If you’ve ever had a warm, toasty drop biscuit fresh from the oven then you already know it’s one of life’s best things. But when you pack those biscuits with sweet-yet-tart rhubarb macerated with fresh ginger, coconut milk instead of buttermilk, and a buttery coconut crumble? It’s next level. These Rhubarb Coconut Drop Biscuits are quick to make, uniquely flavored, and the perfect balance of crunchy, fluffy, and fruity.
Unlike traditional biscuits that require rolling, folding, and cutting, drop biscuits come together in one bowl and are, as the name implies, simply scooped and *dropped* onto a baking sheet. They’re casual, easy, and ideal for quick baking sessions when you’re craving something special but are low on either time or space.
Table of contents
Why make these rhubarb coconut drop biscuits
These drop biscuits are of course, easy, but they also have so much going on! Here are my top reasons to try this biscuit over your average one:
- There’s a coconut crumble baked right in – when I promise coconut flavor, I also promise texture, and this crumble filling is one of a kind.
- The rhubarb gets macerated with fresh ginger and sugar, taking away any sour notes and leaving you with a nearly candied-ginger feeling.
- We swap buttermilk for coconut milk, and I didn’t know that was a thing you could do in biscuits. But now that I’ve done it, I’m never going back.
What makes drop biscuits different?
Traditional biscuits usually rely on laminating layers of dough to get that signature flake and rise. They require precise folding, cutting, and chilling. While the results are worth it, they can feel like a lot of work for everyday baking, plus they need a large surface area – which is sometimes countertop space we don’t have.
Drop biscuits, on the other hand, are far more forgiving and require far less space. The dough is made all in one bowl and instead of cutting shapes, you use a spoon or scoop to portion it straight onto the pan. The result is a rustic, slightly craggy biscuit that’s golden and crisp on the outside and tender on the inside.
These rhubarb drop biscuits push the idea even further by adding flavorful mix-ins and swapping the buttermilk for coconut milk – which I think is pretty revelatory.
How to make these drop biscuits
1. Make the coconut crumble
This is your sweet-salty flavor booster. Made with rice flour, coconut flakes, sugar, and melted coconut oil, it bakes into golden clumps that give the biscuits both crunch and depth. Let it cool while you prep everything else.
2. Macerate the rhubarb
Thinly slice fresh rhubarb and toss it with sugar and freshly grated ginger. As it sits, the ginger melds with the rhubarb while the sugar draws out moisture and creates a flavorful syrup. You’ll use the rhubarb for the dough and save the syrup to brush on top.
3. Mix the drop biscuit dough
In a large bowl, whisk together your dry ingredients. Then, grate cold butter into the bowl (see image below). This helps make it so that you can evenly toss the butter into the flour. You want each butter piece to feel almost coated in flour. Work quickly so that the warmth from your hands doesn’t soften the butter.
Add the rhubarb directly into this shaggy mixture, but leave any excess juice from the ginger and sugar behind. Toss the rhubarb in the mixture so that it also gets coated in flour. Then add the coconut crumble and toss again.
The last step is to drizzle in coconut milk to bring the dough together. A gentle mix is all it takes — just enough to form a shaggy, slightly sticky dough.
4. Chill the dough
Letting the dough rest in the fridge (even for just an hour!) helps the flour hydrate and the butter firm up, which gives you a more structured and delicious biscuit. The longer the chill, the more time the flour and butter have to marry together – so I recommend you don’t skip this step!
5. Scoop and Bake
Use a 1/2 cup scoop (or large spoon) to portion out 11 biscuits. They might look a little craggy, but that gives them character. Space them out on a parchment-lined sheet, brush the tops with the rhubarb-ginger syrup mixed with a little coconut milk, and bake until deeply golden on top.
