Parker House Rolls

Parker House Rolls Recipe

This year we spent Thanksgiving at Mark’s sister and brother in law’s house.  This meant that we didn’t have to do the heavy lifting when it came to cooking, so we brought over a few items.  One of the sides we were tasked with was rolls.  As a general rule, I do not like Texas Roadhouse, but you can’t deny their rolls.  I was going to pick some up the night before Thanksgiving, but I just didn’t make it.  I woke up Thursday morning with a desperate need for rolls.  This recipe for Parker House rolls on the Food Network fit all of my criteria – I had all of the ingredients at home.  They were easy and delicious and I have made them again since.

I am just learning how to bake breads and cakes.  Recipes like these are great practice because they are simple and help develop some basic skills.

This recipe starts with a cup and a half of milk, heated to a simmer.  Remove it from the heat and add a stick of butter and a half a cup of sugar.

Stir until combined and then set aside to cool.  If you are going to make your dough in the standing mixer, you can pour this milk sugar butter deliciousness right into the bowl to help cool it faster.

Next, add a packet of yeast to a half a cup of warm water and let it sit until it gets foamy.  This is about halfway there.  I never start baking with yeast without an extra packet.  I have killed yeast with water that was too hot plenty of times so I like to be prepared.

To make the dough, add the yeast to the milk and sugar combo, along with three eggs, salt and three cups of flour.  When that mixture is smooth, start adding the remaining three cups of flour, a half a cup at a time, to the mixture.  I don’t trust myself, so I measure out the flour first and then scoop the half cups out. The dough is ready when when it forms a smooth ball.  Put it on a floured surface and knead it for five minutes.

After you have kneaded, put the dough in a greased bowl, cover, and let rise for about an hour or until it is doubled.  If it helps, take a picture of your dough so you know how much it has risen.  Also, in the winter it is hard for me to get dough to rise because it is super cold and dry in my kitchen, so I have to create a warm environment.  I turn my oven on to 200 degrees and set my bowl next to it. This seems to do the trick for me.

Once it has risen, punch it down and then form into 24 equal rolls.

Form the rolls however you like.  I make mine into balls, almost like little dumplings.

Line them up on a parchment lined baking sheet.  Don’t worry about making them perfect.  These Parker House Rolls are so good, no one will believe they are homemade if you make each one uniform!  Once they are on the pan, cover and let them rise one more time for about thirty minutes.  You don’t want them to double, but you want them to get puffy.

These look ready to go.

Heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake for about twenty minutes.  Then brush with melted, salted butter.  You can also get creative and add garlic and herbs.  Whatever you are in the mood for.

The Verdict – Parker House Rolls Recipe

These rolls are sooo gooood and very easy.  I like having them in my homemade arsenal because of their simplicity and impressiveness.  Bring these Parker House Rolls to your next dinner and people will be totally wowed.  Only you will know how easy it was!  Next time I am going to try the more traditional Boston recipe from King Arthur Flour.  I don’t think you can go wrong!