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Rhubarb Scones
As an Iowa girl, I grew up with a patch of rhubarb to the side of our screened-in porch and I have fond memories of eating stewed rhubarb in the spring and early summer. I especially love the sour taste of rhubarb when juxtaposed against something sweet..so when I found a quasi recipe for rhubarb scones, I had to try them (or my version at least).
Despite the fact that these are quite different from most of the scones I bake – I love how these turned out. They are lighter, not very sweet and not as pretty as other scones since the little pieces of rhubarb poke out when baked. Nonetheless, I will sacrifice the beauty for their taste and seasonality.
I made these when my grandsons slept over after the eleven year old’s birthday. He in particular loves breakfast breads or scones in the morning – even though he will tell you he is not a morning person. Neither am I, truth be told. I could easily stay up until midnight and be fairly productive the next day. I do arise around 6:30 AM though and I get things done, but if I could live in an alternate universe I would sleep until 8:00 AM, then go to bed again after midnight. Asher gave these a thumbs up!
But I digress. Here is the recipe for a very easy, make-by-hand, rhubarb scones. Make them while you can still get fresh rhubarb! I might try adding a little grated fresh orange zest to these too!
Rhubarb Scones
Makes 8-9 scones
Ingredients:
- 2 ¼ cups unbleached all purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- Scant ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 stick cold salted butter, cut into ¼ inch pieces
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- ½ cup cold kefir, buttermilk or half and half
- 1 ¼ cup fresh rhubarb, cut into smallish pieces (⅓ inch approximately)
- 1 Tbsp sparkly white sugar (to top the scones before baking)
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees with the shelf in the middle. Get out a baking sheet and line with parchment.
Place the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a stainless steel mixing bowl and mix together. Add pieces of butter and mix in using a pastry blender or two forks until coarse crumbs form. Combine the vanilla and kefir/buttermilk and pour into the mixture, stirring until it starts to come together. Add the diced rhubarb at the end, which might help moisten the dough. If it is really dry, add another tablespoon of kefir. Mix just a bit until it is one piece with very little dry flour.
Pat the dough into a 11 x 6 even rectangle. Lightly sprinkle the top with sparkly sugar. I do run a rolling pin over the top so it is even. Cut the dough into nine pieces with a 3-inch oval cookie cutter, then re-roll the scraps to make the final one or two – or cut the dough into 8-9 squares/rectangular pieces.
Gently place the scones on the parchment lined cookie sheet, at least two inches apart, and bake for 20-22 minutes until just starting to brown. Remove the scones on the parchment to a cooling rack. Leftover scones store well at room temperature in a sealed container for three days or in the freezer for up to a month. Gently reheat before serving if you want them to taste fresh!
