Bake your own classic Parker House rolls, filling your kitchen with the tantalizing fragrance of yeast and butter. So soft and delicious! Even a novice baker can handle these.
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook, mix together the flour, yeast, and salt.
In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs; set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, 9 tablespoons of butter, and the sugar and cook over medium-low heat until the butter melts, the sugar dissolves, and the mixture reaches a temperature between 125 and 130°F.
With the mixer running on low speed, slowly add milk mixture to bowl followed by the eggs and mix until no dry flour remains, about 1 to 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium and knead until dough is smooth, elastic, and mostly pulls away from the sides of the bowl, about 6 to 8 minutes. The dough will still stick to the bottom of the bowl.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand for 30 seconds. Form dough into a tight ball and transfer to a large, greased bowl. Spray the top of the bread lightly with nonstick spray, then cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let proof in a warm place until doubled in size, 60 to 90 minutes.
Line a 13x9-inch baking pan with two pieces of foil or parchment paper, overlapping foil and letting the ends hang over the long edges of the pan. Spray the foil/paper with nonstick spray; set aside.
Melt remaining 3 tablespoons of butter. Turn the ball of dough out onto a clean lightly floured surface and divide in half. Stretch each half into a 24-inch long roll and use a rolling pin to flatten it so it’s about 5 inches wide. Then brush the surface of the dough with 1 tablespoon of melted butter.
Starting at the top long edge, fold a third of the dough down toward you. Then fold the bottom third of the dough over to meet the folded edge.
Roll dough a couple of times to seal and reshape as necessary to form an even log.
Using a sharp knife, trim 1 inch of dough off each end and discard, then cut dough into 12 equal pieces. Arrange rolls seam side down in the prepared pan in three rows of four. Repeat with the remaining half of the dough.
Cover the pan with plastic wrap and let the rolls proof in a warm place until they are about double in size, about 60 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 375°F and bake the rolls until browned and centers register 200°F, 30 to 35 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
Transfer the rolls to a wire rack using the foil for handles. Brush with the remaining tablespoon of melted butter.
Notes
It’s VERY important that your milk mixture is between 125 and 130°F because it needs to be hot enough to activate the yeast.
Make classic dinner rolls: Make even portions of dough and shape them into balls.
This recipe can use dry active yeast as well. Use 3 1/2 teaspoons of dry active yeast and add it to ⅓ cup of the milk heated to 110°F with a teaspoon of sugar. Let it activate for 10 to 20 minutes until foamy. The milk and sugar amounts will be reduced from the amounts in the ingredients, so you will still use the full amounts called for but they will be divided. The milk and butter mixture doesn’t need to be between 125 and 130F °in this case since you’re activating the yeast separately. It simply just needs to be melted and warm but not hot. Using dry active yeast will require up to an additional 30 minutes of proofing each time and will add about 1½ hours to the total prep time.