MORE SHARING FROM MY WONDERFUL AUNTS

These were my Aunt Juanita's favorites. She gave me the recipe a long, long time ago and I had them at her home often. Aunt Juanita was the wife of my Uncle Mitchell, my Mom’s youngest brother.  I remember her writing the recipe out for me and then explaining each step of the process.  

According to Wikipedia, a Parker House roll “is a bread roll made by flattening the center of a ball of dough with a rolling pin so that it becomes an oval shape and then folding the oval in half. They are made with milk and are generally quite buttery, soft, and slightly sweet with a crispy shell.”  Wikipedia also tells that they were invented at the Parker House Hotel in Boston, during the 1870s.

You can make them the day before and reheat in the oven or microwave before serving. Make sure each roll is sealed really good or they tend to pop open on you during the baking process.  These rolls are heavenly! They are a little sweeter than other dinner roll and the butter baked in the middle of each roll makes them so special!  As special as my Aunt Juanita, in fact!

PARKER HOUSE ROLLS

1 c. whole milk
2 pkg. dry yeast
1/2 c. butter, melted
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. sugar
2 eggs
4-1/2 to 5 c. flour
More melted butter

Warm the milk in a small saucepan over low heat. Mix 1/3 of the milk with the dry yeast in a small bowl and let sit until bubbly, about 15 minutes. In a large bowl, combine remaining milk, melted butter, salt and sugar and beat until the sugar is dissolved. Then add the beaten eggs and bubbly yeast.

Add flour, 1/4 cup at a time, beating on high speed of stand mixer. This step should take at least 5 minutes. When the dough gets too stiff to beat, stir in rest of flour by hand, if necessary, to make a soft dough. Turn out onto floured surface and knead for 5 minutes, until smooth and satiny. Place dough in greased bowl, turning to grease top. Cover and let rise in warm place until light and doubled in size, about 1 hour. (I have also covered the dough well and placed it in the refrigerator overnight. This works really well. Let the dough stand at room temperature for 1 hour before proceeding with recipe.)

Punch down the dough and roll out on floured surface to 1/2" thickness. Cut with 3" round cookie cutter. Brush each roll with melted butter and fold in half to make half circles. Pinch edge lightly to hold, so the rolls don't unfold as they rise. Place in 2 greased 13x9" pans, cover, and let rise again until double, about 45 minutes. (If you refrigerated the dough, this will take longer, about 60-75 minutes.)

Bake rolls at 350 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from pan immediately and brush with more melted butter. Don't use the same butter you used when forming the rolls - melt some fresh just for this step. Makes 24 rolls