Sourdough Rhubarb Scones

These Sourdough Rhubarb Scones are so tender, moist, and flaky, made with sourdough discard and topped with a simple, slightly bittersweet Campari orange glaze.

Sourdough discard tenderizes the rhubarb scones and they’re studded with tart, ruby-colored rhubarb throughout. The scones aren’t too sweet and are cozy for a spring or Mother’s Day breakfast or brunch with coffee or tea.

The recipe includes lots of instructional tips and images so you get moist, tender, and flaky sourdough rhubarb scones every time!

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⭐️ Why You’ll Love this Recipe

• Sourdough discard tenderizes scones, just like it does in my Sourdough Pie Crust, Sourdough Pop Tarts, and Sourdough Apple Hand Pies.
• Another great way to incorporate spring, fresh rhubarb in your baking, such as in my Sourdough Blondies with Rhubarb & Almonds.
• Extra flaky and buttery sourdough scones, akin to how I make Flaky Sourdough Biscuits.
• Bitter Campari and sweet orange juice glaze complement the rhubarb extremely well.
• Can easily be made ahead and frozen before baking.

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🔍 Tips for Making Sourdough Rhubarb Scones

• Don’t overmix the scone dough
  • Too much mixing leads to gluten development. It’s something you want in a sourdough bread recipe, but it can make scones tougher if you mix the dough too much. This is the same idea as overmixing Sourdough Chocolate Chip Cookies, Sourdough Cheddar Biscuits, or Sourdough Blueberry Yogurt Muffins.
• Chill scones before baking
  • Freezing the scones for at least 30 minutes before baking will make them flakier as the butter releases steam in the hot oven, creating many layers. It’s how my Sourdough Strawberry Galette and Sourdough Apple Pie are so flaky.
• Use frozen, grated butter
  • I’ve made thousands of scones and biscuits over the years and while you can use cold, cubed butter, I always get the best, flakiest results using frozen, grated butter.
  • Frozen butter creates steam pockets in the oven, which results in flakier scones. It also stays cold longer and helps you not overwork the dough.
• Stack the dough to create flaky layers
  • To make flaky biscuits or scones, I stack (or laminate) the dough a couple of times to make more layers. This is an easy lamination technique like in Sourdough Croissants or Sourdough Croissant Bread Loaf.
• Bake at a high temperature
  • Like baking other pastries or breads that you want to rise tall, such as sourdough brioche or sourdough chocolate muffins, bake the scones at 400ºF (204ºC) so they will release a lot of steam and quickly rise from the blast of heat.

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🛠 Tools Needed

You only need a few basic tools to make these sourdough rhubarb scones. No mixer or food processor required!

• Baking scale: Since the density of flour and sourdough starter may vary among individuals, it’s recommended to weigh your ingredients for accuracy. Weighing your ingredients by weight will make your baking more consistent and accurate.
• Whisk: For mixing the dry and wet ingredients separately.
• Bench Scraper: Helps shape and cut out the scones.
• Baking sheet: I bake the scones on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

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🛒 Ingredients Needed

See below for my ingredient recommendations and possible substitutions.

• All-purpose flour: For tender scones, use a softer wheat flour, such as all-purpose flour. I use King Arthur all-purpose flour in my recipe testing. Substitute whole wheat flour for whole wheat scones or gluten-free flour like cup-for-cup.
• Baking Powder: for leavening and creating a tall, tender scone.
• Salt, to enhance the flavors
• Granulated sugar: These scones need sweetener to balance the tart rhubarb. You can substitute with coconut sugar if you’d like.
• Rhubarb:
  • Use fresh, red rhubarb when possible. It’s usually available at grocery stores or farmers’ markets in late April-June. Be sure to wash and remove the green leaves.
  • Frozen rhubarb may leak too many juices.
  • If you have a lot of rhubarb, make my Strawberry Rhubarb Jam too!
• Orange:
  • I rub orange zest into the sugar, adding more brightness to the scones that pairs well with rhubarb. Orange zest is a special ingredient I also add to my Sourdough Conchas (Mexican Pan Dulce). Then, use the orange juice for the glaze.
  • You can substitute the orange with lemon or lime.
• Unsalted butter: Use grated, frozen butter for this recipe. Cold butter prevents gluten development, resulting in flakier scones and helps them rise taller like my Sourdough Maple Pecan Scones.
• Heavy Cream: Heavy cream (or whipping cream) gives these scones the best flavor. If you use milk, use whole milk to increase the recipe’s fat content.
• Vanilla Extract: for aromatic warmth
• Sourdough Discard: If you don’t have an active sourdough starter, learn how to make one in a week following my how to make a sourdough starter guide. See my top sourdough starter tips here.
• Campari: While optional in the glaze, the Campari liqueur adds a beautiful reddish-pink hue to the glaze, complements the rhubarb (it’s made with rhubarb!), and offers a hint of bitterness.
• Powdered Sugar: The very fine confectioner’s sugar dissolves quickly and easily for glazes like the glaze for my Sourdough Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins or my Sourdough Hot Cross Buns.

