Copycat Texas Roadhouse Rolls — The Sunday Bread That Held the First Memorial Day As a Family of Almost-Four

Memorial Day weekend. Brayden is one hundred and thirty-nine weeks old. The pregnancy is at thirty-nine weeks. The apartment-courtyard cookout was Monday afternoon — about twenty-five residents of the building gathering on the small back-grass-strip with the small propane grills set up against the back wall. Dustin had volunteered the apartment as the staging-kitchen for the rolls since most of the other families had no proper oven for the small Sunday-overnight-rise dough.

I made copycat Texas Roadhouse rolls Sunday morning starting at six-thirty AM, the recipe I had copied out of a Pinterest blog in 2019 the summer Dustin and I had started dating. The cinnamon butter on the side is the small differentiating element — it is what makes the rolls feel like the chain-restaurant rolls rather than a standard yeast-dinner-roll.

The dough is a small enriched yeast-dough — flour, milk, butter, sugar, yeast, egg, salt — mixed and rested overnight, shaped into small rounds Monday morning, given a second-rise, baked at four-hundred for fifteen minutes, brushed with melted butter immediately out of the oven. The rolls come out soft, sweet-just-enough, and the small honey-cinnamon-butter on the side is the finishing flourish.

The technique question on the rolls is the dough-overnight-rest. The slow cold-rise (about twelve hours in the refrigerator) develops the flavor and the texture that the quick-rise rolls do not have. The same trick that worked for the Belgian waffles in early 2022. The cold-fermentation is the small step that elevates the rolls.

Copycat Texas Roadhouse Rolls

Prep Time: 25 minutes + 1 hour 30 minutes rising | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 2 hours 10 minutes | Servings: 24 rolls

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk, warmed to about 110°F
• 1 package (2 1/4 tsp) active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
• 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for kneading
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled
• 3 tbsp unsalted butter, melted (for brushing after baking)

Instructions

1. Activate the yeast. In a large bowl or the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the warm milk, yeast, and 1 tsp of the sugar. Stir gently and let sit for 5–10 minutes until foamy. If it doesn’t foam, your yeast may be expired — start over with fresh yeast.
2. Build the dough. Add the remaining sugar, salt, egg, and melted butter to the yeast mixture. Stir to combine. Add the flour one cup at a time, mixing until a soft, slightly sticky dough forms. Avoid adding too much extra flour — a soft dough makes a tender roll.
3. Knead until smooth. Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 6–8 minutes by hand, or 4–5 minutes with a dough hook on medium speed, until the dough is smooth and springs back when poked.
4. First rise. Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with a clean towel or plastic wrap, and let rise in a warm spot for 1 hour or until doubled in size.
5. Shape the rolls. Punch down the dough and turn it onto a lightly floured surface. Roll out to about 1/2-inch thickness. Cut into 2-inch squares or use a round cutter. Place rolls about 1/2 inch apart on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
6. Second rise. Cover loosely and let rise for 30 minutes until puffed and nearly doubled again.
7. Bake. Preheat oven to 350°F. Bake rolls for 13–15 minutes until the tops are golden and the centers are cooked through. Do not overbake — you want them just golden.
8. Brush with butter. Remove from the oven and immediately brush generously with melted butter. Serve warm.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 130 | Protein: 3g | Fat: 5g | Carbs: 19g | Fiber: 1g | Sodium: 105mg