Storage tips
This makes eleven biscuits, and hopefully they will all disappear quickly. But if you have some left over, here is how I like to store them:
Room temperature: These are best served warm, but you can store them in an airtight container at room temperature for 1-2 days. Reheat in a toaster oven or oven at 350°F for 5-10 minutes.
Fridge: If you want them to last a bit longer, store them in the fridge for up to 4-5 days. Just reheat in the oven, toaster or air fryer before serving to revive that crispy top.
Freezer: Once baked and cooled, freeze the biscuits in a single layer on a baking sheet, or layered in a ziploc bag. I like to layer each with parchment paper, which makes retrieving a single biscuit very easy. To reheat, bake straight from frozen at 350°F for about 12-15 minutes, or microwave on high for 2 minutes.
FAQ
Yes! Just thaw and drain it well before macerating with the ginger and sugar. You can also sub in any of your other favorite fruit, just make sure to match the measurement given in grams.
All-purpose flour works in a pinch, though rice flour gives the crumble a lighter, crunchier texture.
Coconut milk adds richness and subtle sweetness, but if you don’t have any on hand, you can use buttermilk in its place.
While it might be tempting to streamline that step, I suggest you either toast the crumble or omit it all together. The toasting helps the coconut oil fuse with the ingredients, making a crumble texture that won’t interfere with the rest of the drop biscuit dough. If you add the crumble to the dough raw, it won’t have the same effect.
Chilling helps hydrate the flour and allows the butter to cool, which means fluffier biscuits that hold their shape much better in the oven!
Why is this recipe in grams?
Grams is always my preference for baking, and I hope it will be yours, too. The only way to ensure complete accuracy is through measuring by weight, not volume. One cup of flour can weigh all the way from 120 grams to 160 grams, depending on how it was packed. This ends up causing some volatility and miss-matched results.
I want to ensure you get the best results with this recipe (and I want to keep this recipe fool-proof!) so I highly recommend getting a small affordable kitchen scale if you want to move forward with this particular recipe.
Watch the recipe here
The video may not fully represent the recipe. For best results, follow the instructions as written.
Looking for similar recipes?
Strawberry and Raspberry Scones
Sugared Fig Scones
Roasted Pear & Camembert Biscuits
And that’s it for these Rhubarb Coconut Drop Biscuits!
If you make them, please tag me on Pinterest or Instagram so I can see! It’s my favorite thing to scroll through stories and see what you all are making.
And of course feel free to leave any questions, comments or reviews! This is the best place to reach me, and I’d love to hear from you <3
Equipment
- parchment paper
- 1 1/2 cup scoop
Ingredients
For the coconut crumble filling:
- 1/2 cup (75g) rice flour
- 3 tablespoons (37g) granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons (13g) unsweetened coconut flakes or shredded coconut
- 2 tablespoons (30g) coconut oil, melted
For the ginger rhubarb:
- 1 large stalk (100g) rhubarb, sliced
- 1 1-inch knob of ginger
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
For the drop biscuit dough:
- 3 cups (420g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (50g) granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 3/4 cup (170g) salted butter, cold
- 240 grams coconut milk, plus a bit extra for brushing, see Note
Instructions
- Position a rack to the middle of the oven and preheat to 350°F.
- In a small bowl, whisk together 75 grams of rice flour, 37 grams of granulated sugar, 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, 13 grams of coconut flakes. Drizzle in the 30 grams of coconut oil and mix until you get a crumble with some clumps forming.
- Transfer this to a parchment-lined baking sheet. Bake at 350°F for 10-12 minutes or until the mixture is lightly golden. Let cool.
- While that is baking, thinly slice 100 grams of rhubarb and add it to a medium bowl.
- Grate in the 1-inch knob of ginger and add 50 grams of granulated sugar. Mix with your hands, pressing the ginger into the sugar so that it nearly melts together. Set aside and let the rhubarb macerate with the ginger sugar while you prepare the drop biscuit dough.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the 420 grams of all-purpose flour, 50 grams of granulated sugar, 1 tablespoon of baking powder, and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt.
