Bread Machine Parker House Rolls are a cinch to make! Let your machine do the work, no kneading, no rolling!
It is a bit surprising how many variations there are on the Parker House Roll recipes. They were invented at the luxury Parker House hotel in Boston, Massachusetts in the 1870s.
So..they have stood the test of time. The original recipe was published by Fannie Farmer in 1896 in her Boston Cooking-School Cook Book.
The original recipe seems to have less sugar than is commonly called for in today's variation and fewer eggs.
The hallmark of the famous roll is that the dough is soft, buttery and slightly sweet. So I can only imagine that the variations that abound today have been tweaked to heighten those characteristics by upping the sugar and eggs.
Regardless -they are delicious. So delicious in fact, that one of my friends is so enthusiastic about them that I often make extras to send home with her! (You know who you are... Sue!!)
The shaping of the roll is one of its hallmarks as well. The creased center is designed to hold melted butter, no doubt.
These are shaped a bit differently, so you can avoid rolling out the dough. But you do make an indentation and tuck some butter in it to melt into the roll during the cooking process. This replaces the traditional brushing of melted dough on the top before and after baking.
I also use the dough cycle of my bread machine which makes them super easy to make. Historically I think these rolls would only have appeared at Holiday meals or special occasions.
The recipe makes 18 rolls. You can see in the photo I made 12 larger rolls. (Lost my mind LOL!) Next time I will make the daintier, more traditional size!
No need to wait for a special occasion with this simple recipe!
Bread Machine Parker House Rolls
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Save Print Pin FacebookIngredients
- 2 cups whole milk
- 3 eggs, lightly beaten
- ½ cup unsalted butter divided ¼ cup and ¼ cup
- ½ cup sugar
- 6 cups all purpose flour plus more as needed
- 1 ½ tsps salt
- 2 ¼ tsps instant yeast
Instructions
- Add 4 Tbsps butter to the milk and heat in the microwave till the milk is lukewarm. About 1-2 minutes on medium heat. Add the beaten eggs after removing from the microwave.
- Mix flour, salt and sugar together.
- Add ingredients to your bread machine in the order recommended by the manufacturer. Mine is wet, dry and yeast sprinkled on top. Set bread machine to dough cycle.
- When dough cycle is done remove the dough to a lightly floured surface.
- Preheat oven to 350°.
- Shape dough, flouring your hands so you can handle it without sticking. Cut dough into 18 equal pieces.
- Spray a 9 X 13" baking pan with cooking spray.
- Stretch each piece of dough so there is a rounded top and edges are tucked into the center on the bottom. Place in the baking pan as you go.
- Cover dough and allow to rise 30-40 minutes until dough has doubled.
- Cut remaining room temperature butter into 18 equal pieced. Use the dull edge of a knife to make an indentation across the top of each roll. Press a piece of butter into the indentation and into the dough a bit. You can pinch the dough over the butter a bit as well to sort of seal the butter in.
- Bake18- 20 minutes until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Larry in Iowa
My bread machine won't handle 6 cups of flour
Carolyn Hetke
Mine did but I do recall the dough had risen well above the top of the metal cannister. I don't see any reason why you couldn't halve the recipe without changing the ratios.