Parker House rolls
Photo: Davidwbaker · CC0

History

The Parker House Roll was invented at Boston's Parker House Hotel in the 1870s, traditionally attributed to a German baker who folded discs of enriched dough into the now-canonical shape after a chef-staff dispute. The hotel, opened by Harvey Parker in 1855, also gave the world the Boston cream pie and the chocolate Boston cream donut. The Omni Parker House continues to serve the rolls in its Parker's Restaurant dining room daily. Joanne Chang's Flour Bakery sells a sourdough-inflected version year-round; many Boston-area Thanksgiving tables centre on a basket of buttered Parker House rolls and gravy.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Eggs

Make it at home

Yield 16Hands-on 30 minTotal 3 hrDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 500g all-purpose flour
  • 240ml whole milk, warm
  • 60g granulated sugar
  • 90g unsalted butter, melted, plus 60g for brushing
  • 1 large egg
  • 7g instant dry yeast
  • 8g fine sea salt

Method

  1. Whisk the warm milk, sugar and yeast in a bowl. Rest 10 minutes until foamy.
  2. Add the egg, melted butter, flour and salt. Knead 8 minutes by hand or 6 with a stand mixer until smooth and elastic.
  3. Cover and rise 90 minutes at room temperature until doubled.
  4. Punch down. Divide into 16 portions of about 55g each. Roll each into a ball, then flatten into a 10cm oval.
  5. Brush each oval with melted butter. Fold one half over the other, slightly offset, to make a half-moon.
  6. Arrange the rolls touching in a buttered 23x33cm pan. Cover and rise 45 minutes until puffy.
  7. Heat oven to 190C. Brush the tops with the remaining melted butter.
  8. Bake 18 to 22 minutes until deeply golden. Brush with more melted butter from the oven.

Tip from the editors. Eat warm from the oven, no later than 30 minutes after baking. They lose the soft pull on the first cool.

Where to eat parker house rolls

Parker House rolls in Boston

Flour Bakery ★ 4.6

$ BakerySticky buns, sandwiches, French and American pastrySouth EndWalk-in only

Joanne Chang opened Flour on Washington Street in Boston's South End in 2000; the city's pastry empire grew to 10 locations across Boston and Cambridge.

Worth the queueSticky bun with pecans and caramel

TipSticky buns sell out by 14:00 weekends. Order ahead online; the South End original is the calmest of the 10 locations on weekdays.

Directions Book

Modern Pastry ★ 4.6

$ BakeryItalian American pastry and chocolate-dipped cannoliNorth EndWalk-in only

Modern Pastry on Hanover Street has filled cannoli to order in Boston's North End since 1930. Chocolate-dipped shells, lighter ricotta cream.

Worth the queueChocolate-dipped cannoli with sweet cream

TipLocals line up at Modern; tourists at Mike's. The chocolate-dipped shell is the headline item; Italian rum cake is the under-ordered cake.

Directions Book

Union Oyster House ★ 4.2

$$$ SeafoodNorth End

Union Oyster House on Union Street has shucked oysters in Boston since 1826, the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the United States.

OrderA dozen Wellfleets at the U-shaped bar and a cup of clam chowder.

TipSkip the dining-room tables and sit at the historic raw bar. The bar is the original 1826 plank.

Directions Book

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