- Use either a rasp-style grater or box grater, grate in 170 grams of cold butter. Using your hands, toss the grated butter into the dry ingredients, coating all the individual butter pieces in flour and forming a shaggy, still-dry mixture.
- Use a spoon to transfer the rhubarb into the mix, but leave any excess liquid behind. (Save this liquid for topping the biscuits later). Toss the rhubarb with the flour mixture to evenly distribute.
- Add the coconut crumble and mix again.
- Drizzle 240 grams of coconut milk around the edges of the bowl. Use a fork to mix everything into a dough. Press this a few times with your hands, then cover and let the dough chill for at least 1 hour, or up to overnight. The longer the chill, the better the biscuits will bake.
- Whisk a tablespoon of coconut milk in with the liquid left over from the rhubarb + ginger mixture. Set this aside to brush on tops of the biscuits before baking.
- To bake, increase the oven temperature to 375°F. Use a 1/2 cup scoop to portion the dough into 11 even pieces. Space them 2 inches apart on a baking sheet, brush with the coconut milk topping, and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until lightly golden on the top and the edges.
- Serve warm!
Comments
Just made these vegan with margarine instead of butter (and avocado oil instead of melted coconut oil) and they turned out wonderfully! So delicious and easy to follow. I ended up using a smidge more oil than the recipe called for in the crumble, but other than that the recipe worked swimmingly!
This makes me so happy! I’m so thrilled you made them!
Im hesitant to give this a try without more detailed description of the ingredients “rice flour” and “flour”. Can you clarify?
Rice flour is the rice flour you can find in the store, it’s labeled as such and is usually from Bob’s Red Mill or Goya! All-purpose flour is your typical flour you are most commonly baking with!
Is there anything you would add to help it bind better with gluten free flour? Mine comes out so crumbly.
Oh dear, I’m not a gluten-free baker so I’m not sure! I don’t want to lead you astray, but are you using a 1:1 gluten free flour blend?
These look delicious. Is there a way to pay for your content without the intrusive ads? Right now the ads I’m getting are all highly animated and painful. I love your work, have pre-ordered your book and totally respect the need to monetize the excellent recipes so I’m willing to pay for them! I don’t use the tiktok so if they are easier to deal with there, maybe that’s why?
This is my biggest catch-22 and I’m so sorry! I use traditional food blog ads to keep all of my recipes paywall free. My YouTube video recipes are on my newsletter (ad free), but I haven’t found a workaround for my 5-year archive yet that will still allow my salary. A good workaround is to hit “Print Recipe” and screenshot it, this will diminish my income but just leave a nice review and I won’t mind 😉
Why rice flour for the crumble? Can I use something else that I might actually keep around the house (I keep a fair number of different flours, but not rice flour)? Thanks.
I briefly say this in the blog post but it stays light and crisp! You can use all-purpose flour in a pinch, but I find that eats a little softer so you can’t distinguish the crumble as easily.
recommended link
Rhubarb Coconut Drop Biscuits – Justine Doiron
Hi Justine! Just curious if you have any idea if these might work with vegan butter? I’m guessing probably not but figured it was worth asking your opinion haha. I just found your site recently and I’ve already made several of your recipes, all of which have been fantastic!
Hi Anna,
I actually think they might! Drop biscuits are super forgiving, so I’d try Earth Balance or Miyokos and please report back!
I love how simple these are and feel a little impressive because the rhubarb bits turn all jammy and delish inside.
I used vegan butter and found it forgiving enough for this recipe. The first time I made them my butter was melting faster than I could grate it so I ended up slicing it up and using a fork to crumb it together. Second time I froze my butter but still found the same thing. (Although I will say they turned out fine both time). I think next time I might just bring out my food processor and crumb by butter and flour together that way (I do this for scones and it always turns out fine). LONG LIVE RHUBARB SEASON!
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