The Famous Parker House Rolls are light, fluffy, and buttery with a secret ingredient that make them tender and melt in your mouth. This the best parker house roll recipe!
If you have a food scale, weight the flour for accuracy. In a large mixing bowl or in the bowl of an electric mixer such as Bosch or Kitchenaid, combine the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, dried potato flakes, 4 Tablespoons of butter, egg, and warmed milk. I suggest warming the milk for 25 seconds in the microwave.
Knead for 10 minutes by hand or for 8 minutes if using a stand mixer.
Place the dough into a lightly greased bowl. Cover and allow to rise for 90 minutes until it becomes puffy.
Transfer the dough to a lightly greased work surface. Divide the dough in half. Working with one half at a time, roll the dough into a 8" x 12" rectangle.
Brush the dough with a light coating of the melted butter. You will have leftovers to brush on top of the rolls after baking.
Cut the dough in half lengthwise, to make two 4" x 12" rectangles. Working with one rectangle at a time, fold it lengthwise to about 1/2" of the other edge, so the bottom edge sticks out about 1/2" beyond the top edge. You will have a rectangle that is about 2 1/4" x 12". Repeat with the other piece of dough.
Cut each of the rectangles crosswise into four 3" pieces, making a total of 8 folded rolls, each about 2 1/4" x 3". Flip the rolls over so the smooth side is facing up and place them in a greased 9" x 13" pan. Repeat with the remaining piece of dough, making 16 rolls in all. You will arrange 4 rows of 4 rolls in the pan. Gently flatten the rolls to cover the bottom of the pan.
Cover the pan and let the rolls rise for about 1 hour until they are puffy. Towards the end of the rising time, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Bake for 17-22 minutes until a light golden brown color. Remove from the oven and generously brush with melted butter. Pull them apart to serve.
Notes
This recipe is adapted from King Arthur Baking. I increase the salt amount, increased the butter amount, and warmed the milk to activate the yeast quicker, and reduced cooking time.Store the freshly baked homemade rolls in an airtight ziploc bag or container. These rolls can be kept out at room temperature. They are best eating within 2 days. If you would like to freeze the rolls, read below for tips.Can I freeze the Parker House Rolls?Yes! These rolls freeze beautifully. I suggest using a freezer safe Ziploc bag and they will stay for a month in the freezer. Just defrost at room temperature or heat in the microwave at 50% power so it doesn't change the texture of the rolls.
What potato flakes should I use?
You want to look for potato flakes, also known as instant mashed potatoes. They are usually in a box and are made up of dried potatoes and salt. Just make sure there isn't any crazy additional ingredients like garlic or cheese.