These small batch Parker House Rolls are soft and fluffy and extra buttery. They are named for the Boston Hotel where they were first served.
With their distinctive fold, these are just like the buttery rolls from a full batch, but with only six rolls per recipe, these rolls are perfect for a small holiday dinner.
The first time I made these was for a Thanksgiving for four. Rather than popping open a can of refrigerator rolls (no shame in that!), I wanted to have extra special homemade dinner rolls. These definitely fit the bill.
Because this recipe begins with a slurry (or tangzhong), these were so amazingly soft. You can mix the dough by hand, almost like no knead dough, or if you like, you can briefly mix the dough with a mixer. Either way, you will be rewarded with crazy good rolls.
Ingredients You Will Need:
All-Purpose Flour: For the dough and for dusting.
Water: To make the "slurry" or Tangzhong, which is a mixture of hot liquid and flour that is mixed until the flour gelatinizes. It helps the bread stay super soft.
From the Fridge: Milk and butter. I used unsalted butter for the dough and salted butter for brushing.
From the Pantry: Sugar, salt, and instant yeast. If you only have active dry yeast, you should be fine.
Herbs: For sprinkling between the buttery fold in the bread. This is optional but tasty. I used Herbs de Provence, but any herb mixture will work, or none!
To Make These Rolls:
First, make the slurry. Place a couple of tablespoons of flour into a mixing bowl and then add nearly boiling water. Whisk briskly until you have a thick paste.
Next, to the bowl, whisk in the milk, sugar, yeast, and salt.
After that, work in butter and flour and stir with a dough whisk or your hand. Knead in the bowl with your hand for a minute or two. Optionally, you can knead it briefly with the dough hook of a stand mixer. I've done it both ways and the final dough (and bread) turns out great either way.
Let the dough rise until doubled and then shape the rolls.
To Shape the Rolls:
Roll the dough out into a 12 inch by 5 inch rectangle and then brush one half of the dough, lengthwise, with melted butter, and then sprinkle with the optional herbs. Slice the dough into six two inch by 5 inch strips.
Fold the unbuttered half of the strip over the buttered half, leaving about a half inch of the buttered side uncovered. Place the first strip into a buttered bread pan, with the fold facing the the end and the longer side on top. Repeat with another strip placing it next to the first strip. Continue with the other four folded strips, slightly layering the ends.
Cover the pan and let the dough rise until doubled, about 45 minutes.
Bake the rolls in a 375 degree F oven for about 20 minutes. Let the dough cool in the pan for five minutes and then brush the loaf with melted butter.
Note: Most of the time I advise you to let bread cool completely before tearing into it. With these rolls, you have my permission to eat them warm. You still need to wait about 20 minutes.
P.S. You don't even need butter (although more melty butter is even better)!
Make Ahead:
These rolls are best the day they are made, but you can make them the night before and keep them, once they are fully cooled, in a plastic bag or airtight container. Refresh them for about 20 to 30 seconds in the microwave before serving.
I typically make these around nine in the morning of the dinner party and pull them out of the oven before noon, giving me plenty of time to finish fixing the rest of the dinner before my guests arrive.
If you happen to have leftovers, they are great for sandwiches, especially with Thanksgiving leftovers.
This month, the Bread Bakers are making "rolls with a twist" and our host is Swathy of Zesty South Indian Kitchen.
- Food Lust People Love: Ostesnurrer - Danish Cheese Twists
- Passionkneaded Pumpkin Milk Bread
- A Day in the Life on the Farm: Lussekatter
- Sneha’s Recipe: Beetroot Honey Oats & Semolina Bread Rolls
- Zesty South Indian Kitchen : Cranberry Cream Cheese Sourdough Dinner Rolls
- A Messy Kitchen : Fluffy Spelt Dinner Rolls
- Karen's Kitchen Stories : Small Batch Parker House Rolls
#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. Follow our Pinterest board right here. Links are also updated each month on this home page.
We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient.
Small-Batch Parker House Rolls
These small batch Parker House Rolls are soft and fluffy and extra buttery.
Ingredients
- 19 grams (2 1/2 tablespoons) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 113 grams (1/2 cup) hot water, between 180 degrees to 210 degrees F
- The slurry
- 76 grams (1/3 cup) whole milk
- 17 grams (1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon) sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
- 1 teaspoon table salt or 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 35 grams (2 1/2 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
- 180 grams (1 1/2 cups) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter or salted butter, melted. If you use unsalted, add a pinch of salt.
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon herbs de Provence or other herbs, such as za'atar
Instructions
- Place the flour for the slurry in a mixing bowl and add 76 grams of the water (discard the rest) and whisk vigorously, until you have a thick paste. (The reason you boiled extra water was to accomodate any evaporation).
- Add the milk, sugar, yeast, and salt, and whisk everything together.
- Add the butter and the rest of the flour and work everything together with you fingers until combined. You can also use a dough whisk.
- Knead the dough by hand or mixer (dough hook) for a minute or two and then place the dough into an oiled dough rising bucket, cover, and let rise until doubled, about an hour.
- Deflate the dough and roll it out into a 12 inch by 5 inch rectangle. Brush one half of the dough, lengthwise, with melted butter, and then sprinkle the buttered side with the optional herbs. Slice the dough into six strips two inches by 5 inches.
- Working with one strip at a time, fold the unbuttered half of the strip over the buttered half, leaving about a half inch of the buttered side uncovered. Flip the folded strip over and place it into a buttered 8 1/2 inch by 4 1/2 inch bread pan, with the fold facing the the end. Repeat with another strip placing it next to the first strip. Continue with the other four folded strips, slightly layering the ends. You will have three rows of two rolls (see photo above).
- Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let it rise for about 45 minutes to an hour, until doubled. In the meantime, heat your oven to 375 degrees F. with a rack in the middle.
- Bake the loaf for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden and the interior reaches 195 degrees F.
- Let the loaf cool in the pan for five minutes, and then turn it ot onto a rack, and immediately brush it with melted butter. Let continue to cool.
Nutrition Facts
Calories
223Fat (grams)
9 gSat. Fat (grams)
6 gCarbs (grams)
30 gFiber (grams)
2 gNet carbs
28 gSugar (grams)
4 gProtein (grams)
5 gCholesterol (grams)
24 mg
Recipe adapted from King Arthur Baking.
