The Flour Secret That Makes Texas Roadhouse Rolls Taste So Good

It's Friday night and you've found yourself in front of a massive plate of country-fried steak. Another song by Toby Keith plays over the speakers. There's a corner dedicated to famous outlaw country singer Willie Nelson right across from you, and just a few feet away, someone is climbing on top of a mechanical bull. All in all, it's a pretty average night at Texas Roadhouse.

Much like the state it's named after, Texas Roadhouse has some pretty big things going for it behind the kitschy country/cowboy vibe. It proudly boasts its own in-house butcher shop where customers are free to select whatever cut of meat they choose. The chain actually does have a corner dedicated to Willie Nelson in each restaurant as part of a symbol of friendship between Nelson and Texas Roadhouse founder Kent Taylor. While these things don't make up all of Texas Roadhouse, they certainly do help to make the chain unique. In fact, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the chain became the most popular restaurant in the country in terms of take-out orders.

But aside from steak and Willie Nelson, there's one thing that the Roadhouse is known for — those sweet, warm yeast rolls that are served with cinnamon butter. While many copycat recipes for these rolls exist out there, there's one very simple trick done with flour that makes these rolls all the more delicious.

When you make rolls or any kind of bread, flour is included in every recipe. Whether it's standard flour or specialty flour, like brown rice or millet, whenever you make bread, flour is one of the key ingredients. The same principle applies to Texas Roadhouse's rolls too — only this time, the flour mixture is made to be sweeter than most you'd find in bread recipes.

A standard recipe for Texas Roadhouse rolls may call for eggs, yeast, flour, and water, but it will also require that you have a fair share of sugar too. While white sugar is usually required for the recipe, other recipes may call for brown sugar for a richer, darker, and sweeter taste. Whether or not you use brown or white sugar is up to you, but the key is to give the flour mixture a sweet flavor before adding it to the wet ingredients as you prepare the dough. Of course, if you're looking for a yeast roll that isn't too sweet, you're free to cut down on the sugar. It may not be the standard Texas Roadhouse roll, of course, but the end result would still be a pretty good dinner roll.  

Texas Roadhouse claims that its famous rolls are baked fresh every five minutes. While you may not be able to top that speed, at least you'll have a darn good roll.

If you have homemade Texas Roadhouse-style rolls, you can't fully enjoy them without making the chain's famous cinnamon butter. All you need to make it is softened butter, cinnamon, honey, and sugar — just in case the rolls weren't sweet enough for you. If you were to make any type of roll, the cinnamon butter would be a delicious addition, especially if the rolls aren't too sweet in themselves.

Butter is a major ingredient in a standard Texas Roadhouse roll. Not only is butter used in the cinnamon butter (obviously) and is included in the dough, but a key element of the Texas Roadhouse roll is that it's brushed down with warm melted butter to better showcase the golden-brown exterior. Even we admit it, that's a lot of butter.

If you find that you can't get enough of that delicious cinnamon butter, Texas Roadhouse also sells a special candle that smells of its fresh-baked rolls and warm cinnamon butter. It's perfect for making every room in your house smell like a Texas Roadhouse on a Friday night!