother's Day. If you're feeling really fancy, serve them with my silky Rhubarb Curd as I did in the photo below. Or take the English rhubarb crumble theme even farther and serve with a custard sauce.

If you love rhubarb recipes, check out these: rhubarb muffins (which this oat crumble would be amazing on!), pickled rhubarb, rhubarb chutney, rhubarb curd, rhubarb galette, and rhubarb elderflower refresher cocktail.

Rhubarb Crumble Scone Ingredients

I like to break my scone recipes into two ingredients sections - the dry and the wet. I feel like this really helps streamline things when prepping the ingredients and making the scones. In addition to these ingredients there will almost always be a fat, butter in most cases, and any add-ins - rhubarb in this case.

dry ingredients:

• all purpose flour
• granulated sugar
• baking powder
• salt
• crystallized ginger, chopped - I use crystallized ginger in my Blackberry Ginger Scones and it is such a fun, flavorful addition to scones.

wet ingredients:

• cream - whole milk or half and half can be used as well
• egg
• vanilla extract

additional ingredients:

• butter, finely cubed or grated - I almost always use salted butter but unsalted can be used as well.
• fresh rhubarb, diced - I have not tried this recipe with frozen rhubarb. If you want to try it with frozen I'd add it straight from the freezer - do not thaw - and then quickly bake the scones or quickly toss them in the freezer to chill until you are ready to bake.

Oat Crumble Ingredients:

• all purpose flour
• oats
• brown sugar
• granulated sugar
• butter

See recipe card for quantities.

Instructions - how to make rhubarb crumble scones

First combine crumble ingredients in a bowl and mix well with your fingers to combine until you have a crumbly mixture that holds together in clumps when squeezed. Place in the refrigerator while you prepare the scones.

Next, mix dry ingredients and ginger in a mixing bowl before adding butter. Cut butter into the dry ingredients until it is in very small pieces.

Add wet ingredients and stir until a dough forms. Add rhubarb and stir well to combine.

Squeeze dough into a ball, place on floured surface, and pat into an 8 inch circle.

Cut circle into 8 even wedges (or see shaping options below) and place on parchment lined tray.

Top with oat crumble mixture and really press it in and pile it high - some of it will fall off and that's ok. At this point I recommend chilling the scones to help them retain their shape during baking. If you choose to bake them right away they will be great, but they will spread a bit more than if they were chilled for 30-60 minutes (or more! See make ahead tips below).

Substitutions and Variations

I love these scones just as they are, but I always like to give some options to mix things up. Here are a few ideas:

Flavorings - instead of or in addition to the crystallized ginger, you could add lemon or orange zest, ground spices such as cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg.

Fruits - You can replace some of the rhubarb with chopped strawberries or another fruit or berry you prefer. I think peaches would pair really nicely with rhubarb and with this crumble topping!

Add-ins - Some toasted chopped pecans, walnuts, or hazelnuts would be a nice addition to the dough and/or the crumble topping.

Gluten Free - I have successfully made my Cinnamon Streusel Einkorn Scones with a gluten free flour blend and I think it would work well in this recipe. I like King Arthur or Bob's Red Mill cup-for-cup blends.

For a Vegan option - Use my Easiest Scone Recipe and replace the cream with dairy-free cream/milk such as a thick coconut milk. For the crumble, replace the butter with a vegan butter substitute.

Scone Shaping Options

As I've written before, scones can be shaped many different ways and these Rhubarb Crumble Scones are no exception. You can free-form scoop them straight from the bowl as I do in my Sourdough Discard Scones and my Easiest Scone Recipe. Or they can be cut into squares/rectangles as in my Triple Berry Creme Fraiche Scones. And finally, they can be cut into rounds with a biscuit cutter as I do in my Mixed Berry Buttermilk Scones and Raspberry Almond Scones. Choose the shape you love the most!

Make Ahead and Storage

Something I don't think everyone realizes is that scones are the ultimate make-ahead bake! After shaping, they can be frozen solid in a single layer, then transferred to a freezer bag to be baked whenever your heart desires (just add a couple minutes onto the baking time).

You can also bake and then freeze, but I prefer to store the un-baked scones in the freezer and bake as needed for the freshest scones. So if you're thinking, 'I don't need a whole batch of scones!' - well, you can freeze them and bake as few or as many as you want. Pretty great, huh?

Baked and cooled scones will keep at room temperature for 2 days in an airtight container or bag. The moisture in the rhubarb will cause these scones to soften very quickly so I recommend eating them quickly and even storing them in the refrigerator to prolong freshness. You can pop them in the oven to warm them up (or toaster oven, air fryer, microwave for a quick blast to warm them).

