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Parker House Rolls, the Boston Hotel Way (Folded, Buttered, Salt-Finished)

Parker House Rolls

Boston's most famous dinner roll, born at the Parker House hotel on School Street. A soft, faintly sweet dough enriched with scalded milk, eggs and butter gets folded into its signature pocketbook crease, with butter brushed into the seam so the rolls tear open along a steamy, layered fold. Deep golden on top, cloud-soft inside, finished with flaky salt straight from the oven.
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Prep Time 40 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 45 minutes
Servings: 24 Rolls
Course: Side Dish
Cuisine: American
Calories: 150
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • 1 cup whole milk scalded and cooled to warm
  • 1/4 cup warm water about 110 F, to bloom the yeast
  • 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast one 1/4 oz packet
  • 1/3 cup sugar plus a pinch for the yeast
  • 10 tbsp unsalted butter 4 tbsp melted for the dough, 3 tbsp melted for the folds, 3 tbsp melted for brushing
  • 2 large eggs beaten, at room temperature
  • 2 tsp salt fine sea salt or table salt
  • 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour about 20 oz, plus more for dusting
  • 1 tsp flaky sea salt for finishing

Equipment

  • 1 Small saucepan for scalding the milk
  • 1 stand mixer with dough hook or a large bowl and wooden spoon
  • 1 Large bowl for the first rise
  • 2 half sheet pans lined with parchment
  • 1 Rolling Pin
  • 1 bench knife or pizza wheel
  • 1 Pastry brush

Method
 

  1. Pour the milk into a small saucepan and heat over medium until it steams and small bubbles ring the edge, about 4 minutes. Do not boil. Pour it into the mixer bowl and let it cool to warm, about 110 F, roughly 15 minutes. If it is hotter than that it will kill the yeast.
  2. Meanwhile, stir the yeast and a pinch of the sugar into the 1/4 cup warm water. Let it stand 7 to 10 minutes until foamy and smelling of bread. If nothing happens, the yeast is dead and you need a fresh packet.
  3. To the warm milk add the 1/3 cup sugar, 4 tablespoons of the melted butter, the beaten eggs, the salt and the bloomed yeast mixture. Whisk to combine.
  4. Add 4 cups of the flour. Mix on low with the dough hook until a shaggy mass forms, then knead on medium-low for 8 to 10 minutes, adding the remaining 1/2 cup flour a spoonful at a time only as needed. You want a smooth, elastic dough that is soft and slightly tacky to the touch but does not coat your finger. By hand, knead on a lightly floured counter for 12 minutes.
  5. Shape the dough into a ball, place it in a lightly buttered large bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set it somewhere warm and draft-free. Let it rise until doubled and domed, 1 to 1 1/2 hours.
  6. Punch the dough down gently and turn it out onto a lightly floured counter. Roll it into a rectangle about 9 by 16 inches and 1/4 inch thick. Let it relax for 2 minutes so it stops shrinking back.
  7. Brush the whole surface with 3 tablespoons melted butter, going right to the edges. Cut the rectangle lengthwise into 4 strips, then crosswise into 6, giving 24 pieces roughly 2 1/4 by 2 2/3 inches.
  8. Fold each piece unevenly, bringing the top half over the bottom so the upper edge stops about 1/4 inch short of the lower edge. Press the fold lightly to set the crease. That offset lip is the pocketbook shape, and the butter trapped inside becomes the tearing seam.
  9. Arrange the rolls on the parchment-lined sheet pans, folded edge down and about 1 1/2 inches apart, 12 per pan. Cover loosely with a clean towel.
  10. Let them rise until visibly puffy and light, 30 to 45 minutes. Test by poking one gently: it should spring back slowly. Do not wait for them to double. These over-proof easily, and a long second rise gives flat, coarse rolls instead of delicate ones.
  11. While they proof, heat the oven to 375 F with a rack in the center.
  12. Bake for 18 to 22 minutes, rotating the pans front to back halfway through, until the tops are deep golden brown and the bottoms sound hollow when tapped. The internal temperature should read 190 F.
  13. The moment they come out, brush the hot rolls generously with the remaining 3 tablespoons melted butter and scatter the flaky sea salt over the tops. Let them sit 5 minutes, then serve warm in a napkin-lined basket.

Notes

  • Serve warm with extra softened butter, alongside roast turkey, ham, chowder, or with jam and honey at breakfast.
  • These over-proof faster than round dinner rolls. The second rise is done when the rolls look puffy and a gentle poke springs back slowly, not when they have doubled.
  • Do not skip the butter inside the fold. It is what creates the pull-apart seam.
  • Bake them spaced on sheet pans as the hotel does. Crowding them into a deep dish can leave the centers gummy.
  • Dough can be made the night before: after the first rise, cover and refrigerate up to 24 hours, then shape cold and allow a longer second rise.
  • Rolls freeze well baked. Reheat at 300 F for 8 minutes and brush with butter again.