Parker House Rolls
Soft, buttery pull-apart dinner rolls from the Boston hotel that made them famous: an egg and milk dough, folded over a brush of melted butter so each roll has a lip, baked golden and brushed again.
Edited by JP Lambiase
Change the estimate
Swaps change the price only: cook any meat to its own safe temperature. Where these numbers come from
The Parker House hotel opened in Boston on October 8, 1855, founded by Harvey D. Parker, who had arrived in Boston almost penniless from a Maine farm in 1825 and built a restaurant first (Wikipedia, citing the hotel's history books:). Its rolls are famous for their folded shape. Wikipedia says a German baker at the Parker House created them in the 1860s, that the oldest known copycat recipe appeared in the New Hampshire Sentinel in April 1874, and that the hotel's recipe stayed secret until 1933, when President Franklin D. Roosevelt asked for the rolls at a White House dinner (Wikipedia, citing Yankee writer Aimee Tucker, 2020, and Historic Hotels of America). The famous story that an angry baker threw unfinished rolls into the oven after an argument is called a legend, and the baker is unnamed (Wikipedia). By the turn of the century the rolls were national: Fannie Farmer's "Boston Cooking-School Cook Book" (copyright from 1896; Project Gutenberg's 1906 printing) gives "Parker House Rolls" with circles of dough creased, buttered on one half and folded.
🇺🇸 This one is American
Soft, buttery pull-apart dinner rolls from the Boston hotel that made them famous: an egg and milk dough, folded over a brush of melted butter so each roll has a lip, baked golden and brushed again.
🇺🇸 The original
The original is succotash: corn and beans cooked together, the Three Sisters of Native American farming with squash beside them. See the Three Sisters Succotash recipe.
📖 Origin story: Where Did Parker House Rolls Come From? → 📖 Origin story: Who Invented Green Bean Casserole? →
Why it works the kitchen science
Potato in the dough
Potato flakes hold extra moisture, so the crumb is soft and the rolls stay tender longer (King Arthur uses potato flour or flakes).
Butter inside the fold
The brushed butter keeps the two layers from fusing, so each roll bakes with its signature lip and pulls apart in buttery layers (King Arthur).
🧰 You'll need 6 items
Everything the steps call for. Tick off what you have before you start.
Appliances
Tools
Step by step
- Step 1
Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, potato flakes, soft butter, milk and egg until a shaggy dough forms. Knead by hand 10 minutes, or 7 to 8 minutes in a stand mixer with the dough hook, until smooth.
- Step 2
Put the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise 90 minutes, until puffy. It may not double.
✓ What it should look like - Step 3
Grease a 9 by 13-inch pan. Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased counter, divide it in half and pat one half into an 8 by 12-inch rectangle. Brush it lightly with melted butter.
- Step 4
Cut the rectangle lengthwise into two 4 by 12-inch strips. Fold each strip lengthwise so the top edge stops about 1/2 inch short of the bottom edge, then cut each folded strip crosswise into four 3-inch rolls. Repeat with the other half.
- Step 5
Set the rolls smooth side up in the pan in 4 rows of 4 and press them gently to fill the pan. Cover and let rise 45 to 60 minutes, until puffy. Heat the oven to 350°F near the end of the rise.
- Step 6
Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown and set.
- Step 7
Brush the hot rolls with the rest of the melted butter. Pull apart to serve.
Parker House Rolls
Serves 16 · 16 rolls · 2 hr 55 min total
Dough
- 3 cups (360 g) unbleached all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp instant yeast
- 3 tbsp (39 g) sugar
- 1 1/4 tsp table salt
- 3/4 cup (50 g) dried potato flakes, or 1/4 cup potato flour
- 3 tbsp (43 g) butter, at room temperature
- 1 cup (227 g) milk, lukewarm
- 1 large egg, at room temperature
For brushing
- 4 tbsp (57 g) butter, melted
Equipment: Oven, Stand mixer (or a hand mixer), Chef's knife and cutting board, Measuring cups and spoons, Mixing bowls, Pastry brush
Method
- Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, salt, potato flakes, soft butter, milk and egg until a shaggy dough forms. Knead by hand 10 minutes, or 7 to 8 minutes in a stand mixer with the dough hook, until smooth.
- Put the dough in a lightly greased bowl, cover and let rise 90 minutes, until puffy. It may not double.
- Grease a 9 by 13-inch pan. Turn the dough out onto a lightly greased counter, divide it in half and pat one half into an 8 by 12-inch rectangle. Brush it lightly with melted butter.
- Cut the rectangle lengthwise into two 4 by 12-inch strips. Fold each strip lengthwise so the top edge stops about 1/2 inch short of the bottom edge, then cut each folded strip crosswise into four 3-inch rolls. Repeat with the other half.
- Set the rolls smooth side up in the pan in 4 rows of 4 and press them gently to fill the pan. Cover and let rise 45 to 60 minutes, until puffy. Heat the oven to 350°F near the end of the rise.
- Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown and set.
- Brush the hot rolls with the rest of the melted butter. Pull apart to serve.
Adapted from King Arthur Baking, "Parker House Rolls" by PJ Hamel, as written for 16. King Arthur folds strips of dough instead of the traditional buttered circles, because its bakers found the circles often popped open; the traditional method is in Tips. The make-ahead notes are ours. King Arthur Baking. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- The traditional shape (Fannie Farmer): roll the dough 1/3 inch thick, cut 2 1/2-inch circles, press a crease across the middle with the floured handle of a knife, brush one half with butter, fold and press the edges. Expect a few to pop open.
- Make-ahead (ours): bake Wednesday, cool completely, and store airtight. On Thursday, wrap the pan in foil and rewarm at 350°F for 10 to 15 minutes, then brush with butter. Or freeze baked rolls up to a month and thaw in the wrapping.
- Uneven sizes are fine; King Arthur says to fit them to fill the pan.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- An angry baker invented them by accident. Folklore: Wikipedia calls it a legend and the baker unnamed.
- They date from the hotel's opening in 1855 or 1856. Disputed: Wikipedia says the 1860s; Dictionary.com dates the term to 1870 to 1875 (search summary only); one newspaper piece says around 1856.
- A German baker made the first ones. Disputed: Wikipedia says so; one search summary names a baker called Ward in the mid-1870s; nobody has a record.
- The recipe was secret until FDR asked for it in 1933. Documented as Wikipedia's account (citing Historic Hotels of America); we did not see a 1933 document.
- The hotel also invented Boston cream pie. Disputed: the hotel's histories say so; Wikipedia says chef Augustine Anezin "reportedly invented" it in 1856.
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