What is The Secret to a Good Scone? My Top Scone Tips

1. Start with cold ingredients - cold butter, cold egg, cold cream - some people freeze the dry ingredients and the bowls/utensils. I think that's overkill.
2. Something I love doing is to grate the cold butter on a box grater. It is a game changer and creates the perfect butter to flour ratio (and no need to use a pastry cutter! Woohoo!) - I did not do that in these photos but you can see it in some of my other scone recipe process photos.
3. Err on the side of too little liquid - it is better to have a slightly dry dough than a too-wet dough. You can incorporate the dryer bits as you are pressing the dough together.
4. Mix gently - my weapon of choice is a fork - while slowly drizzling in wet ingredients. You aren't trying to develop any gluten in these tender babies.
5. Once mixed, divide and stack dough 2-3 times to get perfect, flaky layers. This is not a necessary step but it's a trick I very often use.
6. Freeze dough for 30 minutes or more before baking (see make ahead tips above).

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Rhubarb Crumble Scones Recipe

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Tender, buttery scones full of juicy, red rhubarb and spicy, sweet crystallized ginger - all topped off with a buttery oat crumble. These Rhubarb Crumble Scones are such a fun, delicious way to use rhubarb and my spin on a classic English rhubarb crumble in scone form! 

• Total Time: 45 minutes plus chilling
• Yield: 8 large scones

Ingredients

For the Oat Crumble Topping

6 tablespoons (40 grams) all purpose flour

2 tablespoons (24 grams) granulated sugar

4 tablespoons (52 grams) brown sugar

4 tablespoons (20 grams) oats, old fashioned or quick oats are both fine

½ stick (2 ounces or 57 grams by weight) cold butter

For the Rhubarb Scones

dry ingredients:

3 cups (360 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting

½ cup (100 grams) granulated sugar

1 ½ tablespoons (21 grams) baking powder

⅓ cup (60 grams or 2 ounces by weight) chopped crystallized ginger

¼ teaspoon (1.2 grams) kosher salt

1.5 sticks (6 ounces or 170 grams by weight) unsalted butter, cubed or grated on large holes of box grater (you can absolutely use salted and I often do)

wet ingredients

1 cup heavy cream (you might need a tad more if your dough is very dry)

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups (8 ounces or 226 grams by weight) fresh rhubarb, diced

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Instructions

To make the Oat Crumble Topping

1. Place all crumble ingredients in a bowl and use your fingers or a fork to pinch/mash the ingredients together. I like to really squeeze it together to get some nice clumps of crumble. Set this mixture in the refrigerator while you prepare the scones.

To Prepare the Scones:

1. Combine dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, ginger, and salt) in a large mixing bowl and whisk to combine. Add cubed butter and cut into dough with a fork, pastry cutter, or use your fingers to press it into flat pieces. If using grated butter just mix with fork to incorporate evenly.
2. In a separate bowl or liquid measuring cup combine wet ingredients (cream, egg, vanilla) and whisk well to combine.
3. Slowly drizzle wet mixture into dry mixture while gently stirring with a fork. You will have a slightly shaggy, somewhat dry dough. Add rhubarb and mix again very gently with either your fingertips or a fork to distribute the rhubarb pieces throughout the dough. If you have a lot of dry flour left in the bowl drizzle a bit more cream in about a tablespoon at a time until it comes together. It is ok to have some dry flour - it will come together in the next step and the rhubarb adds moisture so resist the urge to add more liquid unless it is very dry.
4. Dump the entire mixture onto a lightly floured surface and pull and press it together. You are not kneading this like bread dough, just encouraging it to come together. Once you have a cohesive mixture, pat it into a roughly 8 inch circle. The thickness is more important than the circumference, so just focus on making it about 1.5 inches thick. If any rhubarb falls out, just gently press it back into the dough, adding a bit of flour as needed to prevent stickiness. 
5. Once dough is pressed into a flat circle, divide evenly into 8 wedges. Place wedges onto a rimmed baking sheet that has been lined with parchment. Top each scone with plenty of crumble - press it in a bit to help it stick and don't worry if some falls off - because it will!
6. Freeze scones for at least 30 minutes before baking but you can go longer - see notes and make ahead below. You can bake them right away without chilling but they will spread a bit more than if they had chilled.
7. Preheat oven to 400 degrees while dough freezes.
8. Bake for 25 minutes until golden and cooked through. I like to tent with foil about ½ way through so the crumble doesn't get too brown.
9. Remove from oven and enjoy warm with butter, jam, clotted cream, rhubarb curd or just as they are.

Notes

After shaping, unbaked scones can be frozen solid in a single layer, then transferred to a freezer bag to be baked whenever your heart desires (just add a couple minutes onto the baking time).

You can also bake and then freeze, but I prefer to store the un-baked scones in the freezer and bake as needed for the freshest scones.

Baked and cooled scones will keep at room temperature for 2 days in an airtight container or bag. The moisture in the rhubarb will cause these scones to soften very quickly so I recommend eating them quickly and even storing them in the refrigerator to prolong freshness. You can pop them in the oven to warm them up (or toaster oven, air fryer, microwave for a quick blast to warm them)

• Author: anita | wild thistle kitchen
• Prep Time: 20 minutes plus chilling
• Cook Time: 25
• Category: scones, breakfast, dessert, brunch
• Method: baking
• Cuisine: American