Parker House Rolls Recipe

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Parker house rolls are typically soft, sweet, buttery, and folded over. Some folks like them nestled together in the pan so they touch each other, while others prefer them kept separated. You can decide that when you bake them.

Instant mashed potato flakes are my secret ingredient for making breads fluffy. When you buy them, look for the ones that are nothing but dried potatoes—no added salt, spices, or preservatives.

I normally use my stand mixer for kneading bread dough, but most can be kneaded by hand. In theory, you could knead this one by hand, but keep in mind the dough is pretty stiff in the beginning and hard to knead, and that incorporating the butter by hand isn't a whole lot of fun

Then again, these rolls are worth it.

Note: The milk shouldn't be hot for this bread—just at that point of warm when you realize it's not chilled any more. 30 seconds or so in the microwave is just about enough. If it still seems chilly, microwave in short increments, until it feels just warm—not hot.

Parker House Rolls Recipe

Active 25 mins

Total 2 hrs

Serves 12 servings

1 1/4 cups (about 10 ounces) warm milk
2 1/4 teaspoons instant yeast
11 1/4 ounces (about 2 1/4 cups) bread flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup instant mashed potato flakes
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter at room temperature
1 teaspoon salt

Put the milk, yeast, bread flour, sugar, and potato flakes in the bowl of your stand mixer. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic. The dough will be quite stiff at this point.
Add the butter and salt and continue kneading until the butter is completely incorporated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside until the dough has doubled in size, about an hour.
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and preheat the oven to 350°F. Lightly dust your work surface with flour. Turn out the dough, pat it down to flatten it. Fold the left side towards the middle, then the top, then the right side, and the bottom to form a rough square.
With a rolling pin, roll the dough to about 9 by 12 inches. Using a pizza cutter or sharp knife, cut the dough into three 12-inch strips, then cut each strip into 4 equal pieces, so you have 12 squares.
Using a chopstick, the handle of a wooden spoon, or a similar object, press a line onto each square going straight across (not diagonally) so it's not quite across the center of the square. This will help keep the dough from unfolding when it bakes. Fold the dough over at the crease, with the larger portion folded over the smaller one, like a clam with an overbite.
Arrange the folded dough on the baking sheet, leaving space between them if you don't want them to touch, or placing them nearly touching if you prefer pull-apart buns. Cover the buns with plastic wrap and set aside until doubled in size, half the time it took for the first rise (about 30 minutes).
When the buns have doubled in size, bake at 350°F until the buns are nicely browned, about 25 minutes. Remove the buns from the pan and let them cool on a rack. Serve the same day.

Special Equipment

Stand mixer

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
163	Calories
5g	Fat
24g	Carbs
5g	Protein

Nutrition Facts
Servings: 12
Amount per serving
Calories	163
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 5g	7%
Saturated Fat 3g	15%
Cholesterol 13mg	4%
Sodium 212mg	9%
Total Carbohydrate 24g	9%
Dietary Fiber 1g	4%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein 5g
Vitamin C 1mg	3%
Calcium 39mg	3%
Iron 0mg	2%
Potassium 83mg	2%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.

(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)

Ingredients

Special Equipment

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