Variations

• Strawberry-rhubarb sourdough scones: Substitute half of the rhubarb with sliced, fresh strawberries.
• Ginger: Add grated fresh ginger for a warm bite.
• White Chocolate: Add ½ cup of chocolate chips or chopped chocolate to the batter.
• Almonds: Add ½ cup of toasted, slivered almonds to the dough.
• Plain: Leave the maple glaze off for a plain sourdough rhubarb scone. Sprinkle the tops with raw or coarse sugar for crunch before baking.
• Spiced: Add 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, cardamom, or other spices for more warmth and flavor interest.
• Glazes: You can leave out the glaze or substitute with a simple vanilla glaze, lemon glaze, or even add freeze-dried strawberries or raspberries or jam to the glaze.

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👨‍🍳 How to Make Sourdough Rhubarb Scones

Follow this visual and detailed recipe guide as you make these flaky sourdough rhubarb scones.

1. Mix the Dry Ingredients

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, rub the orange zest and granulated sugar together with your hands until the sugar is fragrant and the essential oils flavor the sugar.

Add the all-purpose flour, salt, and baking powder and to the bowl with the orange sugar and stir together.

2. Mix the Wet Ingredients

In a liquid measuring cup or other mixing bowl, whisk the heavy cream, sourdough discard, and vanilla extract.

3. Mix the Rhubarb Scone Dough

Grate the frozen butter directly into the bowl of dry ingredients and toss with a fork.

Then, add the chopped rhubarb and toss.

Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl of dry ingredients and use a fork to gently toss the dough, forming large clumps.

The scone dough will be quite scraggly and dry at first.

4. Shape and Freeze the Scones

Dump the scone dough out onto a clean countertop. It’ll still be scraggly and a little floury, like making pie dough.

Using a bench scraper, bring the dough together into a mass as much as you can (image 1).

Cut the dough into quarters (2) and stack them on top of each other (3). This will help create many flaky layers for a perfect scone texture!

Use floured hands or your bench scraper to press down on the layers of dough back into a round mass. Repeat the cutting, stacking, and pressing down twice more and pat it down into an 8-inch round, about 1 ½ inches high.

Use a bench scraper to cut the scones into 8 triangular wedges (4).

Place your scones on the prepared baking sheet and place in the freezer for at least 15 minutes while you preheat the oven.

Freezing the scones will help them retain their triangular shape, be flakier, and rise higher.

5. Bake

As the scones freeze, preheat the oven to 400ºF (204ºC).

When ready to bake, brush the tops of the scones with a couple of tablespoons of additional heavy cream and a sprinkle of raw sugar for added crunch.

Bake for 23-25 minutes, or until the scones are light golden brown.

Cool on a wire baking sheet as you make the glaze.

6. Make the Campari Orange Glaze

Simply add powdered sugar, a small pinch of salt, orange juice, and Campari to a small bowl and mix with a spoon to your desired consistency. I prefer a thicker glaze so it sets well.

If the glaze is too thick, add a little more orange juice/Campari. If runny, add more powdered sugar.

Finally, use a spoon to drizzle the glaze over the cooled rhubarb scones.

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How to Store

Sourdough rhubarb scones are best served within the first couple of days after baking and are especially great at breakfast.

If you can wait to drizzle them with the glaze, they’ll last a little longer if you know you won’t consume them all in one sitting.

Keep the scones in an airtight container at room temperature for a couple of days.

You can store them in the refrigerator too, if you’d prefer to get another few days out of them. Reheat before serving.

I don’t recommend freezing already-baked scones, but you can easily freeze unbaked scones months in advance before baking, as I note in the instructions above.

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❓ FAQs