Everyone loves Parker House Rolls, and for good reason! They are soft and absolutely delicious. Pretty too, take a look….
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Parker House Rolls:
Parker House Rolls are served at our favorite restaurant in Dana Point. But you don’t have to go out to enjoy this beautiful comfort food, because you can make them from scratch at home. They are fabulous when slathered in butter with a little sea salt and chives.. Of course honey and jam are fabulous options as well.
May I Complain A Little?
When I first made Parker House Rolls I was frustrated by very vague directions. There are a thousand recipes online, and almost all of them were exactly the same ingredients, and almost all of them had every vague directions that left you guessing. My directions are going to be very clear, almost annoyingly clear. I hope you don’t mind.
Pro tip: You Can’t Rush Parker House Rolls
This recipe is easy to follow, but I have one caution, you can’t rush the steps. This recipe takes about two hours and 45 minutes start to finish, but don’t panic, you aren’t working that whole time. In fact you are working very little, there is wait time between each step, you have to give yeast time to do it’s thing. During that downtime between steps you can do whatever you like! Just be near a timer:)
Need More Bread Recipes?
Try my gorgeous Buttermilk Cornbread!
The Recipe: Parker House Rolls
What you need: you’ll need a mixer with a dough attachment and a good sea salt, my absolute favorite sea salt hands down is Maldon’s Flaked Sea Salt!
Soft homemade rolls make a delicious side dish for any meal.
- 1 1/4 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup cold butter, cut into cubes (plus more for brushing rolls and greasing bowl)
- 1/2 cup granulated sugar
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 1/2 cup warm water, plus 1 teaspoon sugar
- 3 small eggs, whisked
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 6 cups all purpose flour
- chopped chives, optional
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In a small pot, bring milk to a simmer. As soon as it simmers, turn off heat. Add cubed butter and sugar and gently stir until butter is melted. Pour mixture into a bowl and allow to cool (about 20 minutes, if it needs longer to cool, give it more time)
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In a small bowl add one packet active dry yeast to 1/2 cup warm water, add one teaspoon sugar. The sugar helps to activate yeast. Gently stir, allow to sit for 7-10 minutes so yeast activates and is a little foamy. Note: Water should be warm, but not hot.
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Use a paper towel to coat the bottom of a large bowl with butter. Your dough will rise in this bowl. Set bowl aside. Whisk eggs in a small bowl, set aside.
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In a stand mixer with dough attachment, add cooled milk mixture, whisked eggs, yeast mixture, kosher salt, and half of the flour. Mix until well combined. Then add flour a half cup at a time, mixing until well combined again. It will still be quite sticky at this point.
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Lightly sprinkle your counter with some flour. Turn dough out and knead by hand for 5-6 minutes until your dough is smooth and elastic. The dough will seem super sticky at first but with set up almost immediately as you knead.
Only add more flour if dough is sticking to hands and counter. If you add too much your rolls might be dry. After kneading for 5-6 minutes, place dough ball in greased bowl, cover and allow to rise for 70 minutes. I usually let my dough rise in the warmest room in the house.
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After dough rises, cover a cooking sheet with parchment paper. Add a little more flour to counter, turn dough ball out onto the counter and punch it down (punching down dough is the act of gently pressing your fist into the center of the dough to release accumulated carbon dioxide gas). Then tear off dough and roll in your hands making 30- 2" balls and place on cooking sheet. Try to leave 1" between rolls. It's ok if they get a little crowded, they are actually supposed to butt up against each other as they bake. If the cooking sheet isn't big enough you can use two. Cover rolls and allow rolls to rise for 35 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees, place oven rack in center position. When oven is ready, bake rolls for 20-25 minutes, until just slightly golden. Remove and if desired, brush with melted butter, sprinkle with sea salt or kosher salt and chopped chives. Enjoy!
In my experience rushing this process ends in disaster. Make sure to allow time for each step. Patience is a virtue!
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