Happy Friday!

I decided that since Travis, my family and I enjoyed those rolls from the other night so much, I'd share the recipe, since I have 3 people that read my blog, and I'm sure it'll make me FAMOUS!!!!!!!!

Or not, but you know, whatever.

In case you're wondering what on earth Texas Roadhouse is, as I mentioned before, it's a chain of restaurants owned by Willie Nelson. The first one was in Indiana or something like that, and people here in Texas always say, "WELL WHY IS IT CALLED TEXAS ROADHOUSE?!?!!?!1?!!!!?"

Well, friend, that's because it was meant to be like a Texas roadhouse. Duh.

Anyway, it's delicious.

Texas Road House Rolls

Ingredients:

•3 c. all-purpose flour

•2 (1/4 oz.) active dry yeast

•1 tsp salt

•2 tbsp sugar

•1 c. milk + 1/4 c. water, warmed

•1 large egg slightly beaten
•1/4 c. butter + 2 T butter, melted

Instructions:

1. Place 2 cups flour in a large bowl. Add yeast, salt, and sugar.
2. In another bowl (I used a large glass measuring cup), combine water, milk, and egg. Stir.
3. Make a well in center of dry ingredients; pour milk mixture into the well.
4. Mix by hand, approx 150 strokes, frequently scraping bottom and sides of bowl.
5. Add 1/4c. melted butter & stir to incorporate.
6. Add remaining flour, 1/3 cup at a time, and stir after each addition.
7. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Set dough in a warm, draft free place such as an oven with a pan of the hottest tap water on the rack below.
8. Allow batter to rise until double in bulk, about 1 hour.
9. Coat 12 cup muffin pan with butter, shortening, or spray. Make sure to do this liberally.
10. Punch down batter with spoon. Dough will be VERY sticky. I’d recommend not using your hands. I sprayed down two rubber spatula-spoons with non-stick spray.
11. Drop by spoonfuls into muffin tins. Keep in mind rolls should double in size. Brush rolls with 1 tbsp. of melted butter.
12. Let rise for another 30 minutes in a warm place; rolls should double in size.
13. Bake rolls on middle rack for 16-18 minutes at 400 degrees. After removing rolls, brush top with remaining melted butter.

Personal note: I made these in the muffin pan, and I believe that next time, I will try to put them on a flat pan in small rectangular-ish shapes, lined up next to each other. I think they may bake better this way.

Cinnamon Butter

•1 stick real butter (softened)
•4 tsp. cinnamon
•1/4 cup brown sugar
•1/4 cup white sugar

Beat ingredients together until smooth. Cover and refrigerate.

Personal note: When I was making the cinnamon butter, I doubled the recipe since I was having a large number of people over. I beat it for quite some time with my stand mixer, and it was REALLY dark in color and quite grainy in texture. I added another stick of butter and that helped a little, but it was still grainy. I decided to add a small splash of milk, (maybe 2-3 tbsp) and it helped a little. Had I not been in a time crunch, I probably would have played with it more.

I suggest for a single batch using 1/8cup of the sugars, (that's 2 tbsp if you don't have a 1/8 measuring cup), mix it and taste. If it's not sweet enough, I would gradually add some of each maybe a tbsp or even a tsp at a time.

I would also suggest beating the butter by itself first to give it a good, whipped texture. Whipped butter speads so well on warm rolls.

So there's my Friday gift to you. Let me know how it turns out! :)

Ok, quickly, I would like to add that I am so excited for the events in my life today. Travis's cousin is in the Navy and was able to get his leave a little earlier than planned to make it to a family wedding that we have tomorrow. The whole family is greeting him today, and we are just super excited to be a part of it. I'm even more excited because his aunt asked me to take pictures of it all, so that she can have pictures to remember the moment. To me, that's a special opportunity and I can't wait. :)