Copycat recipe
Copycat Steakhouse Dinner Rolls
The thing that makes a steakhouse roll different from a standard dinner roll is that it is enriched and slightly sweet. Milk, butter, honey and egg all go into the dough, which shortens the gluten and produces a crumb that pulls apart in soft strands rather than tearing.
The second difference is the shape. These are cut into squares from a rolled slab rather than shaped into balls, which is faster, gives you flat sides that brown evenly, and means the rolls fuse at the edges in the pan so they pull apart at the seam.
The recipe below is written for a stand mixer but works by hand with about eight minutes of kneading. It is honest about the timings — the ninety minutes of resting is not optional and cannot be rushed with extra yeast.
Ingredients
Dough
- 240ml whole milk, warmed to about 43°C / 110°F
- 2¼ tsp active dry yeast (one standard sachet)
- 55g honey, plus 1 tsp for the yeast
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
- 55g unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
- 480g plain / all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1½ tsp fine salt
To finish
- 30g unsalted butter, melted
- Flaky salt (optional)
Method
Wake the yeast
Stir the yeast and 1 tsp of the honey into the warmed milk and leave it for 8–10 minutes until it foams visibly. If nothing happens, the yeast is dead or the milk was too hot — start again rather than proceeding, because no amount of proving time will rescue it.
Build the dough
Add the remaining honey, the egg and the melted butter to the yeast mixture and whisk to combine. Add the flour and salt, keeping the salt away from direct contact with the yeast until the flour is in. Mix on low with a dough hook for 6–7 minutes until the dough is smooth and pulls away from the sides but still feels slightly tacky. Resist adding more flour — a tacky dough makes a tender roll and a dry dough makes a dense one.
First rise
Transfer to a lightly oiled bowl, cover, and leave somewhere warm for about 60 minutes until roughly doubled. Judge it by volume rather than the clock; a cold kitchen can add half an hour.
Roll and cut
Knock the dough back and roll it out on a floured surface to a rectangle about 1.5cm thick. Trim the edges square, then cut into 24 even squares. Arrange them in a lined baking tray with roughly 1cm between them so they fuse as they rise.
Second rise
Cover loosely and leave for 30 minutes until visibly puffed and touching. Meanwhile heat the oven to 175°C / 350°F.
Bake
Bake for 12–15 minutes until the tops are golden and the rolls sound hollow when tapped. Brush generously with melted butter the moment they come out — while the surface is still hot enough to absorb it rather than sit under it.
Notes & troubleshooting
- Take the milk to 43°C / 110°F and no higher. Above about 50°C the yeast starts dying, and hot milk is the most common cause of rolls that never rise.
- A tacky dough is correct. The urge to add flour until it stops sticking is what produces dense, dry rolls.
- Cut the squares with a bench scraper or a sharp knife in one downward press. Dragging a blunt knife through drags the edge and the roll rises lopsided.
- They freeze well after baking. Reheat from frozen at 150°C / 300°F for about 10 minutes and butter them again on the way out.
- Serve with the honey cinnamon butter below — the two were designed together and the roll is noticeably plain without it.
Questions
Why did my rolls come out dense?
Almost always one of two things: too much flour worked into a dough that should have stayed tacky, or an under-developed second rise. Both are fixable and neither is about the yeast quantity.
Can I make the dough the night before?
Yes. After the first rise, knock it back, cover tightly and refrigerate overnight. Roll and cut straight from cold, then allow 45–60 minutes for the second rise rather than 30.
Can I use instant yeast instead?
Yes, and you can skip the proving step and add it straight to the flour. Use about ¾ of the quantity given.
How close is this to the restaurant version?
Close on texture and sweetness. This is an original formulation rather than the restaurant's recipe, so it is an approximation arrived at independently, not a copy.
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