Saturday, April 27, 2024

Parker House Style Yeast Rolls

parker house rolls

They’re simple, but yet have “special touches” that make them worthy of any holiday table. You can tell the rolls are done baking when they are pulling away from the sides of the pan and are evenly golden brown. This usually takes about 25 minutes in my oven. It is important to go by how the dough looks, not a specific time. The best way to tell if bread is risen is by giving it the finger poke test - lightly flour a finger and then gently poke the surface of a roll.

How to Make Sourdough Bread

I only ended up using about two thirds of the amount of butter called for and they were plenty buttery. Only baked for 10 min + a brief broil to brown. Steaming while cooling really worked to soften them up. What I love most about these rolls is that you really can’t mess them up.

Activate yeast:

Shape the rolls and place them on a baking sheet instead of in a 9×13 pan. Don’t let them rise–instead, put them in the freezer for an hour. When you’re ready to bake them, place the frozen rolls in a 13×9 pan and let them rise on the counter, lightly covered, as you usually would. This recipe has potato flakes in it, which makes the dough a little shaggy at first (you can see on the left) before it starts to come together. I LOVE adding potato flakes to these Parker House rolls!

Parker House Ingredients:

And I’m relieved I beta tested them before Thanksgiving. People will like them, I’m sure, but for my time and money I’ll make actual rolls. Using premade pizza dough is not that big of a cheat-pizza dough is just not that hard folks.

parker house rolls

The swirl of butter in the center of these dinner rolls makes them completely irresistible! You can even make this recipe ahead of time for Thanksgiving. Parker house rolls are a kind of dinner roll, but not all dinner rolls are Parker House Rolls, if that makes sense! If you are going to do a component of these rolls ahead of time, doing the first rise in the fridge is the way to go.

I usually just use regular salted butter for this (or Unsalted with salt added), but you can do a garlic butter, a herb butter, a honey butter, whatever takes your fancy here. The extra touch of butter both before and after you bake them make them so buttery and soft. These pillow-y rolls are a bread lovers dream come true. Optional is topping these exquisite rolls with flaky salt extra flare and taste. These will soon become a dinner favorite. Use them for holiday meals, special occasions, or when ever you just want a home baked divinely made roll.

The old story goes that a baker at the Parker House Hotel in Boston got angry about something and threw the rolls in the oven unfinished. The original shape of the rolls is a circle of dough dipped in butter and folded in half. I love both formats - the round rolls are great for making sliders or sandwiches, but there is just something so special about the folded over version. The inside gets this amazing texture, and there is a little pocket of butter in the middle of each one which makes that part of the dough super soft. You also get the maximum amount of area where the rolls touch which is my very favourite part of bread.

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I wasn't initially planning on this, but I ended up going on a deep dive to test this. I made a double batch of my white bread dough, and ran a few tests just so I could show you what works best and what doesn't. Parker House Rolls are best eaten fresh on the day that they are made but store super well in an airtight container at room temperature. Refresh in the oven or microwave, or lightly toast if you are eating them after the day that they are made. Shape each into a ball, and then leave to rest for 10 minutes or so to let them relax a little (if you are in a hurry you can skip this step). Remember that it does take a little practice to get the hang of working with dough, but this one is nice and soft but not too sticky so it is fairly easy to work with.

Parker House rolls can be kept in an airtight container or ziploc on the counter for a few days. I like to use this high sided pan from Nordicware to make my Parker House Rolls in - it comes with a lid which is super handy for rising the rolls in. Any 9"x13" pan will work, or arrange as desired in a different sized pan.

So what makes a Parker House roll special? A buttery fold during the shaping process (and butter brushed on after they're baked) give them over-the-top flavor. An egg, milk, and a fair amount of butter in the dough give them fine and tender texture. All in all, this Boston-based roll is a bread-basket classic. These soft, buttery dinner rolls are the perfect with a bowl of soup or simply by themselves. Best served warm, the rolls come in a 9" pan ready for the oven.

I often get asked if people can do the second rise in the fridge, and my answer is no. It leads to overproofing the rolls as they spend too long in the fridge, and the dough totally deflates when you go to bake it. Keep Parker House rolls in a zippered bag at room temperature for up to 5 days. Freeze baked and cooled rolls on a cookie sheet and then place them in a zippered bag with the date labeled on the outside. They’ll keep in the freezer indefinitely but are best if used within 3 months.

parker house rolls

I followed directions exactly, using store-bought pizza dough, but the dough didn’t rise at all. I had it in a warm spot for over 2 hours. I’m sure I did something wrong, but I won’t try these again. The rolls do not need to rise a second time once shaped. But truly, these famous Parker House Rolls are adored just as they are, which is why you'll see lots of brands make and freeze their own to sell in the bread section at the grocery store.

The dough and process are so easy and very forgiving. Trust me, if you’re fearful of making bread, start with this recipe. If you want to make these ahead, you can start them an entire month before you want to bake them.

I made the dough and shaped it, then gave it overnight in the fridge (from experience you can do up to 24 hours) then shaped the rolls as directed and rose and baked. Today, bakers make the rolls all kinds of ways, like forming balls and packing them into a baking dish so the edges touch and become soft. Or, cutting squares and baking them the same way.

I like to give my Parker House Rolls a coating of Egg wash before baking, then finish with butter after they come out of the oven. My first cookbook The Tried and True Cookbook is available to order! It’s packed with family recipes, favorites from readers, and 25 brand-new exclusive recipes. Alyssa Rivers is the author of 'The Tried and True Cookbook', a professional food photographer and experienced recipe-developer. Having a passion for cooking, her tried and true recipes have been featured on Good Morning America, Today Food, Buzzfeed and more. To make Parker House Rolls for 24 people, allow close to three hours of total cook time.

This recipe requires you to make the dough first following the instructions on the post. Variations – For savory rolls, blend in some Italian or Greek seasoning in Step 4. Or make them sweeter and brush the tops with honey butter in Step 10.

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