Arkansas is a little state full of world capitals. We’ve got a quartz crystal capital, a folk music capital, and a duck capital. You can also find a watermelon capital, and even a spinach capital, in the Natural State. There’s one more capital you may not know about, though: Searcy County, in the north central portion of our state, is the Chocolate Roll Capital of the World.
If you’re not familiar with chocolate rolls, let me describe the recipe for you: you combine cocoa, butter, and sugar, then roll the mixture up in dough like the most amazing burrito ever, and bake it. Just when it’s smelling really fantastic and you think you’re about to be transported to heaven on a cloud of doughy chocolate, you take the chocolate rolls out of the oven and enjoy a gooey bite. Then you realize all the ingredients are perfect already and when you combine them in a chocolate roll it's an instant party in your mouth. You can skip right to the party in your mouth portion of the process by visiting a little place in Marshall, a town smack dab in the Chocolate Roll Capital of the World, called Ruby’s Diner.
You can find directions to Ruby's Diner here.
Please note, Ruby's Diner is no longer in business.
The town of Marshall is so serious about chocolate rolls that they have a Chocolate Roll Festival every year in March.
You can even enter the chocolate roll festival as a baker to prove you’re the world champion of chocolate rolls.
As far as championship titles go, that’s a pretty cool one.
Ruby’s Diner is an unassuming looking place, but don’t underestimate the flavor you’ll find there. . .
. . . especially the trays of fresh chocolate rolls.
The chocolate rolls come wrapped up for the road.
No matter which you choose, they're all delicious.
To find more iconic Arkansas foods, check out this list.
You'll want to add these dishes to your foodie bucket list.
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