When my kids were little, they would try to eat rhubarb stalks like celery. One bite of those tart stalks told them they had made a mistake. Rhubarb is best when you cook it with something sweet to balance out that oh-so-tart-taste. Mixing it with fruit, such as raspberries, strawberries, or blueberries, is a perfect combination.

Recently, I was looking for something to bake for a breakfast treat and came up with these Rhubarb Strawberry Scones. And since it’s rhubarb season, this is the perfect time to try using it in scones.

Rhubarb is one of my favorite spring ‘fruits’ (botanically, it’s a vegetable). You’ll find it in my rhubarb sauce, rhubarb raspberry pie and rhubarb crunch cake. So now I’m adding these delicious scones to my recipe file. Enjoy scones at breakfast, for an afternoon snack or even as a dessert. No matter what time of day you eat them, however, they’re best fresh out of the oven.

Read: Why Every Gardener Should Grow Rhubarb

Scones are a type of biscuit that’s easy to put together. The biggest problem I find with scones is that they can dry out pretty quickly. Hot out of the oven, they’re perfection, but once they’ve had time to sit awhile, they dry out. Here are a few things you can do to keep your scones moist and tender.

How to Keep Scones Moist…

1. Add in some fruit to your scone.
2. Don’t overwork the dough. You want to blend the ingredients well and knead the dough, but use a light touch. The more you work the dough, the tougher it gets.
3. Use a glaze to seal in some moisture.
4. Wrap them well after they’ve cooled. Store them in a plastic bag or a lidded container.
5. Rewarm them slowly. Wrap in foil and heat in a 300-degree oven for 10 minutes or microwave them for 30 seconds at a lower power setting such as 30 or 40%.

Rhubarb Strawberry Scones Are Easy to Make…

I often tell myself that baking something fresh for breakfast or an afternoon snack is too much work. But scones really are simple to make. With just a few ingredients you can have a piping hot treat. You can also make them in advance and freeze them without the glaze. Then when you’re craving a treat, just defrost and warm them in the oven on low. Drizzle on the glaze and no one will know that you haven’t been baking all morning.

When making these scones, I suggest you make the Rhubarb Strawberry filling the night before so it can cool completely. I like to refrigerate it overnight. If you don’t have any strawberries, you can add some strawberry jam into the cooked rhubarb. Consider making a double batch of this Rhubarb Strawberry filling. It is sooooo delicious that you might want some extra to spread on your scone. You can also spoon it onto angel food cake or just eat it straight from the bowl.

Steps to Make Rhubarb Strawberry Scones…

Step 1: Make the Rhubarb Strawberry Filling

Start by making your fruit filling. Place 1 cup chopped rhubarb and 1 cup sliced strawberries in a small pot with 2 tbsp water and 1/2 cup sugar. Simmer until the fruit is tender and the juices have thickened. Allow the filling to cool completely before using it in the scones.

Step 2: Make the Dough

Blend the dry ingredients (2 cups flour, 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tsp baking powder, and 1/4 tsp salt) together using a stand mixer or by hand. Next, add in 1/2 cup butter cut into small pieces. Mix until the butter is completely blended in and no large chunks remain.

Mix one egg, 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1 tsp vanilla extract together until blended. Slowly add the liquid to the dry ingredients. Mix until all the dry ingredients are moistened but do not over mix.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface. Knead a few times to get all the crumbly pieces blended in. Form a flattened dough ball and cut the ball into two equal size pieces.

Step 3: Filling and Baking

Roll the dough pieces into two 6 x 8 inch rectangles. On one of the rectangles, lightly mark the scones by making three columns and three rows. Use the back of a teaspoon to make indentations in each of the formed rectangles.

Fill each of the indentations with a heaping tablespoon of the Rhubarb Strawberry Filling. Carefully place the second rectangle on top of the filled rectangle. Use a knife or a bench scraper to cut the dough into rectangles, being careful to cut between the filled pockets.

Place the scones on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees for approximately 15 minutes.

Tips for Making Scones…

1. When preparing scones, I like to cut these smaller so I don’t overeat them. Instead of forming a circle and cutting full-size scones, I cut them into rectangles. For scones without filling, you can also cut each rectangle on the diagonal to form mini-scones.
2. Dress your scones with a glaze or sprinkle them with sugar before baking. The sugar will stick better if you wash the scone with some cream before sprinkling.
3. To save time, mix the dry ingredients the night before and then just add in the liquid ingredients in the morning.

The next time you’re heading out to the garden with your coffee cup in hand, avoid eating rhubarb straight from the plant. Instead, try one of these mouth-watering Rhubarb Strawberry Scones. You won’t regret it. Enjoy!